Infant Affective Reactions to the Resumption of Maternal Interaction after the Still-Face

To investigate infants' reactions to the Face-to-Face Still-Face Paradigm and in particular the reunion episode, 50 6-month-olds' affective, behavioral, and physiologic reactions were recorded and analyzed. Infants reacted to the still-face with negative affect, a drop in vagal tone, and an increase in heart rate. By contrast, they reacted to the reunion episode with a mixed pattern of positive and negative affect. There was a carryover of negative affect from the still-face, an increase in fussiness and crying, and a rebound of positive affect. During this episode, the infants' heart rate and vagal tone returned to initial levels. The data indicate that infant affective displays are specifically related to different interactive events, but that their physiologic reactions do not show the same level of specificity. The findings also highlight the complexity of the affective and reparatory processes that take place in mother-infant interactions.     

Emerging Social Regulatory Capacities as Seen in the Still-Face Situation

Early mother-infant interactions support infants' abilities to deal with stressful situations such as the withdrawal of maternal attention. The "still-face" paradigm provides a framework for studying the range of social regulatory capacities available to infants during stressful times. This study examined the responses of 62 3-4-month-old infants during the still-face situation. Infants' responses were coded in real time along 3 dimensions: gaze, affect, and state. 3 findings are presented: (1) Generally, infants responded to the still-face situation with predominantly neutral affect and looking away from their mothers. (2) Infants who looked longer at their mothers early in the still-face showed longer early positive affect and protested her absence less. (3) Girls more often showed an intensely negative response to the still-face. These findings are discussed in the context of the development of social regulatory capacities in infancy.     

Infant stress and parent responsiveness: regulation of physiology and behavior during still-face and reunion

This study examined infant response and recovery from a social challenge and parent responses. Behavioral and physiological responses were measured from forty-three 5- and 6-month-olds infants during a modified still-face procedure that used an additional still-face reunion sequence. Results confirm the hypothesis that infants of more responsive parents show more regulation than infants of less responsive parents. Infants of more responsive parents showed greater regulation of heart rate and negative affect during the final episode of the procedure than infants of less responsive parents. In addition, this procedure elicited a cortisol response (from .22 microg/dl to .31 microg/dl). Findings suggest important links between parent behavior and infant stress reactivity and regulation.     

Depressed Mothers' Touching Increases Infants' Positive Affect and Attention in Still-Face Interactions

The effects of depressed mothers' touching on their infants' behavior were investigated during the still-face situation. 48 depressed and nondepressed mothers and their 3-month-old infants were randomly assigned to control and experimental conditions. 4 successive 90-sec periods were implemented: (A) normal play, (B) still-face-no-touch, (C) still-face-with-touch, and (A) normal play. Depressed and nondepressed mothers were instructed and shown how to provide touch for their infants during the still-face-with-touch period. Different affective and attentive responses of the infants of depressed versus the infants of nondepressed mothers were observed. Infants of depressed mothers showed more positive affect (smiles and vocalizations) and gazed more at their mothers' hands during the still-face-with-touch period than the infants of nondepressed mothers, who grimaced, cried, and gazed away from their mothers' faces more often. The results suggest that by providing touch stimulation for their infants, the depressed mothers can increase infant positive affect and attention and, in this way, compensate for negative effects often resulting from their typical lack of affectivity (flat facial and vocal expressions) during interactions     

The effect of manipulating maternal behavior during an interaction on three- and six-month-olds' affect and attention

3 studies were designed to examine the "still-face" paradigm, in which mothers stared at their 3- or 6-month-olds for a brief, still-face period interposed between 2 periods of normal face-to-face interaction. 6-month-olds decreased smiling and gazing at their mothers and grimaced more during the still-face period relative to the other periods; no period effects occurred in a no-change control group (Studies 1 and 2). Similar results were obtained when mothers and their infants observed and interacted with each other over closed-circuit color television monitors (Study 3). Moreover, the same relative decline in the infants' visual attention and positive affect during the still-face period occurred to a change in mothers' facial display (a televised, prerecorded, still face vs. a televised, live, interacting face) regardless of the presence or absence of their interactive voices (sound on the infants' monitor turned on or off). 3-month-olds exhibited a significant still-face effect, but only when maternal touch was a part of the manipulation (Study 1 vs. 2); therefore, the televised procedure was not conducted. The still-face effect is a robust phenomenon, produced with either "live" or "televised" procedures, both of which offer promising techniques for examining models of socioemotional perception/understanding of infants.     

