caregiver-infant interactions in humans

• what is attachment?


  an emotional bond between two people. it is a two-way process that endures over time. it leads to certain behaviours such as clinging and proximity-seeking, and serves the function of protecting an infant
• what is reciprocity?


  responding to the action of another with a similar action, where the actions of one partner elicit a response from the other partner. the responses are not necessarily similar as in interactional synchrony. acts as a nonverbal ‘conversation’ - there is taking of turns. brazelton (1979) - this basic rhythm is an important precursor to later communications
• what is the supporting evidence of reciprocity?

  tronick
• what did tronick do?

  mother and baby engage first and then mother stops responding and keeps a straight face no matter what the baby does. the baby becomes upset at this lack of response. baby had similar response to father doing same thing
• what is interactional synchrony?

  when two people interact they tend to mirror what the other is doing in terms of their facial and body movements. this includes imitating emotions as well as behaviours. this is described as a synchrony - when two (or more) things move in the same pattern
• what is the supporting evidence of interactional synchrony?

  meltzoff and moore
• what did meltzoff and moore do?

  observed in babies 2-3 weeks old. adult displayed facial expressions. the child’s response was filmed and assessed by independent observers who found an association between adult and the action of babies. high levels of synchrony = better quality mother-infant interaction. later found these behaviours in 3 day old babies suggesting they are innate
• what is the support of caregiver-infant interaction research?

  tronick / meltzoff and moore
• what is the counter of caregiver-infant interaction research?

  issues with infant observation
• what is another support of caregiver-infant interaction research?

  innovative research techniques / well controlled procedures
• what are the practical applications / implications of caregiver-infant interaction research?

  research has found that a 10 minute parent-child interaction therapy session improved interactional synchrony in low-income mothers and their pre-school infants
• what are the issues and debates of caregiver-infant interaction research?

  socially-sensitive research / gender bias