Caregiver-Infant Interactions

• Define attachment

  a strong, enduring, emotional and reciprocal bond between two people, especially an infant and caregiver
• Interactional synchrony


  the caregiver and an infant reflect the actions and emotions of each other in a coordinated and synchronised way in terms of their facial and body movements
• Reciprocity


  • a two way process whereby each person responds to the signals of the other to sustain an interaction (turn-taking approach)
  • the behaviour of each party elicits a response from the other
• sensitive responsiveness


  the extent to which a parent is in-tune with a child's emotional state, able to understand its needs and decode the infant's signals by responding appropriately and quickly
• Bodily contact


  physical interactions help to form the attachment bond in the very early period, particularly, immediately after birth
• social releasers

  innate behaviours (like cooing and smiling) which encourages the caregiver to respond to the infant
• Caregiverese


  • a form of modified vocal language used by adults as they interact with infants, which includes high-pitched, song-like vocals
  • These vocals help with communication between the infant and caregiver while also strengthening the attachment bond
• Mimicking


  infants imitate the facial expressions of the caregiver, suggesting an innate biological drive to form an attachment bond