Caregiver infant interactions

• Caregiver infant interaction


  • Reciprocity - two way process where caregiver & infant respond to each other's signals to maintain interaction
  • Interactional synchrony - caregiver and infant are 'synchronised' when they carry out the same action simultaneously
• Meltzoff & Moore study

  1. Videotaping babies as young as 2 weeks old

  2. Adults displayed various facial expressions or hand gestures

  3. Independent observers recorded instances of tongue protrusion and head movements

  4. Ensuring inter-rater reliability
• The results indicated that the babies could imitate both facial expressions and manual gestures
• Imitation by babies


  Example of reciprocity - demonstrates a turn-taking communication style