Caregiver-infant Interactions in Humans (AQA A Level Psychology)

Reciprocity

• Reciprocity is a type of interaction between two people

• Infants interact with their caregivers in a reciprocal way

  • The caregiver and the infant respond to each other's signals, facial expressions etc and each gets a response from the other e.g. a caregiver may smile at their baby and the baby smiles back

• Babies show reciprocity to their caregivers from birth

• Throughout the day babies will have periods of alertness in which they are more receptive to being interactive

  • This may look like tracking their caregiver around the room, making eye contact or verbal signals

  • The caregivers should be able to detect and pick up on these periods of alertness around two-thirds of the time (Feldman 2007)

  • Stress and distractions can contribute to alertness signals being missed (Feldman 2007)

• The interaction between the infant and caregiver is a two-way process where babies take an active involvement just as much as the caregiver

  • Brazelton et al. (1975) described the interaction between infants and caregivers as a 'dance' where each is responding to the other person's moves

• The reciprocal relationship between infant and caregiver lays the foundations for secure attachment

The Still Face experiment

• Tronick (1972) devised an experiment to give an insight into how a parent’s reactions can affect the emotional development of a baby - the Still Face Experiment

• Procedure:

  • An infant is sat opposite their caregiver, sitting face to face

  • The caregiver interacts with the baby, responding to their cues and noises and facial expressions

  • The caregiver then turns their face away from the infant for a few seconds

  • The caregiver then returns to face their infant but has a 'still face' and does not interact with the infant or respond to them for two minutes

  • The caregiver then repairs with their infant and returns to their normal responsive behaviour

• Findings:

  • During the first phase, infants are engaged with their caregiver and responding to cues and interaction from their caregiver - they show reciprocity

  • Once the 'still face' phase of the experiment begins, infants show changes to their behaviour:

    1. Confusion initially

    2. Attempts initiate a response from their caregiver

    3. Distress and frustration

    4. Loss of postural control - the infant's central nervous system becomes so overwhelmed that they physically collapse

    5. Withdrawn and no longer attempting to get their caregiver's attention

  • During the repair, the infant is relieved and responsive to their caregiver; the infant is quickly able to regulate its emotions and play resumes easily

• The findings of the Still Face experiment suggest that infants try to achieve a connection with their caregivers

• Infants can actively engage and shape social interaction with their caregivers

• Infants were once thought to be unable to understand emotions; the 'Still Face' experiment shows they have a clear reaction to a lack of emotional connection from their caregiver

Interactional synchrony

• Interactional synchrony is the mirroring action of facial expressions, bodily movements and/or emotions between two people

  • Synchrony refers to the co-ordinated manner in which these actions take place

  • This can be evident between a caregiver and an infant

• Interactional synchrony is another important process to enable secure attachment between an infant and caregiver

  • Isabella et al. (1989) found, during a study of 30 mothers and their babies, that those with higher levels of synchrony had a more secure attachment

• Meltzoff and Moore (1977) carried out a well-known systematic study of interactional synchrony between caregivers and infants

  • An adult model displayed one of three facial expressions and hand gestures

  • Initially, a dummy (pacifier) was placed into the infant's mouth to prevent any facial responses

  • The dummy was then removed and the infant's facial expressions were recorded on video and observations were noted by an independent observer

  • They found that interactional synchrony began as young as two weeks old when infants could mirror the facial expressions and hand gestures of an adult

This article was published in Science, 198, A. N. Meltzoff, Foundations for developing a concept of self: The role of imitation in relating self to other and the value of social mirroring, social modelling, and self-practice in infancy, 139-164, Copyright Elsevier (1977)

Evaluation

Strengths

• Meltzoff and Moore's study on interactional synchrony was filmed

  • This means that observations can be analysed later and there is no ambiguity to the baby's responses as researchers will not miss any behaviours

  • Using infants at such a young age (two-three weeks old) means that they are unaware they are being filmed and so their behaviour will not change in response to being recorded (which is more likely with older subjects being filmed)

  • Therefore data collected will have high validity

• Evidence supports Meltzoff and Moore's findings:

  • Murray and Tervarthen (1985) studied two-month-old infants using interactions with their mothers via a video monitor

  • When mothers did not interact with their infants, via the monitor, infants showed distress and tried to attract their mother's attention

  • The infants independently showed a response rather than showing a behaviour that had been rewarded by the mother replicating it back

  • This suggests that the infant is an active and intentional partner in the infant-caregiver relationship

Limitations

• Using infants and babies in research can make it difficult to test their behaviours

  • Infants lack coordinated movements and tend to move their limbs randomly

  • Infants 'test' out facial expressions independent from any interaction with an adult or caregiver

  • It is difficult to distinguish between their general behaviours and specific actions in response to an adult

  • This means that there is no certainty to the findings

• The Still Face Experiment was a lab procedure

  • This means that it is likely to lack ecological validity and so findings of the experiment may not give an accurate prediction of what would be seen in the real world

  • A lab experiment may also exaggerate or inhibit certain behaviours that would or would not be present in a real-world setting, such as the baby may already be heightened to being ignored by their parent as they are in an unfamiliar setting