Attachment - Caregiver-infant interactions

Attachment - Caregiver-infant interactions

1. Newborn babies have alert phases.

   • From birth, babies and their mothers (or other carers) spend a lot of time in intense and pleasurable interaction. Babies have periodic 'alert phases' and signal they are ready for interaction, which mothers respond to around two-thirds of the time (Feldman and Eidleman 2007).

2. Interactional synchrony = mirroring

   • Two people are said to be 'synchronised' when they carry out the same action simultaneously. Interactional synchrony can be defined as 'the co-ordination of micro-level behaviour' (Feldman 2007). It takes place when mother and infant interact in such a way that their actions and emotions mirror the other.

3. Interactional synchrony at two weeks old.

   • Meltzof and Moore (1977) observed the beginnings of interactional synchrony in infants as young as two weeks old. An adult displayed one of three facial expressions or one of three distinctive gestures and the child's response was filmed. An association was found between the expression/gesture and the action of the child.