Relation Between Maternal Contingent Responsiveness and Infant Social Expectations
Nancy E Mcquaid1, Maximilian B Bibok1, Jeremy I M Carpendale1
1Department of Psychology Simon Fraser University.
Summary
Maternal contingent responsiveness, where mothers smile back at their infants, fosters infants' social expectations. This early social interaction builds infants' sense of self-efficacy and understanding of social cues.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Infant Social Behavior
- Early Childhood Development
Background:
- Maternal contingent responsiveness is crucial for infant development.
- Understanding infant social expectations requires examining caregiver interactions.
- The still-face procedure is a validated method for assessing infant social behavior.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between maternal contingent responsiveness and infant social expectation behavior.
- To determine if maternal contingent smiles predict infant social bids during a still-face paradigm.
- To explore how early caregiver-infant interactions shape infant social expectations.
Main Methods:
- The study involved 64 infants aged 4-5 months and their mothers.
- A still-face procedure was used, involving interactive, still-face, and reunion phases.
- Behavioral coding assessed infant and mother smiles, contingency of smiles, and infant social bids.
Main Results:
- Maternal contingent smiles during interaction uniquely predicted infant social bids during the still-face phase.
- The frequency of general smiles did not fully account for this relationship.
- Infant social bids during the still-face phase reflect expectations formed during prior interactions.
Conclusions:
- Early caregiver-infant interactions, specifically contingent responsiveness, are foundational for developing infant social expectations.
- Infants' sense of self-efficacy is shaped by predictable and responsive social exchanges.
- These findings highlight the importance of sensitive maternal behavior in early social development.
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