爬行与婴儿共同注意能力的发展

本研究考察了８～１１个月婴儿共同注意能力的发展趋势以及爬行与其发展的关系。结果表明：１）一岁以内的婴儿在共同注意时有仅跟视相同方向与准确定位他人注视点两种不同水平的表现,这两种表现具有不同的发展趋势;２）影响婴儿共同注意时仅跟视相同方向水平发展的主要因素是婴儿的年龄,爬行时间的效应不显著;３）对婴儿准确定位的发展而言,影响其发展的重要因素是婴儿的爬行而不是婴儿的年龄。     

出生季节与婴儿爬行动作的发展

本研究以178名足月、顺产、健康、年龄在8-11个月之间的婴儿及其母亲为研究对象,运用实验室评价与访谈方法,对出生季节与婴儿爬行动作发展的关系问题进行了研究.研究结果发现:(1)出生季节对婴儿爬行动作的发展具有重要影响.随婴儿出生季节的不同,其爬行起始年龄存在显着的差异,冬季出生的婴儿较之于其他三个季节出生的婴儿其爬行起始年龄提前约2-4周;(2)婴儿在可能开始爬行阶段的气温与其实际爬行起始年龄间存在较密切的联系.随婴儿在平均爬行起始年龄前三个月平均气温的不同,婴儿的爬行起始年龄呈现出显着的差异,二者表现为显着的负相关关系.据此,本研究对可能影响婴儿爬行动作发展中季节效应的部分环境因素进行了讨论.     

2～3.5岁儿童执行功能发展特点及其言语能力的影响

2~3.5岁是婴儿成长到幼儿的重要发展转折期,也是儿童执行功能及言语能力的发展萌芽期。研究通过测查北京市81名2~3.5岁儿童在固定盒子任务、搭积木任务、A非B任务和皮博迪图片词汇测验上的表现,探究了该年龄段儿童执行功能的发展特点、各成分间的内部关系、以及言语能力对执行功能的影响。结果发现:(1)在2~3.5岁期间,除认知灵活性外,儿童的工作记忆与抑制控制均快速发展,其中,2.5岁前后是工作记忆与抑制控制的重要发展时期;(2)在2~3岁期间,认知灵活性与工作记忆之间相关密切,在3~3.5岁期间,认知灵活性与抑制控制的相关密切,3岁是儿童执行功能内部成分关系的重要发展转折期;(3)在2~3.5岁期间,儿童言语能力呈现快速发展,并且言语能力对该年龄段执行功能各成分间关系产生一定的影响,但不同言语能力的儿童在执行功能各成分的表现并没有显著差异。     

婴儿运动经验与母婴社会性情绪互动行为的关系

本研究考察了个体早期自主位移运动——爬行经验与母婴社会性情绪互动的关系。对79名8、9个月婴儿的母亲进行访谈,结果发现,在8个月婴儿中,婴儿会爬与否对母婴社会性情绪互动行为有一定作用,但这种作用没有达到显著水平;在9个月时,婴儿是否会爬则对母婴社会性情绪互动行为有显著影响,表明爬行经验对母婴社会性情绪互动行为的影响存在累积效应与年龄特异性。     

婴儿客体永久性发展机制的研究

客体永久性是婴儿早期发展中一项重要的心理能力,本研究以２０８名８－１１个月的婴儿为被试,采用实验法和访谈法探讨了婴儿客体永久性的发展机制及其发展趋势问题。结果表明：１）我国婴儿的爬行与其客体永久性的发展无直接关系,支持了爬行对婴儿客体永久性发展的作用可能来自爬行经验而不是爬行动作的假设：２）我国婴儿的客体永久性随年龄增长而持续发展,提示爬行并不是客体永久性发展的唯一途径,爬行不能发挥作用时,婴儿的客体永久性可以通过其它途径得到发展;３）在８－１１个月间,我国婴儿的客体永久性达到了阶段Ⅳ水平,８个月的婴儿已经具备了初步的客体永久性。从发展速度来看,婴儿的客体永久性在８、９个月间发展较为迅速,出现了显著的发展性变化,在９－１１个月间没有显著的差异。     

类别与数量空间关系识别加工中的练习效应研究

本研究通过检测20名飞行员及其控制组的视觉空间关系识别中的认知加工水平,旨在探讨视觉空间关系识别中的类别关系和数量关系加工子系统所表现出的练习效应水平的高低。研究结果表明,在参与视觉空间关系判断的两个典型加工子系统中,负责数量(坐标)空间关系判断的加工子系统随系统训练而表现出功能增强的练习效应。相对而言,涉及类别空间关系判断的加工子系统则较少受到练习的影响。研究揭示,由于受大脑神经解剖结构特点以及加工任务性质的影响,练习效应在神经网络上的分布是不平衡的。相对于类别空间关系加工子系统,数量空间关系加工子系统更多地表现出了练习效应这一典型的认知神经加工特性。     

