Research into caregiver interactions

Created by: danbot77
Created on: 22-04-21 12:35

What are the two forms of communication between mother and infant?

Reciprocity and interactional synchrony.

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What is reciprocity?

Reciprocity is when one person responds to the other. for example, an infant may laugh and the mother may laugh back. Both the mother and the baby can initiate interactions.

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What is interactional synchrony?

Infants move their bodies in tune with their mother's. This mirroring helps to strengthen their attachment bond.

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Who did research into interactional synchrony?

Melzoff and Moore infants aged 2-3 weeks old tended to mimic their mother's specific facial expressions and hand gestures. This supports the idea of these behaviours being innate.

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What is one support for the research into infant-caregiver interactions?

Observations usually are in well- controlled procedures with multiple camera angles. This means very fine details can still be picked up. Babies don't care about being observed so there isn't any demand characteristics.

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What is one criticism for the research into infant- caregiver interactions?

Interactional synchrony isn't found in all cultures. Le Vine et al found that Kenyan mothers have few interactions with their children but they still have secure attachments. Is IS necessary for attachments?

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What is one criticism for the research into infant- caregiver interactions?

All that has been observed in these studies is general hand gestures or changes in expression. We cannot be certain there is a reason for these changes. We can't assume they have special meaning.

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What is one criticism for the research into infant- caregiver interactions?

The infants mouths were in constant motion meaning we couldn't distinguish between general activity and specific imitations. However, Meltzoff and Moore added another observer with no knowledge of IS to help inter- observer reliability.

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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

What is reciprocity?

Back

Reciprocity is when one person responds to the other. for example, an infant may laugh and the mother may laugh back. Both the mother and the baby can initiate interactions.

Card 3

Front

What is interactional synchrony?

Back

Card 4

Front

Who did research into interactional synchrony?

Back

Card 5

Front

What is one support for the research into infant-caregiver interactions?

Back

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Research into caregiver interactions