在家庭自由游戏和智力任务游戏中母亲对孩子的态度特征

采用家庭观察的方法,考察了61名3—4岁儿童在家庭环境中的两个情境——自由游戏和带有智力任务倾向的拼图游戏中,其母亲对他们的态度和行为的特征,结果发现：(1)母亲在2种类型的游戏中对待孩子的态度和行为可以从母亲对孩子的控制性(高控、低控)、温暖性(接受和拒绝)、言语交流和参与性4个维度做出评价。(2)当儿童的游戏从自由游戏转为带有智力任务倾向的游戏时,母亲对待孩子的态度和行为方式发生明显变化,直接要求、提问等高控行为增多,互相商量等低控行为减少;对孩子的拒绝行为和态度增强,而肯定、爱抚、积极情绪等接受行为减少;与孩子的言语交流和参与行为减少。(3)在上述2种游戏情境中,母亲对待孩子的态度表现出个别差异,在自由游戏情境中,42．6％的母亲为宽松型,32．8％的母亲为温暖型,24．6％的母亲为交流型。在带有智力任务倾向的游戏中,54％的母亲为宽松型,23％的母亲为低控型,23％的母亲为高控型。     

Risk factors for infant attrition and low engagement in experiments and free-play

Forty-three 2-month-old infants participated with their mothers in a laboratory study of factors associated with variations in infants' attrition and levels of attention/engagement in a cognitive-perceptual experiment, and in free-play with their mothers. Increased risk of attrition from the experiment was strongly associated with analgesic medication having been administered during labor and with more restricted maternal perceptions of infants' capacities. Attrition rates and levels of engagement varied independently, showing different patterns of association with explanatory variables. Infants' levels of engagement in the experiment and in free-play were correlated across settings and low levels were associated with a lack of maternal identification with the foetus during early pregnancy and more limited maternal perceptions of their infants' capacities, but were not associated with analgesic medication during labor.     

TRAINING FUNCTIONAL EXPRESSIVE LANGUAGE: THE ACQUISITION AND GENERALIZATION OF FIVE-ELEMENT SYNTACTIC RESPONSES1

A single-subject multiple-baseline design using within- and across-subject replication was employed to study the acquisition of expanded “agent-action-object” sentences and the spontaneous generation of this form in the natural environment. Three young language-delayed subjects were trained to describe various agent-action-object relationships with a five-element syntactical form. The language training strategy was a synthesis of the developmental-psycholinguistic and behavioral models. Dynamic interactions between familiar persons and objects were the stimulus events that the children mapped. A five-element syntactical form, previously absent from the children's language repertoires, was trained during individual sessions. Concurrent with baseline, training, and followup, each subject's language was monitored in another setting, the classroom during free play. After onset of training, the core elements of the complex syntactic form were spontaneously emitted by the child in its natural environment. The free-play data reflect individual differences in the emergence and frequency of each child's spontaneous use of the agent-action-object form. The acquisition and maintenance of the specific lexicon and syntax trained were tested by posttraining probes and responses to videotape presentations. These probes revealed generalization and maintenance of both the lexical and syntactical forms acquired in treatment. The main purpose of any language-training procedure should be to provide language that is functional for the child in the natural environment. This study, which documented the spontaneous usage of the core agent-action-object syntactical form in the natural environment, effectively trained a functional syntactical rule.     

Variability in parenting behaviours during play and during mealtimes with toddlers

Few empirical studies have explored variability in parenting behaviours observed in a mealtime setting as well as in a play setting with young children. We analysed data from 282 parent–toddler dyads who participated in the Play & Grow study in the United States in 2017–2019. Parent–child interactions were video recorded during play in the laboratory when the child was 18 months old and then during mealtime in the home 6 months later. Standardised coding procedures were used to rate parenting behaviours (sensitivity, cognitive stimulation, positive regard, detachment, intrusive control and negative regard). We describe correlations and differences and variability in parenting behaviour between the two assessments and relative to child sex, gestational age, parent education level, household composition and household income. Detachment was lower on average during play at 18 months compared to during mealtime at 24 months (Cohen's d = −0.40), and the other five parenting behaviours were greater on average during play than during mealtime (d = 0.18–0.43). Sociodemographic characteristics were unrelated to the magnitude of individual differences across contexts in any of the parenting behaviours. Implications for research on associations between parent–child interactions and risk for childhood obesity are discussed.