Reciprocity and Interactional Synchrony: Caregiver-infant interactions in humans
Attachment begins with the interactions between infants and their caregivers. It is the
responsiveness of the caregiver to the infant’s signals that has profound effects. From the start
babies have meaningful social interactions with their carers. Psychologists believe that these
interactions have important functions for the child’s social development. In particular, good
quality early social interactions are associated with the successful development of attachments
between babies and caregiver(s).
There are two key features of caregiver-infant interaction: reciprocity and interactional
synchrony
Reciprocity:
The interaction is caregiver/parent led. Caregiver-infant interaction is a two-way/mutual
process; each party (e.g. mother and infant) responds to the other’s signals to sustain
interaction (turn-taking). The behaviour of each party elicits a response from the other.
Interactional Synchrony:
The baby follows/mimics the caregiver/parent. When two people (mother and infant)
interact, they tend to mirror what the other is doing in terms of their facial and body
movements. This includes imitating emotions as well as behaviours. Caregiver and baby
do this in time, in a coordinated (sychronised) way.
Research into caregiver-infant interactions:
Procedures Findings
Meltzoff and Moore (1977)
They conducted the first systematic study of interactional synchrony and found that
infants as young as two to three weeks old imitated specific facial and hand gestures.
The study was conducted using an adult model who displayed one of three facial
expressions or hand movements where the fingers moved in a sequence. A dummy was
placed in the infant’s mouth during the initial display to prevent any response. Following
the display, the dummy was removed, and the child’s expression was filmed on a video
and labelled by independent observers (the person doing the judging had no idea what
behaviour was being imitated). They found that there was a significant association
between the infant behaviour and that of the adult model. This suggests that infant
, mimicry is an innate ability to aid the formation of attachments, especially as it was
subsequently seen in infants of less than three days old.
Murray and Trevarthen (1985) “Still face” study
Two-month-old infants first interacted via a video monitor with their mother in real time
(live). In the next part of the study, the video monitor played a tape of the mother so that
the image on screen was not responding to the infant’s facial and bodily gestures.
The result was one of acute distress from the baby. The infants tried to attract their
mother’s interest but, gaining no response, turned away. This shows that the infant is
actively eliciting a response rather than displaying a response that has been rewarded.
This shows that the infant is an active and intentional partner in the mother-infant
interaction.
Isabella et al (1989)
They observed 30 mothers and babies together and assessed the degree of synchrony.
The researchers also assessed the quality of mother-baby attachment. They found that
high levels of synchrony were associated with better quality mother-baby attachment
(e.g. the emotional intensity of the relationship).
Condon and Sander (1974)
They analysed frame-by-frame video recordings of infants’ movements to find they co-
ordinated their actions in sequence with adults’ speech to form a kind of conversational
‘dance’, demonstrating interactional synchrony.
Klaus and Kennell (1976)
They compared mums who had extended physical contact with their babies lasting
several hours a day with mums who only had physical contact with their babies during
feeding in the three days after birth.
One month later, the mums with greater physical contact were found to cuddle their
babies more and made greater eye contact with them than the mums with lesser contact
Attachment begins with the interactions between infants and their caregivers. It is the
responsiveness of the caregiver to the infant’s signals that has profound effects. From the start
babies have meaningful social interactions with their carers. Psychologists believe that these
interactions have important functions for the child’s social development. In particular, good
quality early social interactions are associated with the successful development of attachments
between babies and caregiver(s).
There are two key features of caregiver-infant interaction: reciprocity and interactional
synchrony
Reciprocity:
The interaction is caregiver/parent led. Caregiver-infant interaction is a two-way/mutual
process; each party (e.g. mother and infant) responds to the other’s signals to sustain
interaction (turn-taking). The behaviour of each party elicits a response from the other.
Interactional Synchrony:
The baby follows/mimics the caregiver/parent. When two people (mother and infant)
interact, they tend to mirror what the other is doing in terms of their facial and body
movements. This includes imitating emotions as well as behaviours. Caregiver and baby
do this in time, in a coordinated (sychronised) way.
Research into caregiver-infant interactions:
Procedures Findings
Meltzoff and Moore (1977)
They conducted the first systematic study of interactional synchrony and found that
infants as young as two to three weeks old imitated specific facial and hand gestures.
The study was conducted using an adult model who displayed one of three facial
expressions or hand movements where the fingers moved in a sequence. A dummy was
placed in the infant’s mouth during the initial display to prevent any response. Following
the display, the dummy was removed, and the child’s expression was filmed on a video
and labelled by independent observers (the person doing the judging had no idea what
behaviour was being imitated). They found that there was a significant association
between the infant behaviour and that of the adult model. This suggests that infant
, mimicry is an innate ability to aid the formation of attachments, especially as it was
subsequently seen in infants of less than three days old.
Murray and Trevarthen (1985) “Still face” study
Two-month-old infants first interacted via a video monitor with their mother in real time
(live). In the next part of the study, the video monitor played a tape of the mother so that
the image on screen was not responding to the infant’s facial and bodily gestures.
The result was one of acute distress from the baby. The infants tried to attract their
mother’s interest but, gaining no response, turned away. This shows that the infant is
actively eliciting a response rather than displaying a response that has been rewarded.
This shows that the infant is an active and intentional partner in the mother-infant
interaction.
Isabella et al (1989)
They observed 30 mothers and babies together and assessed the degree of synchrony.
The researchers also assessed the quality of mother-baby attachment. They found that
high levels of synchrony were associated with better quality mother-baby attachment
(e.g. the emotional intensity of the relationship).
Condon and Sander (1974)
They analysed frame-by-frame video recordings of infants’ movements to find they co-
ordinated their actions in sequence with adults’ speech to form a kind of conversational
‘dance’, demonstrating interactional synchrony.
Klaus and Kennell (1976)
They compared mums who had extended physical contact with their babies lasting
several hours a day with mums who only had physical contact with their babies during
feeding in the three days after birth.
One month later, the mums with greater physical contact were found to cuddle their
babies more and made greater eye contact with them than the mums with lesser contact
