Caregiver and infant interactions

What was the aim of Meltzoff and Moores (1977) study?

To investigate whether infants can imitate facial expressions and gestures from a very young age, providing evidence for early social interaction and attachment formation.

How many participants in Meltzoff and Moore's (1977) study?

6 infants aged between 12 to 21 days old

What procedure did Melzoff and Moore (1977) use in their study?

An adult model performed four gestures (tongue protusion, mouth opening, lip protrusion, finger movement) in front of infants, and independent observers rated infants responses.

What were the key findings of Meltzoff and Moore (1977)?

Infants consistently imitated the adults gestures, suggestions imitation is innate rather than learned.

What conclusion did Meltzoff and Moore (1977) draw from their study?

Newborns are biologically programmed for social interaction, with imitation aiding early attachment formation.

Give one strength and one limitation of Meltzoff and Moore's (1977) study.

Strength: high control and reliability through lab setting and blind observers.

Limitation: difficult to distinguish real imitation from random infant behaviours.

What is reciprocity in caregiver-infant interactions?

A two-way communication where infants and caregiver respond to each other’s signals, like a conversation (Jaffe et Al., 1973).

Why is reciprocity important according to Brazelton (1979)?

It helps build a foundation for later attachment by allowing caregivers to anticipate infants behavior.

What is interaction synchrony?

When infants mirror the actions and emotions of caregivers in a coordinated, synchronised way.

What did Meltzoff and Moore's (1977) study on interactional synchrony find?

Infants imitated facial expressions or hand movements shown by an adult, even at only 3 days old, suggesting the behaviour is innate.

What is the difference between real and pseudo- imitation?

Real imitation involves intentional copying, aiding social bonding; pseudo-imitation could just be random, reflexive behaviour without meaningful interaction.

What is one problem with studying infant behaviour in imitation studies?

Infant movement (like tongue protrusion or yawning) occur naturally, making it hard to tell if they are truly imitating.

How did Meltzoff and Moore address the problem of testing infant behaviour?

By using blind observes to judge behaviour from videos, increasing internal validity.

What issue did Koepke et al. (1983) raise regarding Meltzoff and Moores findings?

They failed to replicate the findings, suggesting the original research might be unreliable.

What did Abravanel and DeYoung (1991) find about infants imitation?

Infants showed little response to inanimate objects, suggesting they only imitate social stimuli.

What did Isabelle et al. (1989) find about individual differences in interactional synchrony?

More strongly attached infants showed greater interactional synchrony with caregivers.

What is Meltzoff's (2005) ‘like me’ hypothesis?

Infants connect what they see with their own actions, understanding their own mental states, and then project these onto others, helping develop social relationships.