caregiver-infant interactions A03

• Strength of research on caregiver-infant interactions


  • Interactions are usually filmed in a laboratory
  • Other activity that might distract a baby can be controlled
  • Observations can be recorded and analysed later
  • More than one observer can record data and establish inter-rater reliability
  • Babies don't know they are being observed, so their behaviour does not change in response to observation
• The data collected in such research should have good reliability and validity
• Difficulty observing babies


  • Young babies lack coordination and much of their bodies are almost immobile
  • Movements being observed are just small hand movements or subtle changes in expression
  • Difficult to be sure whether a baby is smiling or just passing wind
  • Difficult to determine what is taking place from the baby's perspective
  • Cannot know whether a movement such as a hand twitch is random or triggered by something the caregiver has done
• This means that we cannot be certain that the behaviours seen in caregiver-infant interactions have special meaning
• Developmental importance


  The significance of a behaviour for a child's development
• Simply observing a behaviour does not tell us its developmental importance
• Synchrony


  Patterns of observable caregiver and baby behaviours
• Reciprocity


  Patterns of observable caregiver and baby behaviours
• Synchrony and reciprocity are robust phenomena that can be reliably observed
• Observing synchrony and reciprocity does not tell us the purpose of these behaviours
• We cannot be certain from observational research alone that reciprocity and synchrony are important for a child's development
• Counterpoint: There is evidence from other lines of research to suggest that early interactions are important. For example, Isabella et al found that achievement of interactional synchrony predicted the development of a good quality attachment. This means that, on balance, caregiver-infant interaction is probably important in development
• Practical value versus ethics: research into early caregiver-infant interaction has practical applications in parenting skills training. For example, Crotwell et al. found that a 10-minute parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT) improved interactional synchrony in 20 low-income mothers and their pre-school children. On the other hand research into caregiver-infant interaction is socially sensitive because it can be used to argue that when a mother returns to work soon after having a baby this may risk damaging their baby's development - practical application does outweigh social sensitivity