Atypical maternal behavior toward feeding‐disordered infants before and after intervention

The display of atypical behaviors and disrupted communication during parent–infant interactions, as assessed by the Atypical Maternal Behavior Instrument for Assessment and Classification (AMBIANCE), has been linked to disorganized infant attachment, which, in turn, has been linked to psychopathology. The present study examined the usefulness of the AMBIANCE as an indicator of the efficacy of two brief interventions in reducing atypical behaviors and disrupted communication during play interactions. Twenty‐eight mother–infant dyads participated (14 per intervention). All infants had feeding problems. One intervention, Interaction Guidance, focused on training caregivers to respond sensitively to their infants (play‐focused intervention). The other intervention focused on training mothers to use new feeding techniques (feeding‐focused intervention). Results showed a significant decrease in AMBIANCE scores in the play‐focused group from pre‐ to postintervention, but not in the feeding‐focused group. There was a significant decrease in the level of disrupted communication from pre‐ to postintervention sessions in the play‐focused group but not in the feeding‐focused group. 73% of mothers from the play‐focused group and 17% of mothers from the feeding‐focused group initially classified as “disrupted” attained a classification of “nondisrupted” at the postintervention session. Some limitations of the study include small sample size, differences in timing of assessment for each intervention, and use of samples of convenience. Nonetheless, these findings provide preliminary evidence both of the usefulness of AMBIANCE as an instrument for assessing clinical efficacy and the efficacy of Interaction Guidance. ©2001 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.     

Insidious dangers of benevolent sexism: consequences for women's performance

Four experiments found benevolent sexism to be worse than hostile sexism for women's cognitive performance. Experiments 1-2 showed effects of paternalist benevolent sexism and ruled out explanations of perceived sexism, context pleasantness, and performance motivation. Experiment 3 showed effects of both paternalist and complementary gender differentiation components of benevolent sexism. Benevolent sexism per se (rather than the provision of unsolicited help involved in paternalism) worsened performance. Experiment 4 showed that impaired performance due to benevolent sexism was fully mediated by the mental intrusions women experienced about their sense of competence. Additionally, Experiment 4 showed that gender identification protected against hostile but not benevolent sexism. Despite the apparently positive and inoffensive tone of benevolent sexism, our research emphasizes its insidious dangers.     

Relationship arguments: An interactionist elaboration of speech acts

An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meeting of the Speech Communication Association, Boston, MA, November 1987.     

Investigation of effects of face rotation on race processing: An ERPs study

Recent ERP research has indicated that the processing of faces of other races (OR) and same race (SR) as the perceiver differs at the perceptual level, more precisely for the N170 component. The purpose of the present study was to continue the investigation of the race-of-face processing across multiple orientations. Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) and performance were recorded when Caucasian participants were required to categorize by race Caucasian and African faces presented in eight different angles of orientation. Three main observations were made: (1) the face-sensitive N170 is modulated by the race of faces, being larger in response to OR compared to SR faces; (2) face rotation affected this component in the same pattern for both racial groups; (3) the N170-ORE progressively disappeared as the faces moved away from their canonical orientation at the right hemisphere only. Thus, the current findings suggest that configural/holisitic information is extracted from faces of both racial groups, but that upright OR faces require increased demands.     

Visual memory and visual perception: when memory improves visual search

This study examined the relationship between memory and perception in order to identify the influence of a memory dimension in perceptual processing. Our aim was to determine whether the variation of typical size between items (i.e., the size in real life) affects visual search. In two experiments, the congruency between typical size difference and perceptual size difference was manipulated in a visual search task. We observed that congruency between the typical and perceptual size differences decreased reaction times in the visual search (Exp. 1), and noncongruency between these two differences increased reaction times in the visual search (Exp. 2). We argue that these results highlight that memory and perception share some resources and reveal the intervention of typical size difference on the computation of the perceptual size difference.     

Early- and late-onset blindness both curb audiotactile integration on the parchment-skin illusion

It has been shown that congenital blindness can lead to anomalies in the integration of auditory and tactile information, at least under certain conditions. In the present study, we used the parchment-skin illusion, a robust illustration of sound-biased perception of touch based on changes in frequency, to investigate the specificities of audiotactile interactions in early- and late-onset blind individuals. Blind individuals in both groups did not experience any illusory change in tactile perception when the frequency of the auditory signal was modified, whereas sighted individuals consistently experienced the illusion. This demonstration that blind individuals had reduced susceptibility to an auditory-tactile illusion suggests either that vision is necessary for the establishment of audiotactile interactions or that auditory and tactile information can be processed more independently in blind individuals than in sighted individuals. In addition, the results obtained in late-onset blind participants suggest that visual input may play a role in the maintenance of audiotactile integration.     

The Relationship Between Adolescent Renal Transplant Recipients’ Perceived Adversity,Coping, and Medical Adherence

The aim of the present study was to assess adolescent renal transplant recipients’ perceived adversity (PA) for various aspects of living with a transplant, including its association with coping and medication non-adherence, from a theoretical perspective. Thirty-three adolescent renal transplant recipients were interviewed using structured questionnaires and medical record reviews. Health care provider ratings of adversity were also collected. Participants reported moderate levels of PA, with those who received a transplant at an older age reporting more adversity on several domains and girls reporting more adversity for missing school. Ratings of adversity for specific aspects of living with a transplant differed depending on age and medical factors and were related to specific coping strategies and measures of non-adherence. Consistent with the Self-Regulation Model, perceived consequences (represented as PA) appears to be related to coping and illness outcomes. Assessing PA and teaching appropriate coping strategies may yield better medical outcomes among this at-risk population.     

Reduction of disrupted caregiver behavior using modified interaction guidance

The present study is a reanalysis of a preexisting study examining the usefulness of the Atypical Maternal Behavior Instrument for Assessment and Classification (AMBIANCE; Bronfman, Parsons, & Lyons‐Ruth, 1999) measure as an indicator of efficacy in reducing disrupted caregiver behavior in two brief interventions. The current study examines the rate of change in the display of disrupted caregiver behavior over the course of an attachment‐based intervention (Modified Interaction Guidance) in a group of 11 caregiver‐infant dyads referred to a tertiary care clinic for feeding problems. The AMBIANCE was utilized as an indicator of change in disrupted behavior following an assessment feedback session and three intervention sessions. Results showed a significant decrease in the total display of disrupted caregiver behaviors, as well as a change in classification from disrupted to not‐disrupted, after receiving both feedback from the assessment and the first treatment session. A qualitative analysis of the data further revealed different patterns of change between caregivers. These findings provide preliminary empirical support suggesting that a reduction of disrupted caregiver behavior can be observed relatively quickly after the commencement of the Modified Interaction Guidance intervention.