儿童早期测量能力的发展

测量能力是儿童早期数学认知能力的一个重要方面,其中直接比较和非标准测量能力作为儿童早期测量能力发展的主要形式,在一定程度上代表着儿童早期测量能力的发展。本研究对92名3岁儿童的测量能力进行了为期一年的追踪研究,结果发现:(1)在3~4岁期间,儿童直接比较测量能力和非标准测量能力均得到显著发展,但直接比较测量能力的水平提高得更快;(2)儿童直接比较测量能力的年龄主效应、任务主效应以及年龄和任务的交互效应显著;(3)儿童非标准测量能力的年龄主效应和任务主效应均达到显著水平,非标准测量单位应用能力的水平显著高于非标准测量单位形成能力的水平。     

大学生对心理健康必备能力认知的年级与性别特点

本研究以200名大学生为被试,以访谈及问卷的方式对大学生心理健康必备能力的认知特点进行了调查研究,在大学生心理健康必备能力认知结构模型的基础上,对大学生心理健康必备能力认知的年龄与性别特点进行了研究。结果表明:大学生对心理健康必备能力的认知得分在自我调控、社会应对、学习和人际交往四个因子上没有显著的年级和性别主效应;在“社会应对”和“学习”两个维度上,性别和年级存在显著的交互作用,进一步分析发现,二年级男生在“社会应对”方面能力的认知得分显著高于女生,在“学习”维度上,一年级女生得分显著高于男生。     

侗歌经验对侗族中学生执行功能的影响

音乐训练对认知能力具有广泛的促进效应。本研究结合执行功能的三个成分(抑制控制、工作记忆和认知灵活性), 在我国民族音乐背景下, 匹配实验任务的视觉和听觉形式, 探讨侗歌经验对侗族中学生执行功能的影响。结果表明, 侗歌组被试在抑制能力和刷新能力上显著好于侗族非侗歌组被试和汉族被试, 这一优势在视觉任务中和听觉任务中均存在, 说明侗歌经验产生的认知优势具有跨感觉通道的普遍性。侗歌组被试和侗族非侗歌组被试的转换能力差异不显著。侗族非侗歌组被试的抑制能力和转换能力好于汉族被试, 这体现了语言和音乐的交互作用。     

家庭背景因素对2～3岁城市中层儿童执行功能发展的影响

研究选取北京市3所幼儿园的73名儿童,采用固定盒子任务、延迟满足等待任务和A非B任务,系统探索了家庭背景因素对2~3岁城市中层儿童执行功能的影响。结果表明,二者之间存在具体的影响关系:非独生子女在抑制控制任务上好于独生子女;家庭成员数量越多,儿童在认知灵活性任务上表现越好;父母更高的受教育水平对儿童的认知灵活性有更积极的影响;家庭收入对执行功能的发展无显著影响;研究所涉及的家庭背景因素对工作记忆均无显著影响。可见,家庭因素会对儿童执行功能的发展产生一定影响。     

爬行经验对婴儿迂回行为发展的影响

该研究旨在探讨个体早期第一种自主位移动作－爬行的经验对迂回行为这一重要空间认知能力发展的和用及其特点。     

How 9-month-old crawling infants profit from visual-manual rotations in a mental rotation task

Studies show that visual-manual object exploration influences spatial cognition, and specifically mental rotation performance in infancy. The current work with 9-month-old infants investigated which specific exploration procedures (related to crawling experience) support mental rotation performance. In two studies, we examined the effects of two different exploration procedures, manual rotation (Study 1) and haptic scanning (Study 2), on subsequent mental rotation performance. To this end, we constrained infants’ exploration possibilities to only one of the respective procedures, and then tested mental rotation performance using a live experimental set-up based on the task used by Moore and Johnson (2008). Results show that, after manual rotation experience with a target object, crawling infants were able to distinguish between exploration objects and their mirror objects, while non-crawling infants were not (Study 1). Infants who were given prior experience with objects through haptic scans (Study 2) did not discriminate between objects, regardless of their crawling experience. Results indicated that a combination of manual rotations and crawling experience are valuable for building up the internal spatial representation of an object.     

The role of crawling and walking experience in infant spatial memory

This research explored infants' use of place learning and cue learning in a locomotor task across the transition from crawling to walking. Novice and expert crawling and walking infants were observed in a novel locomotor task-finding a hidden goal location in a large space. In Experiment 1, infants were tested with distal landmarks. Infants with fewer than 6 weeks of experience, either crawling or walking, could not find the goal location. All infants with more locomotor experience were more successful. Learning did not transfer across the transition to walking. In Experiment 2, novice and expert crawlers and walkers were tested with a direct landmark. Again, novice crawlers and walkers with fewer than 6 weeks of experience could not find the goal, whereas those with more experience could. Taken together, these findings suggest that infants' spatial learning is inextricably linked to mode of locomotion.     

