Extinction can be enhanced by a concurrent excitor

Five experiments used rat subjects to investigate the impact on extinction of the presence of other conditioned stimuli. In Experiments 1 (Pavlovian magazine approach) and 2 (instrumental discriminative training), an excitatory stimulus (X) was extinguished alone, in conjunction with a previously reinforced other stimulus (A), in conjunction with previously nonreinforced other stimulus (B), or it was spared extinction. Responding during extinction was greatest to AX, and subsequent testing of X alone showed AX extinction to have produced the most decrement to X. Experiment 3 found similar results using a within-subject design. Experiment 5 continued separate reinforced presentations of A during extinction. This procedure not only promoted extinction of X but also converted it into a conditioned inhibitor. These experiments bear on the mechanisms of overshadowing and stimulus processing, as well as provide information on the determinants of extinction.     

Mother–child interaction and sleep regulation in one‐year‐olds

The regulation of sleep–wake states is controlled not only by biological mechanisms but by care‐giving context as well. In this study the association between mother–child relationship and the infant's sleep was examined. Thirty‐seven 12‐month‐olds and their mothers participated in a 10‐minute laboratory play episode. The dyadic interaction was coded with the Early Parent–Child Relational Assessment (Clark, 1985) and with the Emotional Availability scales (Biringen, Robinson, & Emde, 1993). The child's sleep was measured at home with a small‐computerized activity monitor. Although mothers' behavior was not related to the child's sleep, infants who were more responsive in the play episode woke up more frequently compared to infants who were less involved in the interaction. The link between social‐emotional competency and fragmented sleep, among nonrisk infants, could be an age‐related phenomenon. ©2001 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.     

Mother–child and metapelet–child touch behavior with three‐year‐old kibbutz children in two contexts

The frequency and function of self‐touch and of touching another was studied among 32 three‐year‐old kibbutz children, their mothers, and their metaplot [caretakers; singular: metapelet] in two contexts: coconstruction of a narrative with Duplo toys, and coconstruction of a narrative with an emotion‐evoking picture book without text. Self‐touch, mainly fidgeting, was more frequent for children during the task with the picture book and more frequent for adults during the task with the Duplo toys. Mothers and children touched each other more often than metaplot and children. Adults' touches of the children were perceived as either expressions of affection or as acts of grooming and were task‐related. The children's touching of the adults was mainly task‐related. It appears that self‐touch is for children and adults alike a mode of self‐regulation of mild stress and that touching the other has a wide range of functions, especially in intimate relationships. ©2003 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.     

Mother–infant behavioral interactions in teenage and adult mothers during the first six months postpartum: Relations with infant development

The purpose of this study was to compare adolescent mothers' (high‐risk group), at‐risk adult mothers' (moderate‐risk group), and no‐risk adult mothers' (low‐risk group) behavioral interactions at one and six months postpartum, and to examine the relationships between maternal behaviors and infant developmental scores on the Bayley scales. Results indicated that high‐risk teenage mothers and moderate‐risk adult mothers vocalized less and had lower contingency rating scores compared to low‐risk adult mothers. Also, infants in the high‐risk and moderate‐risk groups obtained lower mental scores at six months compared to the low‐risk group. Moderate stability across time was found for maternal vocalizations and infant scores on the mental scale. Maternal vocalizations and behavioral contingency rating scores at one month were associated with infants' six‐month performance on the Bayley scales. Specific intervention strategies were discussed with the aim of targeting and improving early maternal behavioral patterns in at‐risk groups. ©2003 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.     

Experimentally manipulated high in‐group status can buffer personal self‐esteem against discrimination

We present an experiment in which the relative status of an in‐group and the discriminatory nature of a decision maker's intergroup behaviour (in‐group‐favouring/out‐group‐favouring/even‐handed) were independently manipulated to observe their effects on self‐esteem. Adopting a Social Identity Theory framework, and following from previous empirical work, we predicted that discrimination against one's in‐group would lead to lower self‐esteem among members of a low‐status group but not among members of a high‐status group. This prediction was confirmed. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Observed Mother– and Father–Child Interaction Differences in Families with Medically Assisted Reproduction‐Conceived Twins and Singletons

Increased medically assisted reproduction (MAR) use to treat infertility has resulted in a growing twin birth rate. Little is known about parent–child relationships for twin relative to singleton children in middle childhood. This study fills this gap by examining parent–child relationships in 57 families with eighty 6‐ to 12‐year‐old MAR twin and singleton children using observational data (warm and supportive communication, control, and hostility). Nested ANCOVAs indicate that while mothers exhibit similar interactional behaviors toward twins and singletons, fathers have less optimum behaviors toward twins relative to singletons. Twins displayed less engaged behavior with mothers and fathers relative to singletons. Given the vitality of parent–child relationships for family and child adjustment, future studies should examine determinants and outcomes of twin–singleton relationship differences to bolster twins’ and their families’ functioning.     

