Infant-caregiver interaction

• define attachment:


  a strong, long lasting reciprocal emotional bond between an infant and their primary caregiver. It is characterised by behaviour such as seeking closeness and showing distress upon seperation.
• Define reciprocity:


  means two or both ways where the child has to bond with the mother and the mother has to bond with the child for an attachment to form successfully. they must both contribute to the relationship and generate a response.
• Give examples of a reciprocal infant-mother interaction 


  When a parent smiles at the child, the child would smile too.
• How was the importance of reciprocity demonstrated by Brazleton et al?

  Brazleton et al found that children as young as 2 weeks olf can attempt to copy their caregiver, who in turn responds to the childs signals two thirds of the time (feldman)
• Why is reciprocity important?

  It is important in teaching the child to communicate. It also allows the parent to better care for the child as they can detect certain cutes from the baby and respond to their need sooner.
• what is interactional synchrony?

  when the infant and primary caregiver becomes synchronised in their interaction. both the their actions and emotions are coordinated.
• What did Conner and Sander investigate about interactional synchrony?

  In 1974 both said that children can synchronise their movements with the sound of an adults voice
• What did Brazleton et al investigate?

  Young infants can copy the displayed distinctive facial expressions or gestures and how the reciprocal interaction changes according to the rhythm, pitch and volume of the adults voice. This has been found to lead to a better communication between the parent and child when older.
• why did Brazleton et al use controlled observations?

  To film the interaction from different angles as this ensures a high level of detail and accuracy in the observations and also allows valid conclusions to be made so inter rater reliability can be developed. Furthermore, independant observers (others) can rewatch tapes and compare findings.
• What is the main issue with controlled observations?

  Young children do not know whether their actions are meaningful especially those who are 2 weeks old as they have little motor coordination. Bremner even compared the behavioural response and understanding of infants and said interactions may appear to be reciporcal aD the child may not understand the purpose of reciprocity and interactional synchrony.