Caregiver-infant Interactions

• Humans are altricial (born at early stage of development) whereas animals are precocial (born relatively mature and mobile).
• One key interaction between caregivers and infants is their non-verbal communication. Babies produce a social releaser like smiling to get a response from the caregiver. Interactions between young babies and their parents are baby led, the adult responds to their behaviours.
• Reciprocity is when a baby responds to the actions of another person by turn taking.
• Alert phase: babies signal they are ready for interaction. Research by Feldman and Eidelman shows mothers usually respond To their baby’s alertness two-thirds of the time, although this varies. From around three months this interaction becomes more frequent and involves both baby and mother paying attention to signals.
• Active phase: both caregiver and baby can initiate interactions and appear to take turns. T Berry Brazelton et al describe it as a dance where the partner responds to the other’s move.
• Interactional synchrony is a form of rhythmic interaction between caregiver and infant involving mutual focus, reciprocity and mirroring of behaviour. From birth babies move in a rhythm when interacting with an adult as if they’re taking turns. Both are able to anticipate how each other will behave and can make a particular response.
• Meltzoff and Moore examined intersectional synchrony infants. Using a controlled observation, an adult model displayed one of three facial expression. To start with the baby had a dummy in its mouth to prevent a response. The dummy was then removed. There was a clear association between the behaviour of the infant from the adult. Later research found the same results in 3 day old infants. These findings suggest interactional synchrony is innate.
• Attunement is the process where the parent is “tuned in” to the child’s emotional needs. They have to notice change in babies emotions and show the baby they understand those emotions. Attunement helps a child feel understood, accepted and supported by the caregiver.
• Still face technique

  A technique used by Tronick to test the importance of interactional synchrony
• Infant's response to still face technique

  1. Baby attempts to get the interaction into its usual reciprocal pattern with subtle facial cues

  2. When this doesn't work, baby moves face and body away from the mother with a hopeless expression
• Experiment with still face technique


  • Demonstrates that very young infants already have basic building blocks of social cognition
  • Infants have some sense of relationship between face expressions and emotions
• Infant's attempts to re-engage with caregiver

  • Suggests they are able to plan and execute goal-directed behaviours