Mother–Child Book‐Sharing and Children's Storytelling Skills in Ethnically Diverse,Low‐Income Families

The present study examined book‐sharing interactions between mothers and their 4‐year‐old children from African American (n = 62), Dominican (n = 67), Mexican (n = 59) and Chinese (n = 82) low‐income U.S. families, and children's independent storytelling skills one year later. Mothers' book‐sharing style was analysed in terms of how much storyline information they provided (story components), the extent to which they asked children about the story (dialogic emphasis) and which features of the story they highlighted (story content). African American mothers referred to more story components than did Dominican mothers, and Mexican mothers surpassed Dominican and Chinese mothers. Mothers of all groups were low in dialogic emphasis; they predominantly narrated rather than asked about the story, although Mexican mothers asked relatively more questions than did African American and Dominican mothers. In terms of content, compared with other groups, African American mothers were most likely to emphasize ‘individual goals’, and Chinese mothers were most likely to emphasize ‘negative consequences’. Latino mothers were more likely to emphasize ‘emotions’ than were Chinese mothers. Children's storytelling styles partially mirrored those seen in their mothers. Mothers' dialogic emphasis related to children's contributions to book‐sharing, which in turn predicted children's later independent storytelling skills. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Reference to Emotion States During Narrative Co‐Construction With Three‐Year‐Old Kibbutz Children: Comparison of Mother–Child and Metapelet–Child Dyads

In this study of young kibbutz children, we considered similarities and differences between mother–child dyads and metapelet (nonmaternal female caregiver)–child dyads on their rates of mentioning positive and negative emotion states and emotion calls during narrative co‐construction from a text‐free picture book illustrating emotionally charged situations. Thirty‐two kibbutz children approximately 3 years of age, their mothers, and their metaplot (i.e., plural of metapelet) were observed during co‐construction from the picture book. All participants (mothers, metaplot, children with mothers, and children with metaplot) mentioned more negative emotion states and emitted more negative emotion calls than positive ones. Children mentioned less emotion states than adults. No differences were found between mothers and metaplot in the number of emotion states mentioned, but mothers used significantly more emotion calls than did the metaplot, and their children tended to reciprocate. The influence of the context and type of relationship on emotion regulation is discussed.     

The Moderation Role of Self‐perceived Maternal Empathy in Observed Mother–Child Collaborative Problem Solving

Based on L. S. Vygotsky's sociocultural theory, previous scaffolding studies have examined some factors associated with adjustment of parental support during collaborative problem solving. However, a factor that remains unexplored in the literature is the potential relationship between parental empathy and parental support in collaborative problem solving. The present study addresses this question through the observation of 45 preschool children and their mothers cooperating in a problem‐solving task with two levels of difficulty. Teachers rated the children's fine motor skills, and sampled mothers reported their empathy levels towards their children. Consistent with the notion of scaffolding, negative correlations were found between observed maternal verbal support (cognitive, autonomy, and emotional) and child age, and between observed maternal cognitive support and teacher reports of child motor skills. An analysis of covariance revealed significant empathy‐by‐difficulty interactions for physical and cognitive support after controlling for the effect of child motor skills. Implications of these findings are discussed in terms of the role of child motor skills and the importance of parental empathy in collaborative problem solving. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Infant touching behaviour during mother–infant face‐to‐face interactions

The study of infant communication during mother–infant interactions has largely focused on infants' distal behaviours, while neglecting their more proximal behaviours, such as touch. Yet, touch is an important modality through which infants and mothers communicate; it is also a vital means through which infants self‐regulate and explore their surroundings. The present study was designed to investigate the touching behaviours of 44, 51/2‐month‐old, healthy, full‐term infants during face‐to‐face mother–infant interactions. A still‐face (SF) procedure was used in order to examine differences in the types and locations of infant touch across normal and perturbed interaction periods, when mothers exhibit changes in their emotional availability. Results revealed that infant touch varied with changes in maternal availability. During the SF period, when mothers were unavailable, infants used more active, soothing, and reactive tactile behaviours (stroke, finger, pat, and pull), and they spent more time touching themselves. In contrast, infants used mostly passive touch (static) during the Normal periods, when their mothers were available. They also spent a significant portion of time touching their mothers. The variations in infant touch across periods suggest that infants communicate their affective states through touch. The findings also support the regulatory and exploratory roles of infant touch, especially during periods of maternal unavailability. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Parent–infant co‐sleeping: fathers' roles and perspectives