Infant and maternal sensitivity to interpersonal timing

A perturbation paradigm was employed to assess 3- and 6-month-old infants' and their mothers' sensitivity to a 3-s temporal delay implemented in an ongoing televised interaction. At both ages, the temporal delay affected infant but not maternal behavior and only when implementing the temporal delay in maternal (Experiment 1, N=64) but not infant (Experiment 2, N=60) behavior. In addition, the experimental manipulation influenced promptness of maternal smiling responses reliably more than promptness of infant smiling responses. The findings suggest that the timing of maternal behavior plays an important role in infants' perception of maternal responsiveness, whereas mothers seem to monitor general aspects of infant behavior such as overall level of engagement.     

Interactions of black inner-city mothers with their newborn infants.

Interactions of 45 black inner-city mothers with their healthy full-term newborn infants were observed during a bottle-feeding on the third day after birth. An exhaustive catalog of some 100 mother and infant behaviors was used to describe objectively the interactions of mothers and infants. In addition to being observed with their mothers, infants were examined with the Rosenblith scale. The infants' birth weights, birth order, and sex and maternal medication were found to affect the infants' behaviors and/or the patterns of mother-infant interactions.     

Infant emotional and cortisol responses to goal blockage

This study examined the relation of infant emotional responses of anger and sadness to cortisol response in 2 goal blockage situations. One goal blockage with 4-month-old infants (N = 56) involved a contingency learning procedure where infants' learned response was no longer effective in reinstating an event. The other goal blockage with 6-month-old infants (N = 84) involved the still face procedure where infants' reactions to their mothers' lack of responsivity were not effective in reestablishing interaction. For both blockages, sadness was related to cortisol response, though anger was not--the greater the sadness, the higher the cortisol response. This differential relation is consistent with other evidence indicating the more positive role of anger as opposed to sadness in overcoming an obstacle.     

Maternal Responsiveness to Infants in Three Societies: The United States, France, and Japan

This study examines and compares prominent characteristics of maternal responsiveness to infant activity during home-based naturalistic interactions of mother-infant dyads in New York City, Paris, and Tokyo. Both culture-general and culture-specific patterns of responsiveness emerged. For example, in all 3 locales infants behaved similarly, mothers also behaved similarly with respect to a hierarchy of response types, and mothers and infants manifest both specificity and mutual appropriateness in their interactions: Mothers responded to infants' exploration of the environment with encouragement to the environment, to infants' vocalizing nondistress with imitation, and to infants' vocalizing distress with nurturance. Differences in maternal responsiveness among cultures occurred to infant looking rather than to infant vocalizing and in mothers' emphasizing dyadic versus extradyadic loci of interaction. Universals of maternal responsiveness, potential sources of cultural variation, and implications of similarities and differences in responsiveness for child development in different cultural contexts are discussed.     

Differentiating Maternal Sensitivity to Infant Distress and Non-Distress

Drawing from a domain specificity perspective, we assert that maternal sensitivity to infant distress cues is distinct from maternal sensitivity to non-distress cues. We review evidence from prior research demonstrating that the two constructs have more unshared than shared variance and that sensitivity to infant distress is a unique predictor of infants' early emotional well-being when both types of sensitivity are examined as simultaneous predictors. In addition, we present new evidence to test the hypothesis that maternal sensitivity to infant distress and non-distress have different origins. We draw on data from a subset of mothers and infants who participated in Phase I of the NICHD Study of Early Child Care (Study 1) and from 101 mother-infant dyads who participated in a longitudinal study of the origins of maternal sensitivity (Study 2). In both studies, maternal sensitivity to distress and non-distress were rated when infants were 6 months old. In both studies, socio-demographic risk (i.e., young, unmarried, low income mothers) was a stronger predictor of sensitivity to non-distress than of sensitivity to distress. In Study 2, mothers' emotional and cognitive responses to videotapes of crying infants during the prenatal period predicted maternal sensitivity during tasks designed to elicit infant fear and frustration but were unrelated to maternal sensitivity in a non-arousing free play context. Maternal sensitivity during infancy can be further divided into specific sub-types that have unique origins and unique effects on subsequent child well-being. Methodological, theoretical, and applied implications of such an approach are discussed.     

