Reciprocity in parent-infant interaction is best described as:

• A. The infant's cues influence the parent's mood without responsive actions
• B. The infant's cues and the parent's responses are reciprocal
• C. The parent's responses are unrelated to the infant's cues
• D. The infant's cues only influence feeding times

Answer: (B)

Reciprocity in parent-infant interaction means a true back-and-forth where the baby’s cues prompt a timely, appropriate response from the caregiver, and that response then invites further baby signaling. It’s a contingent exchange: the infant signals a need or state (hunger, distress, interest), the parent responds in a way that soothes, leads, or engages (feeding, soothing, talking, smiling), and the infant, in turn, replies with another cue. This mutual responsiveness helps regulate arousal, supports social engagement, and builds early communication and attachment.

This goes beyond mood changes tied to the infant’s cues, which wouldn’t involve responsive actions. It also isn’t consistent with responses that ignore the infant’s signals, or with a view that infant cues only affect feeding, which misses the wide range of behaviors involved in everyday interactions such as play, comfort, eye contact, and vocal turn-taking.