Caregiver-Infant Interactions

• Attachment

  A close two-way emotional bond between a caregiver and infant
• 3 things people display when being attached to someone

  • proximity
  • separation distress
  • secure base behaviour
• proximity

  wanting to be physically close to the attachment figure
• separation distress

  being distressed when the attachment figure leaves
• secure base behaviour

  making regular contact with the attachment figure and using them as a safe base from which to explore
• caregiver

  any person who looks after a child
• caregiver-infant interactions

  communication between a caregiver and infant
• 2 types of caregiver-infant interactions

  • reciprocity
  • interactional synchrony
• reciprocity

  each person responds to the other and the behaviour of each party elicits a response
• importance of reciprocity

  influences physical, social and cognitive development
• Interactional synchrony

  Caregiver and infant mirror each other’s actions in a coordinated way
• Meltzoff & Moore

  observed interactional synchrony in infants and a correlation was found between the expression the adult displayed and the actions of the babies
• positive evaluations of caregiver-infant interactions

  • filmed observations - usually in a lab setting so able to control extraneous variables
  • Practical applications - parenting skills training
• negative evaluations of caregiver-infant interactions

  • difficulty observing babies - lack coordination and are mostly immobile so hard to interpret behaviour
  • developmental importance - observing behaviour doesn’t tell us developmental importance
  • socially sensitive - argues that mothers returning to work too soon can damage their baby’s development