Dyadic co‐sleeping (mother–baby) is a common strategy for night‐time infant care in the majority of world cultures. Triadic co‐sleeping (mother–father–baby) is less common, although still widely practised cross‐culturally. This paper examines triadic co‐sleeping in an opportunistic sample of parents from the North Tees region of England, and explores fathers' expectations and experiences of sleeping with their babies. Using a prospective study design, 36 sets of parents, pre‐ and post‐natally, were interviewed about infant care strategies, particularly at night. Although they did not anticipate sleeping with their infants at the pre‐natal interview, the majority of fathers (81%) had done so by the time of the second interview. First‐time fathers were afraid that they would squash or suffocate the baby in their sleep, and some were concerned that the infant's presence would adversely affect their own sleep. Fathers used a variety of strategies to help overcome their initial fears of co‐sleeping. Among those for whom triadic co‐sleeping became a regular night‐time infant care strategy, the pleasures of prolonged intimate contact with their infant were clearly apparent. It is suggested that the experience of sleeping with their infant ameliorates some of the distancing effects felt by fathers outside the breast‐feeding relationship, and helps encourage paternal involvement in night‐time infant care‐giving. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The residual spatial abilities of hippocampally lesioned rats can be enhanced by peripheral sympathetic-adrenal interventions

In order to test the possible effectiveness of peripheral interventions with the adrenergic system for the alleviation of certain disorders that typically follow bilateral hippocampal lesions, rats with bilateral lesions of the hippocampus, the overlying neocortex, or sham operations were tested at two postoperative times in the Morris water maze, a frequently used "spatial task." Half of the animals in all groups were exposed to the adrenergic manipulations, i.e., a chronic, 7-day, systemic bretylium regime (5 mg/kg) and, in addition, a peripheral injection of norepinephrine (4 micrograms/kg) 30 min before the start of each training day. The other half received saline chronically and a single saline injection before each training day. Five days of training were given at each of the two training periods. The first began 7 days after surgery while the second began 33 days after surgery. As expected, the hippocampally lesioned animals were severely impaired in the task. The adrenergic treatment produced enhanced performances in the rats with hippocampal lesions at both training sessions, although the improvement was greatest at the later period. Although the animals receiving the pharmacologic treatment located the general area of the hidden platform better than the saline-treated animals with hippocampal lesions, the treated animals were still impaired, swimming directly to the hidden platform on fewer trials than did animals in the other groups.     

In‐group bias in children's intention to help can be overpowered by inducing empathy

An experimental vignette study was conducted among children (8–13 years) to examine whether inducing empathic understanding is an effective intervention to overpower peer group boundaries in children's helping. Children were induced or not induced to empathize with the recipient of help, who was or was not part of their (imagined) group of friends. Results showed that children intended to help in‐group peers more compared to outgroup peers when empathic understanding was not induced. However, when empathy was induced, they intended to help friends and non‐friends equally. Inducing empathic understanding was effective independent of the recipient's level of need, and children's advanced social perspective‐taking ability. Encouraging children to imagine how a recipient of help feels might thus be a useful strategy to prevent peer group‐based biases in children's helping behaviour.     

Posture and gaze in early mother–infant communication: synchronization of developmental trajectories

Weekly laboratory observations of free play for 13 middle-income mother–infant dyads, from 1 to 6 months of age, were used to study the synchronization of developmental trajectories between infant postural position and gaze direction. Mothers sat in a straight-backed chair while holding infants on their laps and were free to adjust the infant’s posture. Postural position was coded as upright (supported sitting or standing on the mother’s lap) or other (lying, cradling, or being held close to mother). Gaze was coded as either at mother’s face or away. The age of onset of visually guided reaching was also assessed. Results show that there were longer durations of gazing away when the infant was in an upright position. Over the 5 month period of observation, the dyads began with a pattern of non-upright positions accompanied by gaze at mother. Contrary to previous predictions, the developmental shift in the first 6 months from exclusive gazing at mother’s face to gazing away from mother was not synchronized with the development of reaching, but rather with changes in the infant’s posture to more upright positions. The possible role of postural position in fostering positive emotional communication is discussed.