Caregiver infant interactions

• What is Attachment?


  Emotional two-way bond between two individuals.
• Still face experiment


  Parent interacts with child, to which the child responds. The parent then has a still face, to which the child becomes distressed
• Reciprocity


  Infant and caregiver responds to the other, getting a response from them
• Reciprocity phases


  Alert phrases - babies signal that they are ready for interaction

  Active involvement - babies and carers take an active role in initiating interactions
• Interactional synchrony


  Caregiver and baby reflect both the actions and emotions of the other and do this in a coordinated way.

  Isabella et al - observed 30 mothers and babies together and found high levels of synchrony were associated with better attachment
• Interactional synchrony research


  Meltzoff and Moore

  • adult displayed one of three gestures
  • baby's response was filmed and observed
  • babies' gestures were more likely to mirror those of the adults than expected from chance
• Strength of caregiver-infant interactions

  Filmed in a lab meaning that other variables can be controlled. Also being filmed means the study can be rewatched and behaviours won't be missed. Good reliability and validity
• Weakness of caregiver-infant interactions

  Hard to interpret baby's behaviour as they are uncoordinated and so movements observed may not be down to caregiver or random