Dynamics of the dyad: How mothers and infants co-construct interaction spaces during object play

Studies of dyadic interaction often examine infants’ social exchanges with their caregivers in settings that constrain their physical properties (e.g., infant posture, fixed seating location for infants and adults). Methodological decisions about the physical arrangements of interaction, however, may limit our ability to understand how posture and position shape them. Here we focused on these embodied properties of dyadic interaction in the context of object play. We followed 30 mother–infant dyads across the first year of life (at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months) and observed them during 5 min of play with a standard set of toys. Using an interval-based coding system, we measured developmental change in infant posture, how mothers and infants positioned themselves relative to one another, and how they populated interaction spaces with objects. Results showed that mother–infant dyads co-constructed interaction spaces and that the contributions of each partner changed across development. Dyads progressively adopted a broader spatial co-orientation during play (e.g., positioned at right angles) across the first year. Moreover, advances in infants’ postural skills, particularly increases in the use of independent sitting in real time, uniquely predicted change in dyadic co-orientation and infants’ actions with objects, independent of age. Taken together, we show that the embodied properties of dyadic object play help determine how interactions are physically organized and unfold, both in real time and across the first year of life.     

Self,community and the overcoming of prejudice

Using discussion from Gadamer, Burbules and Rice, and Banks, and practical examples from a multicultural teacher education classroom, this paper examines the effects of community on the construction of identities and on the development and overcoming of prejudice.     

A novel radiant heat test for assessing pain threshold in human subjects: Measurement stability

New methodologies to assess analgesic response in humans are needed to better integrate preclinical and clinical data. In the present study we examined the test-retest stability of an innovative radiant heat methodology compared with an electrical stimulation methodology. For the radiant heat task, a modified rodent tail flick apparatus was used. The latency for finger withdrawal was recorded. For the electrical stimulation tasks, subjects placed two fingers on two electrodes from which they received a brief series of increasingly intense electrical stimulations. Maximum stimulus intensity (in milliamps) delivered was recorded. On each of 4 test days, the subjects received five test trials with a 10-min interval between trials. All the subjects were tested twice on each apparatus in a counterbalanced design. Finger withdrawal latencies for the radiant heat task did not differ significantly across test trials or test days. Finger withdrawal scores for electrical stimulation increased significantly across test trials as well as test days. These data show that the radiant heat method generates consistent latencies across trials and days, whereas shock produces trends over time. The radiant heat task, which is convenient to operate and inexpensive to build, appears promising as a reliable test of pain threshold in humans.     

A Clinical-Empirical Model of Personality: Life after the Mischelian Ice Age and the NEO-Lithic Era

ABSTRACT A theory of personality should lead to both accurate prediction and interpretive understanding. Aside from its empirical uses, a personality theory should provide a grammar that allows personality psychologists to infer meaning from overt behavior with more sophistication than a layperson, and the best laboratory for testing the interpretive utility of a personality theory remains the clinic. With respect to the appropriate data for constructing and evaluating theories of personality, an overreliance on questionnaire data is problematic for several reasons: It assumes that understanding people requires no training, it mistakes research on the conscious self-concept for research on personality, it conflates implicit and explicit knowledge, it fails to address defensive biases, and it lacks interrater reliability. Consideration of both empirical and clinical data points to three questions that define the elements of personality necessary for a comprehensive assessment of an individual: (a) What psychological resources–cognitive, affective, and behavioral dispositions–does the individual have at his or her disposal? (b) What does the person wish for, fear, and value, and how do these motives combine and conflict? (c) How does the person experience the self and others, and to what extent can the individual enter into intimate relationships?     

USE OF COMPONENT ANALYSES TO IDENTIFY ACTIVE VARIABLES IN TREATMENT PACKAGES FOR CHILDREN WITH FEEDING DISORDERS

We evaluated the separate components in treatment packages for food refusal of 4 young children. First, treatment packages were implemented until food acceptance improved. Next, a component analysis was conducted within a multielement or reversal design to identify the active components that facilitated food acceptance. The results indicated that escape extinction was always identified as an active variable when assessed; however, other variables, including positive reinforcement and noncontingent play, were also identified as active variables for 2 of the children. The results suggest that the component analysis was useful for identifying variables that affected food acceptance.     

GENDER AND TASK IN THE DETERMINATION OF SPATIAL COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE

A variety of sex differences in spatial cognitive performance have been documented. However, factors other than those specifically related to gender and cognition per se, such as the perceived spatial character of given tasks, may contribute to such differences. In the present experiments, spatial memory and mental image rotation tasks were presented to female and male adults. The task formats or instructions were varied to emphasize or deemphasize the spatial character of the tasks. Highly "spatial" instructions or format significantly depressed performance on spatial tasks for women but not for men. "Nonspatial" instructions or format, within which the spatial character of the task was not explicit, resulted in no significant differences between the performances of women and men on either type of task. These findings indicate that instructional or format effects relating to the purported "spatial" character of a given task may significantly influence the relative performance of women and men.     

Neural and Pavlovian influences on immunity

The traditional view that the nervous and immune systems are functionally independent (aside from general stress effects and autoimmune disorders of the nervous system) is being challenged by a new view that the nervous system regulates the activity of the immune system. If this is true, it should be possible to change the activity of the immune system by means of Pavlovian conditioning, just as it is possible to condition other physiological events influenced by the autonomic nervous system or neuroendocrine substances. Evidence for autonomic and neuroendocrine modulation of immune activity is briefly reviewed; and, the various studies reporting conditioned immune effects, the physiological mechanisms most likely involved, and their possible significance are discussed.     

Social identity,peer group rejection,and young children's reactive,displaced, and proactive aggression

The effects of peer group rejection on 7‐ and 9‐year‐old children's (N= 192) reactive, displaced, and proactive aggression were examined in a group simulation study. Children were assigned membership in a pretend social group for a drawing competition and were then rejected or accepted by their group. Their direct and indirect aggressive intentions towards either the ingroup or outgroup were assessed. Analysis of their aggressive intentions revealed enhanced indirect aggression but less direct aggression. Peer group rejection, in comparison with acceptance, instigated reactive aggression towards the ingroup, and displaced reactive aggression towards the outgroup. Accepted children displayed proactive aggression towards the outgroup but not the ingroup. The implications of the findings for peer group rejection and aggression research are discussed.     

Meta-analysis of the Long-Term Treatment Effects of Psychological Interventions in Youth with PTSD Symptoms

To date, the long-term effectiveness of psychological treatments in reducing post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms in children and adolescents has not been investigated extensively. This meta-analysis quantifies the long-term effects of psychological interventions in children and adolescents with PTSD symptoms and examines the period-dependent follow-up (FU) effects based on 47 studies. The mean FU effect sizes (ESs) for PTSD symptoms ranged from medium (between treatment ESs for controlled studies) to large (within treatment ESs for uncontrolled studies; pooled analysis including all studies). These effects were comparable to the post-treatment ESs, which suggests that the treatment effects remained stable. ESs did not differ depending on the length of the FU period (</>6 months). In randomized controlled trials (RCTs), as well as trials conducted with treatment as usual or active control groups, the long-term treatment effects for the reduction of PTSD symptoms were small. These results demonstrate the long-term effectiveness of psychological interventions in the treatment of PTSD in youth. However, more studies should include a FU assessment. Further research should focus on RCTs with long-term assessments, report comorbid symptoms and investigate the influence of potential moderators. Research is also warranted to determine how to improve the long-term effects of treatments for PTSD in youth.