Group Life in Babies: Establishing Methods

Infant observation contributes to understanding the richness of infants' relationships, particularly within the family. However, our ability to gain access to infants' experience may be subtly affected by our interpretation of context and the adults' behaviour, especially their language. What kind of interaction is possible between preverbal infants without adults present and how can we understand what is going on between them?

As a research tool, infant observation is an example of the 'case method' used elsewhere in the social and biological sciences to provide detailed information on the relationships between processes of different kinds which can be ordered and integrated to provide higher-level descriptions. It is of value according to its capacity to generate useful conceptual or theoretical propositions, opening new doors to new questions.

Following previous research looking at social relatedness in infant pairs (Urwin 2001) and trios (Selby and Bradley, 2003; Bradley and Selby, 2004), this chapter illustrates the case methodology developed to explore the possibility that previously unacquainted 7 to 10 month old babies can interact in groups. In a specially equipped recording studio, groups of three or four babies were placed, within touching distance, in immobilised baby walkers and video recorded while the mothers and researchers watched through cctv. Recording stopped when a baby got distressed or a mother requested it. We also video recorded the babies when they first met each other and then when they were reunited with their mothers after the set situation. Field notes were kept on the process of events, incorporating some of the principles of infant observation. Together these methods provided more information about the natural history of the infants' group-related behaviour and underlined the containing potential of the other groups present, such as the mothers, the researchers and the institution in which the research took place.

Outlining the theoretical and practical importance of this field of inquiry, the chapter describes how we combined qualitative and quantitative information in analysing each baby group,focusing on two groups taken as examples. Our findings endorse the idea that infants' capacities for relating to several other infants like themselves are demonstrable from very early, and that this precedes the level of integration and individuation traditionally assumed to be necessary for group relatedness.
This is consistent with recent thinking in anthropology and evolutionary biology that argues that the primary unit of attachment in the human species is to the clan rather than the individual (Dunbar, 1998). It is also consistent with Freud's (1921) speculation that the oldest human psychology is a group psychology.

References

Bradley, B.S. and Selby, J.M. (2004). 'Observing Infants in Groups: The Clan Revisited'. International Journal of Infant Observation. 7, 107-122

Dunbar, R. (1998) 'The social brain hypothesis' Evolutionary anthropology .pp 178-190 London, Wiley-Liss. inc

Freud, S. (1921) 'Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego' Standard Edition, Vol. 18 London: Hogarth

Selby, J.,& Bradley, B.S. (2003). 'Infants in Groups: A Paradigm for the Study of Early Social Experience'. Human Development, 46, 197-221

Urwin, C. (2001) 'Getting to know the self and others: babies' relationships with other babies
International Journal of Infant Observation

Author biographies

Benjamin Sylvester Bradley is Professor of Psychology at Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, New South Wales Australia. He has extensive experience in developmental psychology research into early interactions between mothers and babies and, more recently into the beginnings of group behaviour in infants. He is author of Visions of Infancy: A Critical Introduction to Child Psychology Cambridge: Polity Press, 1989, and Psychology and Experience Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2005.
Relevant published articles include: Bradley, B.S. and Selby, J.M. (2004) 'Observing infants in groups: The clan revisited' International Journal of Infant Observation 7,107-122. Bradley, B.S (1991) 'Infancy as paradise' Human Development 34 35-54. Selby, J.M and Bradley, B.S (2003) 'Infants in groups: a paradigm for the study of early social experience' Human Development 46 197-221

Jane Selby is a clinical psychologist working in private practice in Cambridge, England, and a researcher in developmental,health and social psychology in the UK and Australia. She has undertaken research into the experiences of women graduate students that focussed on understanding how subjective or individual experiences link to the cultural or social contexts. This preoccupation runs through her work. In Australia she has undertaken research into the health needs of indigenous Australian and young people 'at risk' as well as a number of projects involving infant development. Relevant publications include: Selby, J.M. (ed) 2004 'Critical professionals: experiencing the contradictions '.International Journal of Critical Psychology No. 13. Bradley, B.S. and Selby, J.M. (2004) 'Observing infants in groups: The clan revisited' International Journal of Infant Observation 7,107-122. Bradley, B.S (1991) 'Infancy as paradise' Human Development 34 35-54.
Selby, J.M and Bradley, B.S (2003) 'Infants in groups: a paradigm for the study of early social experience' Human Development 46 197-221.Selby, J.M. (2001) 'Childcare in remote indigenous Austral ian communities: Empowerment and intervention' In S. McGinty (ed). The Politics and Machinations of Educational Research. New York: Peter Lang 157-169. Selby, J.M (1993) 'Primary processes. Developing infants as adults'. Theory and Psychology 3, 4 523-544