Its a strong reciprocal emotional bond between an infant and a PRIMARY care giver
Why are caregiver-infant interactions important?
Because they enable attachments to develop and be maintained
What is are one of the key interactions between caregiver and infant - communication?
Key interaction between caregivers and infants is non-verbal communication, i.e. communicating without words and sometimes without sound-The more sensitive each is to each others signals, the deeper the relationship is.
Reciprocity meaning
Two/both ways: the child has to bond with the mother and the mother has to bond with the child for an attachment to form successfully.
In a reciprocal relationship what must happen between the two people.
They must both be able to contribute to the relationship and generate a response. E.g. when a parent smiles at their child they'll respond back with a smile.
When is an interaction seen as reciprocal?
When each person responds to the other and elicits a response from them. E.g. Baby takes on an active role for the mother and baby take turns in initiating interactions.
What does Brazelton (1975) describe a reciprocal interaction between a mother and a baby as?
Brazelton (1979) suggested that from birth, babies move in a rhythm when interacting with an adult and this basic rhythm is an important precursor to later communication such as conversation. This regularity of infant's signals allows a caregiver to anticipate the infant's behaviour and respond appropriately.
What do Feldman and Eidelman,(2007) say babies have?
-They say babies have 'alert phases' and signal that they're ready for interaction -Mothers respond 2/3s of the time
When is interaction frequent in babies according to Feldman (2007)?
From 3 months interaction is frequent and involves close attention to each others facial expression and verbal signals.
What is interactional synchrony?
-When two people carry out the same act at the same time-This takes place when mothers and babies actions and emotions MIRROR EACH OTHER.
Meltzoff and Moore (1977)- Interactional synchrony
-Meltzoff and Moore (1977) observed interactional synchrony in infants aged 2 weeks-Adults displayed 1 of 3 facial expressions or gestures where-Baby copied
Isabella (1989)- Interactional synchrony
She observed 30 mothers and infants-High levels of synchrony associated with better quality attachment
What did Meltzoff and Moore (1977) find in their study on interactional synchrony?
They found that infants as young as two or three weeks old imitated specific facial and hand gestures.-At the end of the study they also found that there was an association between the infant behaviour and that of the infant model.
Procedure of Meltzoff and Moore's (1977) study
The study was conducted using an adult model who displayed one of three facial expressions or hand movements where the fingers moved in a sequence-A dummy was placed in the infants mouth during the initial display to prevent any response-Following the display the dummy was removed and the child's expression was filmed