Caregiver-Infant Interactions

• An attachment can be defined as a close two-way emotional bond between two individuals in which each individual sees the other as essential for their own emotional security.
• • Proximity: people try to stay physically close to their attachment figure
  • Separation Distress: people show signs of anxiety when an attachment figure leaves their presence
  • Secure-base behaviour: regularly return to their attachment figure while playing.
• Good quality early social interactions are associated with the successful development of attachments between babies and their caregivers.

  There are two types of caregiver-infant interactions

  • Reciprocity
  • InteractionaL synchrony
• Primary Caregiver: usually the first person the child attaches to. It is the person who usually feeds the child and interacts with them. Usually this is the mum.
• Reciprocity: An infant responds to the actions of another person. Sometimes called turn-taking.
• Interactional Synchrony: An infant mirrors the actions of another person. It is the same action at the same time.
• Feldman and Eidelman (2007)- mothers typically pick up on and respond to their babies alertness around two thirds of the time.

  Feldman (2007)- Interaction becomes more frequent from around 3 months, mother and baby pay close attention to each others verbal signals and facial expressions.
• Research Into Reciprocity:

  • Jaffe et al (1973)- demonstrated that infants co-ordinated their actions with their caregivers- like a conversation.
  • Brazelton et al (1975)- describes this interaction as a dance- taking turns in response to each other.
  • Brazelton (1979)- the basic rhythm in reciprocity is an important precursor to later communications.
• Interactional Synchrony:

  • Two people are said to be ‘synchronised’ when they carry out the same action simultaneously.
  • Interactional synchrony can be defined as ‘the temporal co-ordination of micro-level social behaviour’.
  • Caregiver and baby reflect both the actions and emotions of the other and do this in a co-ordinated way.
• Research into Interactional Synchrony:

  • Meltzoff and Moore (1977)- observed the beginnings of interactional synchrony in babies as young as two weeks old.
  • An adult displayed one of three facial expressions or one of three distinctive gestures.
  • The baby’s response was filmed and labelled by independent observers.
  • Babies’ expression and gestures were more likely to mirror those of the adults more than chance would predict I.e. there was a significant association.
• Research into Interactional Synchrony:

  • Isabella et al (1989) observed 30 mothers and babies together and assessed the degree of synchrony.
  • The researchers also assessed the quality of mother-baby attachment.
  • They found that high levels of synchrony were associated with better quality mother-baby attachment.
• Strength: The Research is Filmed:

  Mother and baby interactions are usually filmed, often with multiple angles.

  Also babies do not know they are being observed so their behaviour does not change in response to the observation (no demand characteristics).

  Therefore, the research into caregiver infant interactions in high validity.
• Strength: The Value of the Research

  The research findings are valuable for understanding social development.

  Research into caregiver-infant interactions often emphasises the imitative behaviour. This can be important for the social development of the baby e.g. understanding what other people are thinking and feeling.

  Therefore, the research into caregiver-infant interactions has high value.
• Limitation- Practical Value vs Ethics

  • The ethics of the research may challenge the practical value.
  • Research into early interactions has allowed psychologists to develop techniques to improve the quality of caregiver interactions.
  • However, this research is socially sensitive because it can be used to argue that mothers should focus on interacting with their baby and not returning to work.