Caregiver-infant interaction

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Created by
Khads <3

Cards (20)

  • What is attachment?
    + two-way emotional tie or affectional bond between two people that is shared and endures over time
    + desire of closeness and sense of comfort and security
    + other person is secure base you can explore the world from
    + each individual sees the other as essential to own emotional security
  • How long does it take for attachment to develop in humans?
    few months
  • Which behaviours indicate attachment and who collated this?
    + Maccoby (1980)
    + proximity seeking ( especially under stress) - staying physically close
    + separation distress and pleasure when reunited - distressed when attachment figure leaves the presence
    + general orientation towards specific individuals and joy on reunion
  • What are the three behaviours indicating attachments?
    proximity, separation distress and secure-base
  • When does attachment begin in humans?
    + interactions between infants and caregivers
    + caregiver's responsiveness to infant's signals has a profound effect
  • What are the two types of care-giver interactions?
    + reciprocity
    + interactional synchrony
  • What is interactional synchrony?
    + two people 'synchronised' when carrying out same action simultaneously
    + mother and infant reflect and mirror both actions and emotions of other e.g. facial expressions
    + do this in co-ordinated (synchronised) way
    + referred to as imitation or copying adult's behaviour
    + interaction sustains communication between two indivudals
  • What is reciprocity?
    + when infant responds to actions of another person in form or turn-taking
    + actions of one person elicits response from the other
  • How did Brezelton et al. (1975) describe the reciprocity as caregiver-infant interaction?
    + 'dance' because when couple dance together, they respond to one another's movements and rhythm
    + interactions between both individuals flows back and forth
  • What did Feldman say about reciprocity in the caregiver-infant relationship and when?
    + 2007
    + around three months old, reciprocity increases in frequency
    + infant and caregiver pay more attention to other's verbal and facial communications
    + suggests that showing sensitive responsiveness -> caregiver pays attention sensitively to infant's behaviour
    + lays strong foundation for attachment to develop between caregiver and infant
  • How does reciprocity work from the birth of a child?
    + mothers respond to and pick up on infant alertness
    + mothers typically pick up on and respond to infant alertness around 2/3 times (Feldman and Eidelman, 2007)
  • How does reciprocity work from when the child is 3 months old?
    + interaction increasingly frequent involving close attention to verbal signals and facial expressions (Feldman, 2007)
  • What was Meltzoff and Moore's research and when?
    + 1977
    + observed beginnings of interactional synchrony in infants as young as two weeks
    + adult displayed one of three facial expression or distinctive gestures filming child's gesture and identified by independent observers
    + association found between expression or gesture adult displayed and actions of babies
  • What was Isabella et al.'s research and when?
    + 1989
    + observed 30 mothers and infants and assessed degree of synchrony
    + also assessed quality of mother-infant attachment
    + found high levels of synchrony associated with better quality mother-infant attachment (e.g. emotional intensity)
  • What did Koepke et al find and when?
    1983, failed to replicate findings of Meltzoff and Moore
  • Strength of Caregiver-infant interaction: well-controlled procedures
    + both mother and infant filmed, often from multiple angles
    + fine details of behaviour recorded and later analysed
    + babies don't know or care being filmed so behaviour is natural
    + good validity
  • Strength of Caregiver-infant interaction: potential value to society
    + practical applications of identification of interactional synchrony as important foundation forming high-quality attachments
    + Crotwell et al (2013) found 10-minute parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT) improved interactional synchrony in 20 low income mothers and pre-school infants compared to control group
    + suggests research could lead to valuable methods to improve and develop mother-infant attachment
  • Limitation to caregiver-infant interaction: Hard to observe infants
    + many studies shown same patterns of behaviour (Gratier, 2003)
    + what is being observed is merely hand movements or facial expressions
    + difficult to be sure what is taking place from infants perspective so behaviours may not have special meaning
  • Limitation to caregiver-infant interaction: do not tell us purpose of synchrony and reciprocity
    + Feldman (2012) points that synchrony and implication reciprocity describe behaviours at same time
    + some evidence does show though, reciprocity and synchrony helpful in development of mother-infant attachment
    + stress responses, empathy, language and moral development
    + reliable observations does not say purpose
  • Limitation to caregiver-infant interaction: research itno mother-infant interactions socially sensitive
    + mothers returning to work after child is born restrict opportunities to achieve interactional synchrony
    + may suggest mothers should not return to work soon
    + has socially sensitive implications
    + studies suggest that certain childcare practices disadvantage children's development