Reciprocity and Interactional Synchrony

• Attachment is a strong reciprocal emotional bond between an infant and a primary care giver
• RECIPROCAL

  • two/both ways
  • the child has to bond with the mother, and the mother has to bond with the child for an attachment for form successfully
  • they must both be able to contribute to the relationship and generate a response, such as when a parent smiles at the child, the child would smile too.
• The importance of reciprocity was demonstrated by Brazleton et al, who found that children as young as 2 weeks old can attempt to copy their caregiver, who in turn responds to the child’s signals 2/3 of the time (Feldman).
• It has been said that reciprocity is important in teaching the child to communicate.
• Reciprocity also allows the parent to better care for the child as they can detect certain cues from the baby and respond to their needs sooner and more effectively.
• Interactional Synchrony

  • when the infant and primary caregiver becomes synchronised in their interactions.
• Condon and Sander (1974) said that children can synchronise their movements with the sound of an adult’s voice, and Brazleton et al demonstrated that young infants can copy the displayed distinctive facial expressions or gestures.
• • The way the two interact during interactional synchrony changes slightly according to the rhythm, pitch, volume etc of the adult’s speech.
  • This has been found to lead to better communication between the parent and child when the child is older.
• STRENGTHS OF RECIPROCITY AND INTERACTIONAL SYNCRHONY

  • Many of these studies used controlled observations
  • Brazleton et al even filmed the interactions from different angles
  • this ensures a high level of detail and accuracy in the observations
  • also allows valid conclusions to be drawn because inter-rater reliability can be established: independent observers can rewatch the tapes and compare their findings.
• WEAKNESSES OF RECIPROCITY AND INTERACTIONAL SYNCRHONY

  • it is not known whether their actions are meaningful, especially since children as young as 2 weeks old have little or no motor coordination
  • Bremner drew the distinction between behavioural response and behavioural understanding
  • just because an interaction appears to be reciprocal, does not mean that the child understands the purpose of either reciprocity or interactional synchrony.