Frontal Lobe Activity and Affective Behavior of Infants of Mothers with Depressive Symptoms

Studies of adults and infants indicate that the left frontal brain region is specialized for approach emotions, such as joy, whereas the right frontal region is specialized for withdrawal emotions, such as distress. Furthermore, depressed adults have been found to show reduced brain activity in the left frontal region. In this study, frontal and parietal electroencephalographic (EEG) activity was recorded from 27 infants aged 11-17 months (13 of whose mothers reported elevated depressive symptoms) during baseline and emotion-eliciting conditions. Compared with infants of nonsymptomatic mothers, infants of symptomatic mothers exhibited reduced left frontal brain activity during playful interactions with their mothers and failed to exhibit the typical pattern of greater right frontal activity during a condition designed to elicit distress (maternal separation). Infants of symptomatic mothers also showed less distress during maternal separation; however, no group differences in behavior were found during the playful condition. Group differences were evident in the frontal region, but not in parietal brain activity.     

The Relations between Frontal Brain Electrical Activity and Cognitive Development during Infancy

The relations between changes in the scalp-recorded electroencephalogram (EEG) and the development of the ability to perform successfully 2 cognitive tasks attributed to frontal lobe functioning were examined in 13 infants from 7 to 12 months of age. Infants successful in performing the A-not-B task with increasingly longer delays across the second half of the first year of life showed changes in power in scalp-recorded brain electrical activity in the frontal region and an increase in anterior/posterior EEG coherence. Infants with rapid mastery of object retrieval did not differ in frontal EEG development from infants who exhibited the normal developmental progression in object retrieval performance. In a task examining inhibition of reaching to a novel toy, there were no differences in frontal EEG as a function of performance. Results from a cross-sectional sample revealed similar findings. These data confirm work with nonhuman primates on the importance of maturation of frontal cortex in the successful performance on certain tasks (A-not-B), but do not confirm nonhuman primate data on the importance of frontal cortex for other tasks (object retrieval). The data also suggest that the electroencephalogram may be useful as a noninvasive measure of central nervous system development during the first year of life.     

Interaction between Children with Developmental Delays and their Mothers during a Book‐sharing Activity

Mothers and their preschool children with developmental delays participated in a storybook activity. Data analysis focused on the relations between maternal and child behaviours in the activity. Several aspects of mothers’ behaviour were related to children's engagement and responsiveness during the task. The more responsive and engaged the child, the more the mother attempted to involve the child in the book activity. Interviews indicated that children's positive attitude towards reading was associated with frequency of reading activity. We conclude that mothers were sensitive to their children's developmental levels and organized the activity in ways appropriate to the child's ability and willingness to participate.     

Activities and Interactions of Mothers and Their Firstborn Infants in the First Six Months of Life: Covariation, Stability, Continuity, Correspondence, and Prediction

Activities of primiparous mothers and infants were observed at 2 and 5 months of age during naturalistic interactions at home. 5 prominent features of mother and infant exchanges in this short-term longitudinal study are described and discussed in the context of 3 models of unique environment-development relations: covariation, stability, continuity, correspondence, and prediction. Generally, mothers' activities did not positively covary at either age, nor did those of infants. Some maternal activities were stable in this time period; some developmentally increased, and some developmentally decreased. Infants' activities were unstable, but most increased over time. Specific mother and infant activities corresponded, and over time mothers and infants influenced one another in specific ways. In the critical period of the first half year, infants appear to be flexible and plastic in their behavioral repertoires and are influenced by their mothers; mothers are somewhat consistent, but they also adapt to the behaviors of their infants.     

Associations among Adult Attachment Representations, Maternal Sensitivity, and Infant-Mother Attachment in a Sample of Adolescent Mothers

Associations among adolescent attachment organization, maternal sensitivity, and infant attachment organization were examined prospectively in 74 teenaged mother-infant dyads. Pregnant teenagers' attachment organizations predicted both sensitivity and infant-mother attachments. Mothers classified autonomous (F) in the prenatal period showed higher levels of sensitivity at both 3 and 9 months than mothers classified dismissing (Ds), preoccupied (E), or unresolved (U). Correspondence between maternal attachment (F vs. Ds/E/U) and infant attachment (secure [B] vs. avoidant [A]/resistant [C]/ disorganized [D]) was observed in 58 of 74 (78%) dyads. Exact 4-group (Ds/E/F/U and A/B/C/D) agreement was observed in 50 of 74 (68%) families. In contrast, associations between maternal sensitivity and infant attachment were not significant, leading to questions about the processes that link attachment representations, maternal behavior, and infant attachment in adolescent mothers.     

