Caregiver - Infant Interactions in Humans
Precocial animals are born at an advances stage of development , for example horses are able to walk and run soon after birth
Humans are altricial , born at an early stage of development and so need to form attachment bonds with adults who will protect and nurture them
An attachment is an enduring , 2 way , emotional tie to a specific other person , normally between a parent or child , which develops in set stages within a fairly set time scale
An attachment can be seen to have developed when an infant shows stranger anxiety ( distress in the presence of an unknown individual ) and separation protest ( distress at the absence of a specific person )
A particular individual gives an infant a sense of security and is usually the childs mother , though attachments can be provided by anyone who provides such comfort and security
Interactions between a carer and an infant serve to develop and maintain an attachment bond between them
Bodily Contact : Physical interactions between carer and infant help to form the attachment bond , especially in the period immediately after birth
Mimicking : Infants seem to have an innate ability to imitate carers facial expressions , which suggests it is a biological device to aid the formation of attachments
Caregiverese : Adults who interact with infants use a modified form of vocal language that is high pitched , song like in nature , slow and repetitive . This aids communication between carer and infant and serves to strengthen the attachment bond
Interactional synchrony : Infants move their bodies in tune with the rhythm of carers spoken language to create a kind if turn taking , as seen with 2 way vocal conversations . This again serves to reinforce the attachment bond
Reciprocity : Interactions between carers and infants result in mutual behaviour , with both parties being able to produce responses from each other , which also helps to fortify the attachment bond
Klaus and Kennel (1976) compared mums who had extended physical contact with their babies lasting several hours a day with mums who only had physical contact with their babies during feeding in the three days after birth . One month later mums with greater physical contact were found to cuddle their babies more and made greater eye contact with them than the mums who had less physical contact . These effects were still noticeable a year later
Condon and Sander (1974) analysed frame by frame video recordings of infants movements to find they co ordinated their actions in sequence with adults speech to form a kind of turn taking conversation , supporting the idea of interactional synchrony . Isabella (1989) strengthened the idea by finding that infants with secure attachments demonstrated more evidence of such behaviour during their first year of life
Evaluation
A practical application of Klaus and Kennels findings was that hospitals placed mothers and babies in the same room in the days following birth , rather than the previous practice of rooming them separate
Durkin (1995) claimed Klaus and Kennells findings were due not to increased physical contact but instead due to the greater attention given to the mothers who were unmarried and poor . However Dr Chateau and Wiberg ( 1984 ) found the same results with middle class swedish mothers
Caregiverese has been seen to be used by adults to all infants not just to those they have an attachment with , this suggests that although its usage aids communication between adults and infants it cannot be claimed to specifically help form attachments
The fact that interactional synchrony is not found in all cultures weakens support for the idea that it is necessary for attachment formation . Le Vine (1994) reported that kenyan mothers have little physical contact or interactions with their infants , but such infants do have a high proportion of secure attachments