Parental sensitivity, infant affect, and affect regulation: predictors of later attachment

This longitudinal study on 94 families examined the extent to which parent sensitivity, infant affect, and affect regulation at 4 months predicted mother-infant and father-infant attachment classifications at 1 year. Parent sensitivity was rated from face-to-face interaction episodes; infant affect and regulatory behaviors were rated from mother-infant and father-infant still-face episodes at 4 months. Infants' attachment to mothers and fathers was rated from the Strange Situation at 12 and 13 months. MANOVAs indicated that 4-month parent and infant factors were associated with infant-mother but not infant-father attachment groups. Discriminant Function Analysis further indicated that two functions, "Affect Regulation" and "Maternal Sensitivity," discriminated infant-mother attachment groups; As and B1-B2s showed more affect regulation toward mothers and fathers than B3-B4s and Cs at 4 months, and mothers of both secure groups were more sensitive than mothers of Cs. Finally, the association between maternal sensitivity and infant-mother attachment was partially mediated by infant affect regulation.     

Habituation and maternal encouragement of attention in infancy as predictors of toddler language, play, and representational competence

In a longitudinal study, infants' habituation and mothers' encouragement of attention were assessed at 5 months, and toddlers' language comprehension, language production, and pretense play and mothers' encouragement of attention were assessed at 13 months. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the unique contributions of infant habituation and maternal stimulation to toddlers' cognitive abilities. Habituation predicted language comprehension, pretense play, and a latent variable of language and play after the influences of both 5- and 13-month maternal encouragement of attention were partialed. Likewise, early maternal encouragement of attention explained unique variance in toddlers' language comprehension and the language-and-play latent variable after infant habituation was controlled. These findings indicate that links between early habituation and later cognitive development are direct and not solely mediated by maternal stimulation, and that maternal stimulation of young infants influences the development of children's representational competence over and above infants' own information-processing abilities.     

Infants' Responses to Facial and Vocal Emotional Signals in a Social Referencing Paradigm

The independent effects of facial and vocal emotional signals and of positive and negative signals on infant behavior were investigated in a novel toy social referencing paradigm. 90 12-month-old infants and their mothers were assigned to an expression condition (neutral, happy, or fear) nested within a modality condition (face-only or voice-only). Each infant participated in 3 trials: a baseline trial, an expression trial, and a final positive trial. We found that fearful vocal emotional signals, when presented without facial signals, were sufficient to elicit appropriate behavior regulation. Infants in the fear-voice condition looked at their mothers longer, showed less toy proximity, and tended to show more negative affect than infants in the neutral-voice condition. Happy vocal signals did not elicit differential responding. The infants' sex was a factor in the few effects that were found for infants' responses to facial emotional signals.     

Differential Effects of Maternal Sensitivity to Infant Distress and Nondistress on Social-Emotional Functioning

Associations between maternal sensitivity to infant distress and nondistress and infant social-emotional adjustment were examined in a subset of dyads from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care ( N = 376). Mothers reported on infant temperament at 1 and 6 months postpartum, and maternal sensitivity to distress and nondistress were observed at 6 months. Child behavior problems, social competence, and affect dysregulation were measured at 24 and 36 months. Maternal sensitivity to distress but not to nondistress was related to fewer behavioral problems and higher social competence. In addition, for temperamentally reactive infants, maternal sensitivity to distress was associated with less affect dysregulation. Sensitivity to nondistress only prevented affect dysregulation if sensitivity to distress was also high.     

