caregiver-infant interactions

Question 1

attachment

Answer 1

A strong, enduring, two-way emotional tie to a specific other person, normally between a parent and child.
A newborn baby is unable to support itself and so must develop attachment bonds with adults who can provide it food, shelter, protection etc.

Question 2

reciprocity

Answer 2

Two-way interaction between a caregiver and infant. They both take it in turns in an interaction, so they respond to each other’s actions.
E.g. caregiver waves a toy around, and infant giggles in response.
This is important in teaching a baby how to communicate.

Question 3

interactional synchrony

Answer 3

The caregiver and infant reflect the actions and emotions of each other in a co-ordinated way, they perform similar actions in time with one another.
E.g. Caregiver pulls a funny face, infant laughs, then caregiver laughs back.
Both of these interactions strengthen the bond between caregiver and infant

Question 4

AO3 - video recordings

Answer 4

There is evidence to support interactional synchrony. Researchers analysed frame by frame video recordings of infants’ movements when they were with their mothers. They found that they coordinated their actions in sequence with adults speech. Therefore suggests interactional synchrony and the reflection of actions are critical in forming attachments.
Additionally, the frame by frame analysis would provide high detail, therefore meaning results are likely to be reliable as the videos can be replayed to check for accuracy.

Question 5

AO3 - measure separation and stranger anxiety

Answer 5

Researchers investigated the strength of the bond between mothers and their babies. They measured separation anxiety and stranger anxiety. They found that those who showed more interactional synchrony and reciprocity had stronger attachment bonds.
However, this is only a correlation, so cannot establish cause and effect.

Question 6

AO3 - controlled observations

Answer 6

A lot of studies into caregiver-infant interactions use controlled observations, such as filming behaviour from multiple angles. This ensures a high level of detail and accuracy in the observations but also allows valid conclusions to be drawn, because inter-rater reliability can be established through being able to rewatch the recordings.
However, it is difficult to determine the reason behind a baby’s movement. Therefore, just because an action appears reciprocal, it is impossible to guarantee if the child understands the purpose of reciprocity/ interactional synchrony.