The influence of high-risk pregnancies and social support systems on maternal perceptions of the infant

This study examines the effects of high-risk pregnancies on the maternal perception of the full-term healthy infant, as well as the influence of social support systems on these effects. Thirty mothers after high-risk pregnancy and 30 mothers after low-risk pregnancy were interviewed when their infants were 3 months old. Their perceptions of own and average baby were evaluated as well as the amount and availability of and their satisfaction with social support. The obtained results confirm the hypothesis that mothers after high-risk pregnancies tend to perceive their infant as significantly more difficult than mothers after low-risk pregnancies. A main finding of this study is that high-risk pregnancy mothers perceive an average baby in a much more positive way. Social support was not found to affect significantly the maternal negative perception of the infant after a high-risk pregnancy. These findings are discussed in the context of the continuity of the process of maternal affiliation to the infant before and after delivery.     

Grammatical awareness in the spoken and written language of language-disabled children

Experiments examined grammatical judgement, and error-identification deficits in relation to expressive language skills and to morphemic errors in writing. Language-disabled subjects did not differ from language-matched controls on judgement, revision, or error identification. Age-matched controls represented more morphemes in elicited writing than either of the other groups, which were equivalent. However, in spontaneous writing, language-disabled subjects made more frequent morphemic errors than age-matched controls, but language-matched subjects did not differ from either group. Proficiency relative to academic experience and oral language status and to remedial implications are discussed.     

Importance of life domains in different cultural groups

This study assessed the role of individualism and collectivism in the shaping of personal values of Canadians, Israelis, and Palestinians. Based on Sagie and Elizur's (1996) multifaceted approach, we distinguished personal values that are individual centered (i.e., associated with one's home, family, or work) from collective-centered values (i.e., associated with the religion, sports, or politics). The magnitude of the difference between both value types differs according to cultural orientation. As compared with Palestinians, we predicted that Canadians and Israelis would rank individual-centered values higher and collective-centered values lower. Data obtained from samples of Palestinians, Israelis, and Canadians supported this hypothesis.