Co-occurrence of developmental disabilities with birth defects

This article begins with a discussion of the concepts of comorbidity and co-occurrence of diseases and health conditions. These concepts are then applied to the literature on the population-based prevalence of developmental disabilities and birth defects. Most of the existing literature focuses on co-occurrence and obtains data from both clinical and administrative sources. Developmental disabilities occur more frequently in children with multiple, rather than with isolated, birth defects. More research, with more sophisticated study designs, will be necessary to further elucidate the contributions of birth defects to the etiology of developmental disabilities, control for other risk factors, and to identify strategies for prevention and intervention services.     

Early tactile experience of low birth weight children: links to later mental health and social adaptation

The purpose of this study was twofold: to determine (1) the degree to which specific qualities of maternal touch may contribute to the low birth weight infant's emotional and behavioural problems as well as social adaptation, and (2) the relationship between maternal touch and a mother's other caregiving behaviour. The sample included 114 socioculturally diverse infants and their mothers who were videotaped during an infant feeding when the baby was 3 months old. This videotape was analysed to assess dimensions of mother–infant interaction, including maternal touch. Data on perinatal risk and the mother's acceptance versus rejection of the infant were also acquired. Social adaptation and emotional/behavioural problems were measured when the child was 2 years of age. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that maternal touch accounted for 15% of the variance in the likelihood of a child having emotional/behavioural problems at age 2. Children who received more nurturing touch had significantly fewer internalizing problems (such as depression) while children receiving both more frequent touch and harsh touch had more externalizing problems (such as aggressive behaviour). Infants who were less responsive to their caregivers were especially at risk of developing aggressive/destructive behaviour as a result of frequent touch. But less responsive infants also appeared to benefit most from greater use of diverse types of maternal touch, accounting for 6% of the variance in superior adaptive behaviour at age 2. Nurturing touch was the only quality that showed even a modest relationship to other caregiving behaviour, suggesting that touch may play a distinct role in the infant's psychosocial development. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Early interactive behaviours in preterm infants and their mothers: Influences of maternal depressive symptomatology and neonatal birth weight

The study evaluated the quality of preterm infant–mother interactions, considering severity of birth weight (ELBW and VLBW) and maternal depression, compared to full term babies. 69 preterm infants (29 ELBW and 40 VLBW) and 80 full-term (FT) infants and their mothers were recruited. At 3 months of corrected age, the quality of mother–infant interaction was evaluated through Global Rating Scales; moreover, infant level of development and maternal depression were assessed through Griffith Development Mental Scales and Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. Results showed adequate sensitivity in preterm infants’ mothers and higher involvement with their infants, compared to full term mothers, but ELBW ones exhibited an intrusive interactive pattern and a higher prevalence of depressive symptoms. The study underlined the relevance of paying special attention to both ELBW infants and their mothers, in order to support the parenting role and the co-construction of early interactions.     

Assimilation and discovery

My aim in this paper is to examine a rational discovery strategy that I call “assimilation”, the attempt to understand a new domain by systematically interpreting the items it contains in terms of an established conceptual structure. The claim that this approach can lead to important new discoveries is illustrated by considering Galileo's attempt to develop a mathematical theory of the strength of materials and his discovery of mountains on the moon.     

The discovery of chemical neurotransmitters

Neurotransmitters have become such an intrinsic part of our theories about brain function that many today are unaware of how difficult it was to prove their existence or the protracted dispute over the nature of synaptic transmission. The story is important not only because it is fascinating science history, but also because it exemplifies much of what is best in science and deserving to be emulated. The friendships formed among such major figures in this history as Henry Dale, Otto Loewi, Wilhelm Feldberg, Walter Cannon, and others extended over two world wars, enriching their lives and facilitating their research. Even the dispute-the "war of the sparks and the soups"--between neurophysiologists and pharmacologists over whether synaptic transmission is electrical or chemical played a positive role in stimulating the research needed to provide convincing proof.     

Freud's great voyage of discovery

The author discusses some of Freud's most significant contributions: the psychoanalytic method, called free association by Freud; the discovery that symptoms have a meaning and that every symptom is a compromise formation; the interpretation of dreams; psychic determinism; the central role of infantile sexuality; and sublimation. Included is a brief review of the views of some noteworthy analysts, all of whom agree in ignoring the importance of infantile sexuality and/or in minimizing its importance.     

Syntax-directed discovery in mathematics

It is shown how mathematical discoveries such as De Moivre's theorem can result from patterns among the symbols of existing formulae and that significant mathematical analogies are often syntactic rather than semantic, for the good reason that mathematical proofs are always syntactic, in the sense of employing only formal operations on symbols. This radically extends the Lakatos approach to mathematical discovery by allowing proof-directed concepts to generate new theorems from scratch instead of just as evolutionary modifications to some existing theorem. The emphasis upon syntax and proof permits discoveries to go beyond the limits of any prevailing semantics. It also helps explain the shortcomings of inductive AI systems of mathematics learning such as Lenat's AM, in which proof has played no part in the formation of concepts and conjectures.     

Separated after birth

Bioethics has developed against a backdrop of increased concern for human and civil rights, including the rights of patients to decide about their own treatment. The recent case of Laleh and Ladan Bijani, the twenty-nine-year old Iranian conjoined twins who died in a Singapore hospital on Jul 8, after more than fifty hours of surgery aimed at separating them, highlights the tensions between respect for patient autonomy and professional medical judgment.     

Young children's discovery of spatial classification

Around the age of 18 months, children begin to classify objects spatially by kind, placing objects of the same kind close together in space and placing unlike objects apart. This behavior may be symbolic in the sense that children use spatial proximity to represent similarity. We examined the possibility that spatial classification is discovered during play—that the external products of play lead children to use space to represent similarity. Experiment 1 was a longitudinal study of four children's classification behaviors, observed from the age of 16 to 21 months. Results suggest that play with one kind of object to the exclusion of another kind leads to the discovery of spatial classification. Experiment 2 examined how children's tendencies to interact with one category might promote spatial classification of multiple categories. Twenty-four 18-month-old children who did not yet spatially classify objects by kind participated. Children who were given the experience of playing with two kinds of objects in a context that promoted interaction with only one kind were more likely to demonstrate spontaneous spatial classification of multiple kinds in a subsequent test period. Children who played equally with both kinds did not show heightened spontaneous classification. The results further suggest that comparison of different kinds during play is critical to the spontaneous occurrence of spatial classification.     

Androgenetic alopecia: stress of discovery

The psychological problems of men in the initial stages of alopecia androgenetica (hereditary male hair loss) have seldom been studied. We evaluated two groups of 80 men with alopecia androgenetica in Stages II to IV, indicating the amount of hair loss (overall N=160; for Group I: M=48 yr., SD=18.2; for Group II: M=50 yr., SD=18.0) who visited a dermatology clinic for benign dermatological complaints but not for hair loss, by questionnaires and interview, retrospectively. As predicted, hair problems were reported to be significantly greater overall at the moment of discovery of hair loss than later. About half of the men reported feeling annoyed to very annoyed about the discovery of hair loss. For those patients, provision of information by internet might facilitate a visit to the dermatologist.