1. caregiver-infant interactions

types of caregiver-infant interactions

1. reciprocity (alert phases, active involvement)

2. interactional synchrony (synchrony begins, attachment importance)

reciprocity

a description of how two people interact

caregiver-infant interaction is reciprocal in that both respond to the others signals and elicits responses

• one persons contribution is followed by the other persons contributions

alert phases

babies have periodic alert phases in which they signal eg by eye contact that they are ready for interactions

research on alert phases

• research (feldman & eidelman 2007) shows mothers typically pick up on and respond to their baby’s alertness around two-thirds of the time ALTHOUGH this varies according to the skill of the mother and external factors such as stress (finegood et al 2016)

• research (feldman 2007) shows from around three months this interaction becomes increasingly frequent and involves both mother and baby playing close attention to verbal signals and facial expressions

active involvement

babies as well as caregivers take an active role - both can initiate interactions and appear to take turns in doing so

brazelton et al 1975 described this interaction as a dance

interactional synchrony

when the caregiver and baby reflect the actions and emotions of the other in a synchronised way

feldmen’s definition

the temporal co-ordination of micro-level social behaviour

research on synchrony beginning

research (meltzoff & moore 1977) observed the beginning of interactional synchrony begins at two weeks old

• PROCEDURE - an adult displayed one of three distinctive facial expressions, or one of three distinctive gestures and the baby’s response was filmed and labelled

• FINDINGS - babies expressions and gestures were more likely to mirror those of adults more than chance would predict ie there was significant association

research on attachment importance

it is believed that interactional synchrony is important for the development of caregiver-infant attachment

• isabella et al 1989 observed 30 mothers and babies together and assessed the degree of synchrony and quality of mother-baby attachment

• found that high levels of synchrony were associated with better quality mother-baby attachment eg the emotional intensity of the relationship

evaluation

1. highly controlled observations (& counterpoint)

2. practical applications

practical applications (& counterpoint)

• research has practical benefits but is socially sensitive

• encouraging mothers to engage in social interaction and to respond to the behaviours of their child in an appropriate & timely manner benefits the child’s development in areas such as empathy and language 

• crotwell et al found a 10 minute parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT) improved synchrony in 20 low income families

• findings support interventions to enhance caregiver-infant bonds, but research is socially sensitive as it could imply that early maternal return to work negatively impacts attachment

highly controlled

• filmed observations improve reliability and validity

• filming allows researchers to review interactions and assess inter-rater reliability which reduces observer bias and increases control over variables

• means no ambiguity to the baby’s responses as researchers wont miss any behaviours

• infants are unaware they are being observed reducing influence of demand characteristics ensuring more naturalistic behaviour

CP observation difficulties

• studying caregiver infant interactions presents several challenges

1. accurately interpreting infant behaviour is inherently challenging - infants often exhibit subtle and ambiguous behaviours which are subjective and as a result lead to inconsistencies, reducing reliability

this is because babies do not yet have motor coordination or communication skills making their behaviour signals lacking in clarity

2. risk of observer bias where researchers may interpret infant behaviours according to their expectations which can affect the validity of the findings 

3. practical issues arise as infants spend most their time sleeping or feeding, making it difficult to observe them consistently and limits lengths of observations