Attachment
revision
,Caregiver-infant interactions
• Reciprocity- when each person responds to the other and gets a response from them. Turn taking. Alert
phases are times when a baby is ready for social interaction, and this is signalled through making eye
contact or noises. Feldman found that at 3 months old, interactions become more frequent. Recent researc
shows that babies are not passive- Brazelton et al describes interactions as a dance, where each person
responds to the other's moves. Feldman and Eidelman found that mothers pick up on their babies' alertnes
around 2/3rds of the time, and Finegood et al found that this varies on the mother because of factors such
as stress.
• Interactional synchrony- When mothers and babies mimic or mirror each other. Melztoff and Moore looked
how interactional synchrony begins in babies as young as two weeks, by getting adults to display one of
three facial expressions and one of three gestures to a baby, which was filmed. There was found to be an
association between the facial expression or action of the adult and the action of the child. Interactional
synchrony is important for a good attachment. Isabella et al observed 30 mothers and infants together and
assessed the degree of synchrony. They also assessed the quality of mother-infant attachment and found
that high levels of synchrony were associated with better quality mother-infant attachments.
, Evaluation of caregiver-infant
interactions
• Strengths- Filmed observations (observations were well-controlled procedures carried out in labs so variab
were controlled. They are usually filmed and can be analysed, so nothing is missed, and more than one obse
can watch the recording to establish inter-observer reliability. Babies do not know they are being filmed so it
not change their behaviour, so this ensures good reliability and validity), Practical applications (can have
effects on parent skills training. Crotwell et al found that a 10 minute parent-child interaction therapy improv
interactional synchrony in 20 low income mothers and their children), Some importance (Isabella et al foun
that achievement of interactional synchrony predicted the development of a good quality attachment, so the
interactions are probably important).
• Weaknesses- Difficulty observing babies (hard to interpret a baby's behaviour. Young babies lack co-ordin
and much of their bodies are almost immobile, so the movements observed are small gestures which may be
difficult to be sure they are intended. We cannot see from the baby's perspective, so we cannot give these
interactions special meaning), Developmental importance (Feldman says that ideas like synchrony simply
names to patterns of observable caregiver and baby behaviours. They can be reliably observed, but not as u
in understanding development as we do not know the purpose of the behaviours, so we do not know how
important they are), Socially sensitive research (it can be used to argue that when a mother returns to wo
soon after having a baby this may risk damaging the baby's development).
revision
,Caregiver-infant interactions
• Reciprocity- when each person responds to the other and gets a response from them. Turn taking. Alert
phases are times when a baby is ready for social interaction, and this is signalled through making eye
contact or noises. Feldman found that at 3 months old, interactions become more frequent. Recent researc
shows that babies are not passive- Brazelton et al describes interactions as a dance, where each person
responds to the other's moves. Feldman and Eidelman found that mothers pick up on their babies' alertnes
around 2/3rds of the time, and Finegood et al found that this varies on the mother because of factors such
as stress.
• Interactional synchrony- When mothers and babies mimic or mirror each other. Melztoff and Moore looked
how interactional synchrony begins in babies as young as two weeks, by getting adults to display one of
three facial expressions and one of three gestures to a baby, which was filmed. There was found to be an
association between the facial expression or action of the adult and the action of the child. Interactional
synchrony is important for a good attachment. Isabella et al observed 30 mothers and infants together and
assessed the degree of synchrony. They also assessed the quality of mother-infant attachment and found
that high levels of synchrony were associated with better quality mother-infant attachments.
, Evaluation of caregiver-infant
interactions
• Strengths- Filmed observations (observations were well-controlled procedures carried out in labs so variab
were controlled. They are usually filmed and can be analysed, so nothing is missed, and more than one obse
can watch the recording to establish inter-observer reliability. Babies do not know they are being filmed so it
not change their behaviour, so this ensures good reliability and validity), Practical applications (can have
effects on parent skills training. Crotwell et al found that a 10 minute parent-child interaction therapy improv
interactional synchrony in 20 low income mothers and their children), Some importance (Isabella et al foun
that achievement of interactional synchrony predicted the development of a good quality attachment, so the
interactions are probably important).
• Weaknesses- Difficulty observing babies (hard to interpret a baby's behaviour. Young babies lack co-ordin
and much of their bodies are almost immobile, so the movements observed are small gestures which may be
difficult to be sure they are intended. We cannot see from the baby's perspective, so we cannot give these
interactions special meaning), Developmental importance (Feldman says that ideas like synchrony simply
names to patterns of observable caregiver and baby behaviours. They can be reliably observed, but not as u
in understanding development as we do not know the purpose of the behaviours, so we do not know how
important they are), Socially sensitive research (it can be used to argue that when a mother returns to wo
soon after having a baby this may risk damaging the baby's development).