成人教育作为一门学科的发展与研究——专访美国成人教育著名学者莎润·梅里安博士

受《开放教育研究)编辑部的委托，本刊特约记于今年9月1日在美国乔治亚大学成人教育系梅里安教授的办公室，就成人教育的基本概念、美国成人教育的发展与研究、成人教育与远程教育的关系等国内读感兴趣的话题与她做了一次学术交流。     

The Effects of a Coping Skills Training Program on the Coping Skills, Hopelessness, and Stress Levels of Mothers of Children with Autism

The aim of this study is to explore the effects of a coping skills training program on stress, and hopelessness levels and coping skills of mothers of children with autism the age range of children was 12–19 for the experimental group and 11–17 for the control group. Twenty mothers of children with autism were assigned to a treatment group and a no treatment control group. A pre-test- post-test no-treatment control group design was undertaken. After completion of the program, interviews were conducted with the mothers in the experimental group to get some qualitative data about the effectiveness of the program. The results revealed differences in hopelessness levels and the use of social support as a coping strategy; however, there was no significant difference in the use of avoidance and problem solving as a coping strategy and stress levels of mothers. Moreover, the interviews conducted with mothers indicated a positive effect of the program on the mothers of children with autism. The generalization of the results is limited as the sample consisted of ten mothers and long-term follow-up data were not collected.     

Decisions, Provisions and Disillusionment for Non-vocational Adult Learning (NVAL) Staff in South-Eastern Europe: a comparative appraisal of some policy developments with diminishing returns

Since 2000, the European Union has given greater attention to lifelong learning, as expressed in the Lisbon presidency conclusions and the general objectives of the Education and Training 2010 work programme. In September 2007, these policy proposals were further strengthened with the announcement of the ‘Action Plan on Adult Learning’ that sets out how Member States and other stakeholders could be supported to improve, implement and develop adult education and monitor its results. Because of the multitude of policy expectations, training and professional development for adult learning staff are still relatively uncommon in some parts of Europe, despite a societal demand, which also should be interpreted in the context of changing societal conditions and needs besides raising the quality of lifelong learning. This is largely echoed in South-East Europe where the situation of the training of adult learning staff is more on the downside than most policy-makers would have expected. In most South-East European countries, adult learning is expected to provide individual, cultural, and social improvement, to address illiteracy or earlier unsatisfactory access to initial education, and mostly to respond to labour market access problems. At the same time, adult learning staff have to face obstacles such as dependency on government or EU funding, changing political perspectives on and interest in adult education, policies prescribing an enclosed employment-oriented adult education market and occasionally a lack of national legislation or frameworks and structures covering their field. Along with these general findings, this article focuses on the comparison of current policies on training and professional development of adult learning staff in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece and Turkey, according to three vital topics:

• • Selection procedure and working conditions of adult learning staff (focusing on recruitment, professional expectations and employment situation).
• • Opportunities and obstacles for their professional development and evaluation (focusing on career paths and monitoring, assessing and evaluating issues).
• • Societal situation for the profession (focusing on attractiveness and social impact).

     

Look closer: the alertness of people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities during multi-sensory storytelling,a time sequential analysis

Introduction: Multi-sensory storytelling (MSST) is a storytelling method designed for individuals with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD). It is essential that listeners be alert during MSST, so that they become familiar with their personalised stories. Repetition and the presentation of stimuli are likely to affect the alertness of listeners during MSST. Previous studies have only examined the overall level of alertness during MSST. This study focuses on changes in alertness over time during storytelling. Method: In this study, 27 direct support people read an MSST book 20 times with a person with PIMD. The 1st, 5th, 10th and 20th storytelling sessions were recorded. The relation between alertness and the active presentation of stimuli is analyzed using a time-window sequential analysis. We examined changes in alertness levels by comparing the four different storytelling sessions. Results: Higher levels of active alertness were observed when stimuli were actively presented. Alertness was not constant within storytelling sessions, and was related to the presentation of stimuli. Actively presented stimuli were associated with larger fluctuations in alertness. Discussion: Storytellers should present stimuli actively and for longer periods, in order to increase the alertness of listeners during storytelling.