ATTACHMENT- caregiver-infant interactions

Question 1

what is attachment?

Answer 1

The formation of a strong, reciprocal, emotional bond between an infant and a primary caregiver.

Question 2

what are caregiver-infant interactions?

Answer 2

• non verbal communication
• forms basis of attachment between infant and caregiver
• the more sensitive each is to others’ signals, the deeper the relationship

Question 3

what are alert phases?

Answer 3

• when babies signal that they are ready for interaction

Question 3

what is reciprocity?

Answer 3

• where each person responds to the other and elicts a response, in a turn taking conversation
• usually non-verbal

Question 3

what does Feldman and Eidelman 2007 suggest?

Answer 3

mothers responde 2/3 of the time

Question 4

what does Finegood et al 2016 suggest?

Answer 4

mothers response varies according to the skill of the mother and external factors such as stress.

Question 5

what does Feldman (2007) suggest about interaction between mother and infant after 3 months?

Answer 5

the interaction between the mother and infant becomes increasingly frequent. Involves close attention to each other’s facial expressions and verbal signals.

Question 6

what is active involvement?

Answer 6

Babies as well as caregivers actually take quite an active role. When babies and caregivers can initiate interactions and they appear to take turns in doing so.

Question 7

what does braxzelton et al (1975) suggest?

Answer 7

Describes the active involvement of infant and caregiver like a dance where each partner responds to the other persons move.

Question 8

What is interactional synchrony?

Answer 8

Coordination of behaviour and interactions over time.
Interaction behaviours are in harmony.
the caregiver and baby interact in such a way that their actions and emotions mirror the other.

Question 9

what did Meltzoff and Moore (1977) find?

Answer 9

They found the infant young at 2 to 3 weeks imitated specific facial and hand gestures.

Question 10

Outline the procedure of meltzoff’s and moore’s study?

Answer 10

1. There was an adult model who displayed one of the three facial expressions or hand movement.
2. A dummy was placed in the infants’s mouth during the initial display to prevent any response.
3. The dummy was removed and the child’s expressions were filmed.

Question 11

what were the findings of Meltzoff’s and Moore’s study?

Answer 11

Significant association between infant behaviour and that of the adult model.

Question 12

Why is interactional synchrony seen to be important to attachment?

Answer 12

Russell Isabela et al (1989) assess the quality of mother-baby attachement. They found that high levels of synchrony were associated with better quality mother-baby attachement. eg emotional intensity of the relationship.

Question 13

what are the strengths of research into caregiver-infant interactions?

Answer 13

+ usually filmed in laboratory
Other activity that might distract a baby can be controlled. Observations can be recorded and analysed later. Therefore it is unlikely that researchers will miss seeing key behaviours. More than one observer can record data and establish the inter-rater reliability of observations.

Therefore the data collected in such research should have good reliability and validity.

+ Isabella et al (1989) found that achievement of interactional synchrony predicted the development of a good quality attachment. This means caregiver – infant interaction is probably important in development.

+ research into early caregiver – infant interaction has practical applications in parenting skills training.
eg Rebecca Crotwell et al (2013) found that a 10 minute parent to child interaction therapy improved interactional synchrony in mothers and their preschool children.

Question 14

what are the limitations of research into caregiver-infant interactions?

Answer 14

• there is difficulty observing babies
  Young babies lack coordination and much of their bodies are almost immobile. For example movements being observed or small hand movements or subtle changes in expression therefore it is difficult to determine what is taking place from the babies perspective.
  This means we cannot be certain that behaviour seen in caregiver-infant interactions have a special meaning.

-simply observing a behaviour does not tell us it’s developmental importance.
Ruth Feldman argues that ideas like synchrony simple gives names to patterns of observable caregiver and baby behaviours.
They still may not be particularly useful in understanding child development as it does not tell us the purpose of these behaviours. This means we cannot be certain from observational research alone that reciprocity and synchrony are important for a child’s development.