Caregiver infant interactions

• What is an Attachment?

  A close two way emotional bond between 2 individuals. They see the other as essential for their own emotional security
• What is Reciprocity?


  Description of how two people interact. Mother infant interaction is reciprocal in that both infant and mother respond to each others signal and elicit a response from the other
• What is interactional synchrony?


  Mother and infant reflect both the actions and emotions of the other and do this in a coordinated way
• What was Meltzoff and Moore's research?

  • Observed interactional synchrony in infants as young as 2 weeks old
  • The adult displayed 1 of 3 facial expressions and the child's response was recorded and identified by independent observers
  • An association was found between the expression the adult displayed and the action of the baby
• What was Isabella et al's research? ( Interactional synchrony)

  • Observed 30 mothers and infants together and assessed the degree of interactional synchrony
  • The researchers also assessed the quality of mother and infant interaction
  • High levels of synchrony were associated with better quality mother infant attachment
• According to Schaffer and Emerson when do majority of babies become attached to their mother?

  Around 7 months
• According to Schaffer and Emerson when did most infants form an attachment with the father?

  18 months
• Evaluation of interactions: Criticising methodology

  • Interactions between mothers and infants show the same pattern with hand gestures and facial expressions
  • It is difficult to see if the infant is responding to the adult's signal
  • We cannot know for certain that behaviours seen in mother infant interaction have a special meaning
  • Simply observing behaviour does not tell us its importance
  • They are not useful in understanding child development and there is no purpose behind these behaviours
• Evaluation of interactions: Good validity and reliability

  • Observations of mother infant interactions are well controlled so everything is recorded and analysed
  • Good inter-rater reliability as it was recorded
  • No demand characteristics so there is good validity and reliability
• What 3 behaviours are shown for an attachment to form?

  1. Proximity
  2. Separation anxiety
  3. Secure base behaviour (even when independent of attachment figure we still maintain close proximity to them)
• Evaluation of interactions: Practical value vs Ethics

  • Practical Application has meant Parent Child Interaction Therapy has improved interactional synchrony in 20 low income mothers and their children
  • However, this research can be socially sensitive because it can be argued when a mother returns to work too soon after having a baby they may risk damaging their child's development
• Evaluation of interactions: Lack of cross cultural support

  • Interactional synchrony does not have cross cultural support which weakens the idea that it is innate and necessary for attachment as it is not universal
  • Kenyan mothers had little interactions with their infants yet a high proportion of them were still classed as securely attached
  • This weakens the importance of caregiver infant interactions