Infant auditory perception: Tonal masking

The results of an earlier study (Olsho, 1984) indicated that 5- to 8-month-old infants were relatively better at discriminating among high-frequency pitches than low. In the present study, sensory and nonsensory explanations for that effect were evaluated by examining infants' performance in a task requiring similar sensory processing but differing in the demands placed on processes such as memory. Infants' ability to resolve frequency was tested using a tonal masking paradigm, the psychophysical tuning curve. Twenty-four infants were tested at probe frequencies ranging from 500 to 4000 Hz; a group of young adults served as a comparison. Masked and unmasked thresholds were estimated using the visually reinforced head turn procedure in conjunction with an adaptive psychophysical method. Although infants' tuning curves fell below those of adults (indicating poorer performance), the widths and slopes of the infants' curves were not different from the adults'. Moreover, the difference between age groups remained constant across probe frequencies. These findings imply that by 5 months of age, the infant's ability to resolve sound frequency is similar to the adult's.     

The role of attentiveness,mobility history,and separation of hiding sites on stage IV search behavior

The relationship between visual attentiveness, search behavior, and duration of independent mobility was examined for fifty-six 8- to 10-month-old infants presented with three versions of the Stage IV object permanence task. The number and spatial separation of hiding sites was manipulated to explore the role of these factors on visual attention and search performance. In a repeated measures design, perseverative search errors were less likely on both a two- and a six-location task with equally wide separation of the A and B hiding sites than on a two-location task with A and B close together, thus indicating that spatial separation of sites is a more important contributor to successful search than number of hiding sites alone. In addition, visual attentiveness was significantly associated with correct search at B in all three versions of the task. A significant developmental relationship was found between the length of time infants had been independently mobile and visual attentiveness during the hiding procedure. These findings are discussed in terms of the transition to self-produced mobility and expanding spatial experience in the second half of the first year and how visual attentiveness and search performance might improve as a function of such changes.     

Gender bias in mothers' expectations about infant crawling

Although boys outshine girls in a range of motor skills, there are no reported gender differences in motor performance during infancy. This study examined gender bias in mothers' expectations about their infants' motor development. Mothers of 11-month-old infants estimated their babies' crawling ability, crawling attempts, and motor decisions in a novel locomotor task-crawling down steep and shallow slopes. Mothers of girls underestimated their performance and mothers of boys overestimated their performance. Mothers' gender bias had no basis in fact. When we tested the infants in the same slope task moments after mothers' provided their ratings, girls and boys showed identical levels of motor performance.     

Crawling-onset age predicts visual cliff avoidance in infants

Two experiments are reported that tested the effects of crawling-onset age, the amount of crawling experience, and testing age on avoidance of the deep side of a visual cliff apparatus by human infants. In Experiment 1, 49 infants ranging in age from 7 to 13 mo. were tested on the visual cliff after 1 or 2 mo. of crawling experience. Discriminant analysis revealed that crawling-onset age, and not crawling experience, discriminated between those infants who crossed and those infants who avoided the apparent drop-off. Infants who crossed the deep side were infants with an early crawling-onset age. In Experiment 2, 40 infants were tested on a visual cliff apparatus, half at 9 and half at 12 mo. of age. Discriminant analysis again found that crawling-onset age discriminated between infants who crossed the infants who would not cross the deep side, whereas testing age alone did not. These results call into question the idea that experience crawling is critical in inducing visually guided avoidance behavior in infants. It is argued that the crawling-onset age effect occurs because crawling during the tactile phase of infancy interferes with later visual control of locomotion.     

Object recognition and object segregation in 4.5-month-old infants

Six experiments investigated how 4.5-month-old infants' perception of a display is affected by an immediate prior experience with an object similar to part of the test display. Prior research (A. Needham & R. Baillargeon, 1998) showed that when infants see an object alone and then see it next to a novel object, this prior experience allows them to determine the location of a boundary between the two objects. The present experiments investigated whether infants would also use an object similar, but not identical, to a test object in the same kind of task. The results indicate that infants' use of a prior experience is disrupted by changes in the features of the object, but not by a change in its spatial orientation. These findings suggest that, like adults, infants may expect that changes in the features of an object are associated with a change in the identity of the object, but do not have the same expectation for changes in spatial orientation.     

婴儿问题解决行为的特点与发展

采用标准化的实验室测验法 ,考察了 8～ 11个月婴儿问题解决过程中的行为表现与策略特点、注意力集中水平及其与问题解决成效的关系。结果表明 :(1)在问题解决过程中 ,婴儿的尝试行为及方法的有效性水平都呈逐步上升的趋势。在初次面临问题情境时 ,所有 8个月组婴儿不能有效解决问题 ,但到 11个月时 ,6 1 5 %的婴儿已能正确解决问题 ;(2 )在问题解决过程中 ,婴儿的注意力集中水平在 8～ 11个月间显著提高 ;(3)婴儿注意集中水平与其解决问题的成效显著相关。