caregiver-infant interactions Flashcards
(20 cards)
define ‘attachment’
a close 2-way emotional bond between 2 individuals in which each person sees the other as essential for their own emotional security
what is proximity?
when people try to stay physically close to their attachment figure
what is separation distress?
people show signs of anxiety when an attachment figure leaves their presence
when do babies display secure-base behaviour?
when they regularly return to their attachment figure while playing
when does reciprocity occur?
when each person responds to the other and elicits a response from them
true or false?
babies have an active involvement in receiving care from an adult
true
what is an alert phase?
when babies signal that they are ready for some interaction
give an example of how a baby may display that they are ready for some interaction
making eye contact
from what age do alert phases become more frequent?
3 months
how often do mothers typically pick up on alert phases?
2/3 of the time
when does interactional synchrony take place?
when caregiver + baby interact so that their actions/emotions mirror each other
how else can interactional synchrony be defined?
temporal coordination of micro-level social behaviour
what did Isabella et. al research?
~ observed 30 mothers + babies together and assessed degree of synchrony
~ also assessed quality of mother-baby attachment
what were Isabella et. al’s findings?
they found that high levels of synchrony were associated with a better quality attachment
what did Meltzoff + Moore research?
~ adult displayed 1 out of 3 facial expressions/distinctive gestures
~ baby’s response was filmed by observers
what were Meltzoff + Moore’s findings?
baby’s expression/ gesture was more likely to mirror those of the adults
give 1 strength of this research
observations are filmed
why are filmed observations reliable and valid?
~ observations can be recorded and analysed later
~ more than one observer can record data (establish inter-rater reliability)
why are babies difficult to observe?
~ it’s hard to interpret a baby’s behaviour
~ there’s no way to know whether their actions are intentional as we can’t ask them
~ lowers validity - don’t know if behaviours are deliberate or random
give another weakness of this research
~ these observations don’t tell us the developmental importance - we can’t be certain from observational research alone that reciprocity and interactional synchrony are important for development
~ we don’t know purpose of behaviours
