care-giver interactions

• reciprocity is achieved when a baby and caregiver respond to and elicit responses from eachother. For example, a caregiver responds to a baby’s smile by saying something and then the baby responds by making some sounds of pleasure
• Interaction synchrony is when a care giver or baby mirrors actions or noises the other makes. For example, a baby makes a facial expression and so a mother copies it
• Meltzoff and Moore study of interactional synchrony:

  observed babies 2 weeks old and had the adult display one of 3 facial expressions or one of the gestures. Babies' expression and gestures were more likely to mirror those of the adults than the chance would predict
• Isabella et al study of interactional synchrony: observed 30 mothers and babies together and assessed the quality of mother-baby attachment. They found that high levels of synchrony were associated with better quality mother-baby attachmentnt
• One strength of the studies into interactional synchrony is the use of filmed observations. Mother-baby interactions are usually filmed, from multiple angles. Very fine details of behaviour can be recorded and analysed later. Also, babies don’t know they are being observed, so their behaviour doesn’t change in response to observation. This means the studies have good validity and reliability
• One limitation for the studies into interactional synchrony is that it is very difficult to observe babies. It is hard to observe babies’ behaviour because they are not very co-ordinated. We just observe small gestures and small changes in expression. It is also hard to interpret the meaning of babies’ movements. This means we cannot be certain that any particular interactions observed between baby and caregiver are meaningful