CAREGIVER-INFANT INTERACTIONS (HUMANS)

• WHAT IS ATTACHMENT?

  close two-way bond between two individuals in which each sees the other as essential for their emotional security (reciprocal relationship)
• WHAT DOES THE TWO-WAY INTERACTION OF CAREGIVER AND INFANT HAVE?

  two active contributors
• WHAT ARE TWO EXAMPLES OF CAREGIVER-INFANT INTERACTIONS IN HUMANS?

  reciprocity, interactional synchrony
• WHAT IS RECIPROCITY?

  process of turn-taking
• WHAT TAKES PLACES IN RECIPROCITY?

  actions of one partner elicit a response from the other partner (but responses are not necessarily the same)
• IN RECIPROCITY WHAT HAPPENS AS A RESULT OF THE REGULARITY OF THE INFANT'S SIGNALS?

  allow caregiver to anticipate infant's behaviour and respond appropriately
• WHAT LAYS THE FOUNDATION FOR ATTACHMENT AND LATER RELATIONSHIPS DURING RECIPROCITY?

  sensitivity of caregiver in response to infants behaviour
• WHAT DOES THE CAREGIVER'S SENSITIVITY LAY DOWN THE FOUNDATION FOR IN RECIPROCITY?

  attachment between the two and the infant's later relationships
• WHAT DOES INTERACTIONAL SYNCHRONY INVOLVE?

  adults and babies responding in time with one another to sustain communication
• WHAT NORMALLY OCCURS DURING INTERACTIONAL SYNCHRONY?

  adult and baby move in perfect synchrony with one another (like one person)
• WHO DID RESEARCH ON INTERACTIONAL SYNCHRONY?

  Condon and Sander
• WHAT DID CONDON AND SANDER DISCOVER?

  infants coordinate their movements and gestures in time with adults (move in time with rhythm)
• WHO STUDIED CAREGIVER-INFANT INTERACTIONS?

  Meltzoff and Moore (M&M)
• WHAT WAS THE AIM OF MELTZOFF AND MOORE'S STUDY?

  observe beginnings of caregiver-infant interactions in infants
• HOW OLD WERE THE CHILDREN IN MELTZOFF AND MOORE'S STUDY?

  2-3 weeks old
• HOW MANY STIMULI WERE USED IN MELTZOFF AND MOORE'S STUDY?

  4 (3 facial expressions and 1 hand gesture)
• WHAT WERE THE THREE FACIAL STIMULI/ EXPRESSIONS IN MELTZOFF AND MOORE'S STUDY?

  tongue protrusion, mouth opening, lip protrusion
• BRIEF PROCEDURE OF MELTZOFF AND MOORE'S STUDY?

  • infant and adult interact
  • two observers watched videotapes of infants behaviour
  • did not know what infant had just seen
  • recorded if infant was showing a behaviour and if so which one
• WHAT TYPE OF RESEARCH METHOD WAS USED IN MELTZOFF AND MOORE'S STUDY?

  controlled observation
• WHAT WERE THE RESULTS OF MELTZOFF AND MOORE'S STUDY?

  there was an association between infant behaviour and that of the adult model
• WHAT DID THE RESULTS OF MELTZOFF AND MOORE'S STUDY SUGGEST?

  social interaction is innate
• WHAT IS THE NAME FOR THE LEVEL OF AGREEMENT AMONGST OBSERVERS IN AN EXPERIMENT?

  interobserver reliability
• WHAT IS INTEROBSERVER RELIABILITY?

  levels of agreement amongst observers in an experiment
• WHAT WAS THE LEVEL OF INTEROBSERVER RELIABILITY IN MELTZOFF AND MOORE'S STUDY?

  0.92 (high)
• WHAT IS INTEROBSERVER RELIABILITY RATED ON A SCALE OF?

  0 to 1
• HOW CAN FILMING AN OBSERVATION INCREASE THE VALIDITY OF THE STUDY?

  • can repeatedly watch videos (ensures measuring expressions accurately)
  • can ask others to do the same (ensure that infant's expressions are an imitation of the model's)
• WHAT IS THE BENEFIT OF USING INFANTS FOR THIS STUDY?

  no social desirability (babies would not be influenced by social pressures)
• WHAT DID MELTZOFF AND MOORE FIND IN A FOLLOW UP STUDY?

  interaction can occur in infants as young as 42 minutes old
• STRENGTHS OF CAREGIVER-INFANT INTERACTIONS?

  • well-controlled research
  • 'captures' micro-sequence of interaction
  • economic benefits
  • real world contribution (understanding importance of caregiver-infant interactions)
• WEAKNESSES OF CAREGIVER-INFANT INTERACTIONS?

  • babies cannot communicate (make inferences)
  • intentionality issue
  • practical issues
  • socially sensitive
  • failed replication from other studies
  • economic problems
• WHAT IS THE ISSUE OF INTENTIONALITY IN CAREGIVER-INFANT INTERACTIONS?

  are the behaviours deliberate/ is the baby consciously aware they are doing it
• WHAT ARE THE PRACTICAL ISSUES OF CAREGIVER-INFANT INTERACTIONS?

  babies are often asleep/ being fed
• WHAT IS THE SOCIALLY SENSITIVE ISSUE OF CAREGIVER-INFANT INTERACTIONS?

  implications/ negative stigmas surrounding working parents
• EXAMPLE OF A STUDY THAT FAILED TO REPLICATE MELTZOFF AND MOORE'S FINDINGS?

  Koepke et al