Universal and culturally specific aspects of sensitive responsiveness to young children

Abstract

ABSTRACT Human newborn infants are evolutionarily predisposed to communicate. Caretakers may interpret their signals, more or less correctly, as meaningful and intentional. Reliable responsiveness is the essence of the attachment system; appropriate and prompt responses to instant’s’ signals support secure quality of attachment. Other signals, if sensitively responded to, support curiosity for the world. From birth onward infants experience and learn whether their signals will be answered, and in what way, by whom, and when, thereby developing into their own culture. Videos from seven cultures, presented here, demonstrate the ubiquity of maternal responsiveness. They present a solid basis for future data from cultural and from biological anthropology. Carefully videotaped observations elucidate differences in meaning and function of sensitive caregiver–infant interactions for the emotional and cultural development of children in various cultures.