Caregiver-infant interactions

• What is an attachment?

  A strong emotional bond between two people
• What characterizes an attachment?

  Proximity seeking, separation distress, pleasure on reunion
• What are the two key interactions in caregiver-infant relationships?

  Reciprocity and interactional synchrony
• Why do babies rely on caregivers at birth?

  They are physically helpless and need survival support
• How do babies signal their needs to parents?

  Through crying
• What is the infant attachment cycle?

  1. Baby has a need
  2. Baby cries
  3. Need met by caregiver
  4. Trust develops
  5. Reciprocity occurs
• Why are caregiver interactions important in early infancy?

  They are crucial for developing an attachment
• What is the implication of the 'still face' study?

  Non-responsive adults can harm baby development
• What does high ecological validity in research imply?

  Findings are applicable to real-world settings
• What does reciprocity in caregiver-infant interactions mean?

  Mutual exchange of responses between caregiver and infant
• What is interactional synchrony in the context of infant attachment?

  Coordinated timing of interactions between caregiver and infant
• How does separation distress manifest in infants?

  Through crying and seeking proximity to caregivers
• What might be the consequences of a caregiver not being responsive?

  Serious negative effects on the baby's development
• What is the role of trust in the infant attachment cycle?

  It develops as needs are consistently met
• What does it mean for a baby to have a need?

  It indicates a requirement for care or comfort
• How do caregiver-infant interactions influence attachment development?

  They shape the emotional bond and trust levels
• Name 2 studies of caregiver-infant interactions

  1. Meltzoff and Moore
  2. Tronick et al
• which caregiver-infant interactions did Meltzoff and Moore study

  interactional synchrony
• how old wree the babies in Meltzoff and Moore study

  2-3 weeks
• what were the 4 actions of the adult if Meltzoff and Moore’s study

  mouth open, tongue protrusion, lip protrusion, and opening hand
• give 4 evaluation points of Meltzoff and Moore’s study mouth)2 good 2 bad)

  1. controlled observation - highly controlled - internally valid
  2. filmed - inter-rater reliabilty
  3. not all attempts to replicate the study have suceded
  4. controlled environment may reduce generalisability of the findings
• what caregiver infant interactions did Meltzoff did Tronick et al study

  Reciprocity
• what were the 3 stages in Tronick et Al’s study

  1. normal face to face caregiver-infant social interaction
  2. still face episode - caregiver keeps unresponsive poker face
  3. reunion episode - caregivers and infants resume normal face to face social interactions
• how long did each stage last in Tronick et al‘s study

  2-3 minutes
• what were the finding during the still face episode of Tronick et Al’s study

  babies showed increase in gaze aversion, visual scanning, pick me up gestures, distancing behaviour, and physiological stress indicators. decrease in positive mood
• which caregiver was used in Tronick et Al’s study

  mother
• give 4 evaluation points of Tronick et al‘s study

  1. controlled observation - highly controlled - internally valid
  2. Artificial environment - lack of ecological validity
  3. filmed - inter rater reliability
  4. Ethical issues - distress to the bay