Sensitive Caregiving Fosters the Comprehension of Speech: When Gestures Speak Louder than Words

Despite a variety of theoretical arguments to the contrary, sensitive caregiving makes an important contribution to the comprehension and emergence of speech. This research, informed by social ecological realism, documented that during the prelinguistic and one-word periods, caregivers routinely provided additional perceptual structure to their infants following communicative breakdowns. This sensitive adjusting of subsequent messages to infants contributed significantly to reaching a common understanding. Caregivers also modified their verbal messages in subsequent turns by making them more specific. In contrast, however, these elaborations did not contribute to achieving a practical consensus regarding ongoing events. These results suggest that the social ecological realist approach informing this research has important implications for theory, reviewing past empirical findings and future research. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Non-directive play therapy as a means of recreating optimal infant socialization patterns

The paper proposes that non-directive play therapy recreates conditions similar to those created between a carer and infant during normal development. By the heightening in therapy of essentially normal developmental processes the child with harmful or inadequate relationship experiences is enabled to rework and reintegrate these into normal interactiv patterns. Ways are reviewed in which non-directive play therapy exemplifies important attachment properties in an individual's primary relationships, and recreates healthy carer-infant patterns of interaction such as topicsharing, face-to-face interactions, mutuality and symbolic play, in order to bring about therapeutic change. This primary corrective function is similar to other responsive therapeutic approaches, but it is argued that a particular strength of non-directive play therapy lies in its inherent flexibility and responsiveness to the individual child, which resembles normal infant socialization with a sensitive carer.     

Pitch of infant crying and caregiver responses in a natural setting

The naturally occurring cries of 13 infants in a day-care center were tape-recorded and spectrum-analyzed for the peak fundamental frequency. Caregivers' responses to higher-pitched cries were rated by observers as more urgent, and they more frequently included additional attempts to soothe the infant. These results provide some of the first ecologically valid evidence that the pitch of infant crying is related to the urgency and nature of caregivers' responses.     

Olfactory preferences resulting from mere exposure in human neonates

Twenty-four (12 males, 12 females) healthy, full-term neonates were exposed to an artificial odorant within the first day after birth for approximately 24 hrs to determine if mere exposure would lead to a subsequent preference for that odor. In choice tests following the treatment period, female infants displayed preferential orientation to the exposure odor. Males, in contrast, displayed no evidence of preference for the exposure odor; rather, they demonstrated a right turning bias regardless of odor location. These data suggest that familiarization with an odor shortly after birth is sufficient for female infants to develop preferential responsiveness to that odor.     

Sensorimotor development in cocaine-exposed infants

This study investigated the effects of prenatal cocaine exposure on infant sensorimotor development. One hundred and sixty-seven12-month-olds (74 cocaine-exposed and 93 unexposed) were assessed using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID). Ninety-seven had previously been evaluated on the Movement Assessment of Infants and the Test of Sensory Functions in Infants at age 4 months. On the BSID, the cocaine-exposed infants performed less well on the Mental portion and were more frequently rated as behaviorally suspect. Cocaine-exposed infants also performed less well at four months on the motor and sensory measures. Early motor performance predicted 12 month BSID mental, motor and behavioral outcomes. Cocaine exposure had an effect independent from confounders on general cognitive and specific motor and behavioral outcomes.     

Negative emotionality and positive/social behavior in rural appalachian infants: Prediction from caregiver and infant characteristics

This study explored stability and change in two aspects of infant temperamental behavior in a sample of 94 economically-disadvantaged rural Appalachian families. Regressions were used to predict Time 2 temperament for infants who increased and dereased in negative emotionality and positive/social behavior. Both infant and caregiving environment factors contributed to explaining change in first-year behavior. In this sample, maternal social support predicted more optimal change in infants' negative emotionality and positive/social behavior. Receiving public assistance and minor perinatal risk were associated with slower decline in negative emotionality and emergence of positive/social behavior.     

Discrimination of pitch contours by neonates

With the high-amplitude sucking procedure, newborns were presented with two lists of phonetically varied Japanese words differing in pitch contour. Discrimination of the lists was found, thus indicating that newborns are able to extract pitch contour information at the word level.     

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。     

Cry analysis detects subclinical effects of prenatal alcohol exposure in newborn infants

The threshold, latency, and peak fundamental frequency (basic pitch) of crying were sensitive to the subclinical effects of prenatal alcohol exposure through the first month of postnatal life. Whereas infants with prenatal alcohol exposure showed a lower cry pitch and higher cry threshold at 2 days of age, higher pitched cries, typical of nervous system insult, were evident at 14 and 28 days. A longer latency was also evident at 14 days.