Caregiver-infant interactions

Caregiver-infant interactions

1. Reciprocity

   • Interactions between caregivers and infants result in mutual behaviour
   • Both parties can produce responses from each other
   • Helps to fortify the attachment bond

2. Interactional synchrony

   • Infants move their bodies in time with the carer's spoken language to create a kind of turn taking as seen with two way conversations
   • Reinforces the attachment bond

3. Bodily contact

   • Physical interactions between carer and infant help to form the attachment bond especially in the period immediately after birth

4. Mimicking

   • Infants seem to have an innate ability to imitate carers' facial expressions, suggesting that this is a biological device to add to the formation of attachment

5. Caregiverese

   • Adults interacting with infants use a modified language including high pitched vocal language that is song-like, slow and repetitive
   • This aids communication between the carer and infant and strengthens the bond