infant
English: Logo of the Canadian Caregivers Associati...
A smiling baby lying in a soft cot (furniture).Hobson suggested that in order to survive, children must born with the readiness to relate to other human beings. Bowlby also argued that the propensity to form strong emotional bonds with particular individuals (primary caregivers or mothers) was a fundamental characteristic of human young; it had the survival value by bringing nurturance, protection and security to the infant. The dyadic relationships between babies and their primary caregivers allow infant-mother interactions and thus, a crucial determinant in children's psychological development. This essay aims to examine the main features of such relationships, as well as, the effects of such relationships on the children's psychological development. The starting point will be using Vygotsky's social constructionist perspective to describing features such as intersubjectivity and guided participation, which involve elements such as meshing; proto-conversation; turn-taking & imitation; and scaffolding & containing; with complimenting experimental evidence. Then, both the positive and negative effects of the infant-mother relationships, and maternal depression on children's development would be assessed before we come to the conclusion of its importance on psychological development.
Vygotsky further the idea of the importance of infant-mother interactions by the introduction of the social constructionist perspective. Vygotsky suggested that children's psychological development is a process in which the infants actively seek knowledge as well as shaped by the prevailing social and cultural values of the society. Children's accomplishment of tasks was not a lone process, but rather rely on the help and guidance of caregivers who are remaining close to them. Therefore, a satisfactory infant-mother relationship would enable the zone of proximal development. Within the zone, interactions between the caregivers and infants would involve adjusting, adapting and fitting on both parties throughout the psychological development. Subsequent researches reflected that these adjusting, adapting and fitting can be characterized as intersubjectivity and guided...