Caregiver-infant interactions

Caregiver-infant interactions

1. caregiver-infant interaction is reciprocal (each person's interactions affect the other)

2. from birth, babies signal when they are ready to interact (e.g. eye contact)

3. interactions are active not passive, they initiate and respond to interaction

4. caregiver and infant signals synchronise (they occur together - mirroring)

5. Meltzoff and Moore

   • Babies mirror adults expressions and gestures from 2 weeks old

6. Isabella et al

   • synchrony linked to better quality mother-baby attachment

7. ✓ observations are usually filmed

   • observations can be recorded and analysed later, key behaviours are unlikely to be missed, inter-observer reliability, allows for covert observation, gives the research good reliability and validity

8. ✗ difficulty observing babies

   • hard to interpret babies behaviour, young babies lack co-ordination,