Parents' perceptions of the quality of infant sleep behaviours and practices: A qualitative systematic review

A systematic review of qualitative studies was conducted to explore how parents perceive sleep quality in their infants aged 0–24 months and the factors that influence these perceptions. A systematic search of the databases Scopus, Embase, Cinahl, PsycInfo and MEDLINE, was undertaken to identify eligible peer-reviewed studies published between 2006–2021. Ten papers met inclusion criteria and were subsequently included in the review. Evaluation of papers with the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme qualitative checklist classified papers as weak, moderate or strong, with half considered strong. Thematic synthesis identified one superordinate theme, culture, and five interrelated subordinate themes regarding how parents perceive their infant's sleep and the factors that may influence these perceptions. These themes were: (1) Infants physical and emotional comfort; (2) Beliefs regarding safety; (3) Parental and familial wellbeing; (4) Perceived degree of infant agency; (5) Influence of external beliefs and opinions. The findings from this review may assist practitioners in providing parents with personalized and culturally sensitive information regarding infant sleep and may also inform antenatal and early intervention practices, subsequently minimizing parental distress regarding infant sleep patterns.     

Specialization of the motor system in infancy: from broad tuning to selectively specialized purposeful actions

In executing purposeful actions, adults select sufficient and necessary limbs. But infants often move goal‐irrelevant limbs, suggesting a developmental process of motor specialization. Two experiments with 9‐ and 12‐month‐olds revealed gradual decreases in extraneous movements in non‐acting limbs during unimanual actions. In Experiment 1, 9‐month‐olds produced more extraneous movements in the non‐acting hand/arm and feet/legs than 12‐month‐olds. In Experiment 2, analysis of the spatiotemporal dynamics of infants’ movements revealed developmental declines in the spatiotemporal coupling of movements between acting and non‐acting arms. We also showed that the degree of specialization in infants’ unimanual actions is associated with individual differences in motor experience and visual attention, indicating the experience‐dependent and broad functional nature of these developmental changes. Our study provides important new insights into motor development: as in cognitive domains, motor behaviours are initially broadly tuned to their goal, becoming progressively specialized during the first year of life.     

The Effect of Normative and Behavioral Persuasion on Help Seeking in Thai and American College Students

On the basis of previous research on self‐construals, the theory of reasoned action, and persuasive communication, the authors hypothesized that individual, behavioral‐focused information would be more effective in increasing help‐seeking intention among college students in the United States, whereas relational, normative‐focused information would be more effective among college students in Thailand. Results partially supported these predictions, suggesting that different information can enhance help‐seeking intention across cultures. En la investigación previa en el auto‐construals, la teoría de la acción razonada, y de comunicación persuasiva, los autores formaron una hipótesis que el individuo, la información enfocado‐conductista sería más efectiva en aumentar la intención de buscar ayuda entre estudiantes colegiales en los Estados Unidos, mientras que la información relacional y enfocado‐normativo sería más efectiva entre estudiantes colegiales en Tailandia. Los resultados sostuvieron parcialmente estas predicciones, sugiriendo que la información diferente puede aumentar la intención de la busca de ayuda a través de culturas.     

Spirituality and religion in training, practice and personal development

In the midst of a revitalized interest in spirituality and religion in Western societies, there has been reported a resurgence of activity regarding spirituality and religion in the mental health professions, including marriage and family therapy (MFT). Little is known, however, about the beliefs, behaviours, and training experiences of MFT graduate students. Therefore it is important to examine the training (education and supervision) needs in this area. For this initial study, a sample of US MFT graduate students were surveyed regarding their spiritual and religious attitudes and practices in their personal and professional lives. In most areas, graduate students were found to be similar to the previously published reports of practising professionals. In other areas, they report even more investment in spirituality and religion. The results of the survey suggest a need to include systematic attention to these areas in graduate training curricula and in the professional supervision process.     

Influence of Socio-Demographic Factors on SRAVEN Performance

This exploratory study aimed to investigate the influence of specific socio-demographic variables on a computerized test of non-verbal neuropsychological performance. Six hundred and thirty South African first year students were assessed using the University of Pennsylvania Computerized Neuropsychological Test Battery (PennCNP). Fluid intelligence was measured by a computerized version of the Raven's Progressive Matrices (SRAVENS). Analysis of variance indicated that gender, home language, quality of schooling, language of schooling and paternal education influenced performance on the SRAVEN. Stepwise multiple regression evidenced the importance of language, paternal education and high school language on SRAVENS responses. The assumption of non-verbal test scores as being independent of socio-demographic factors needs to be revisited as such independence cannot be maintained in light of such evidence.     

Age-related differences in associative memory depend on the types of associations that are formed

ABSTRACT

Building on well-established findings of age-related decline in associative memory, we examined whether the magnitude of age differences depends on the types of associations that are formed. Specifically, because of predominant age-related changes in the hippocampus, we expected to find larger age differences in recognition of between-domain than within-domain associations. Twenty younger and 20 older healthy adults were given two associative recognition tests, using face–name and word–word pairs, that were matched for difficulty level. As hypothesized, a three-way interaction indicated that, relative to item recognition, age differences in associative recognition were greater for between-domain face–name associations than for within-domain word–word associations. This dissociation is consistent with the idea that the hippocampus plays a prominent role in binding information received from distal neocortical regions. The discussion focuses on the roles of recollection and familiarity in supporting associative memory as well as implications for the remediation of age-related memory decline.