CAREGIVER-INFANT INTERACTIONS

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Created by
Krichelle Ahorro

Cards (8)

  • ATTACHMENT

    “a close two-way emotional bond between two individuals in which each individual sees the other as essential for their own emotional security”.
    As humans are altricial, attachment bonds are formed with adults who will protect and nurture them.
    Interactions between carer and infant serve to develop and maintain an attachment bond.
  • types of communications 

    • reciprocity (turn taking)
    • interactional synchrony (mirroring)
  • RECIPROCITY 

    • Interactions involve reciprocity =
    It is achieved when the baby and caregiver respond to and elicit responses from each other. 
    For example, a caregiver responds to a baby’s smile by saying something, and then the baby responds by making some sounds of pleasure.
  • RECIPROCITY

    • Alert phases are times for interactions =
    Mothers successfully respond around two-thirds of the time (FELDMAN AND EIDELMAN 2007).
    From around 3 months this interaction becomes intense and reciprocal. 
  • RECIPROCITY

    • Babies have an active role =
    Traditional views of childhood have seen the baby in a passive role, receiving care from an adult. 
    However it seems that babies are active participants. 
    Both caregiver and baby can initiate interactions and take turns to do so. 
  • INTERACTIONAL SYNCHRONY 

    • Interactions involve synchrony =
    People are said to be synchronised when they carry out the same actions simultaneously.
    A formal definition is ‘temporal co-ordination of micro-level social behaviour’ (FELDMAN 2007), e.g caregiver and baby mirror each others’ behaviour.
  • INTERACTIONAL SYNCHRONY 

    • The beginnings of interactional synchrony =
    MELTZOFF AND MOORE (1977) observed the beginnings of IS in babies as young as 2 years old. 
    Adults displayed 1 of 3 facial expressions or 1 of 3 gestures. Filmed the baby's response.
    Babies’ expressions and gestures were more likely to mirror those of the adults than chance would predict.
  • INTERACTIONAL SYNCHRONY 

    • Importance for attachment =
    ISABELLA ET AL (1989) observed 20 mothers and babies together and assessed the degree of synchrony. 
    The researchers also assessed the quality of mother-baby attachment.
    They found that high levels of synchrony were associated with better quality mother-baby attachment (e.g the emotional intensity of the relationship.