Cortisol in Neonatal Mother's Milk Predicts Later Infant Social and Cognitive Functioning in Rhesus Monkeys

Milk provides not only the building blocks for somatic development but also the hormonal signals that contribute to the biopsychological organization of the infant. Among mammals, glucocorticoids (GCs) in mother's milk have been associated with infant temperament. This study extended prior work to investigate rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta) mother–infant dyads (N = 34) from birth through 8 months postpartum. Regression analysis revealed that cortisol concentrations in milk during the neonatal period predicted impulsivity on a cognitive task, but not global social behaviors, months later. During this time period, sex‐differentiated social behavior emerged. For female infants, milk cortisol concentrations predicted total frequency of play. Collectively, these findings support and extend the “lactational programming” hypothesis on the impact of maternal‐origin hormones ingested via milk.     

When Infants Look to Their Parents: I. Infants'' Social Referencing of Mothers Compared to Fathers

12-month-olds were seen with their mothers and fathers in a laboratory procedure designed to compare infants' solicitation of, emotional resonance to, and self-regulation on the basis of happy, fearful, and conflicting emotional signals from mothers versus fathers. Measures of positive and negative affect and affect lability; of look, approach, and proximity behavior; and of overall response pattern were obtained. Infants showed more positive and less negative affect and greater toy proximity with happy compared to fearful signals. Few differences emerged in infants' referencing response to mothers versus fathers. Infants looked more to mothers than fathers when no signals were given but did not differentiate between parents when only one was signaling or when both were signaling (conflict). In affective state and behavioral regulation, they were not differentially responsive to maternal versus paternal signals either when only one parent was signaling or when both were giving signals.     

Smiling and Fussing in Seven-Month-Old Preterm and Full-Term Black Infants in the Still-Face Situation

We investigated emotional responses to the still-face paradigm in 7-month-old preterm and full-term black infants. Baby FACS criteria were used to code the duration and intensity of infant smiles and the presence or absence of cry faces and fussy vocalizations within each episode. Infants in both groups showed the still-face effect: a significant reduction in smiling from episode 1 (baseline) to episode 2 (maternal still-face) and partial return to baseline in episode 3 (recovery). A multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) for big smiles yielded significant main effects for group and episode and a significant group episode interaction. Preterm infants spent less time than full-term infants displaying big smiles in episode 1 and a less pronounced decrease in big smiles in episode 2. Maternal depressive symptoms did not differ significantly between groups. Counter to our expectations, depressive symptoms were positively associated with small-to-medium smiles in the baseline episode but not with big smiles in any episode. These findings confirm the robustness of the still-face paradigm and its potential usefulness for research on individual as well as group differences in affective communication in infants.     

幼儿英语游戏教学的艺术

英语教育是开发幼儿智力的重要手段。从社会发展的需要和幼儿身心发展特点等多方面因素考察可以得出结论:在对幼儿进行早期英语教育中,实施幼儿英语教学游戏法不仅是必要的,而且是可行的。教师在实施英语游戏教学法时,首先要对幼儿英语教学游戏的基本特征及其作用有一个明确的认识;其次,在实施幼儿英语教学游戏过程中,教师应遵循幼儿英语教学原则并掌握幼儿英语教学的基本结构和基本形式。从而使幼儿英语教学获得理想的效果。     

More Than Meets the Eye: Parental and Infant Contributors to Maternal and Paternal Reports of Early Infant Difficultness

Objectives. This study examined correspondences among maternal and paternal ratings of infant temperament, parental psychological functioning, and infant behavior. Design. Participants included 120 families. When infants were 6 weeks old, mothers and fathers completed the Infant Characteristics Questionnaire (ICQ); reported on their own levels of anxiety, depressive symptoms, and parenting stress; and completed a 3-day diary of their infants' behavior. Infant irritability was assessed in a laboratory situation. Results. Fathers rated their infants' temperament somewhat more negatively, but there was significant correspondence between maternal and paternal ratings on the temperament factors of fussiness, unadaptability, dullness, and a difficultness composite. Higher infant difficultness was consistently associated with parenting stress. Infant behavioral fussiness, as measured by 3-day diaries, was significantly correlated with temperament ratings by both parents and with irritability observed in the laboratory setting. Maternal psychological distress was weakly predictive of ratings of infant difficultness; infant behaviors (diary and laboratory-based irritability) accounted for 15 to 17% of the variance. Paternal psychological distress and infant behaviors contributed equally to difficultness ratings. Conclusions. Mothers and fathers are influenced by somewhat different factors in perceiving their babies' temperament, but both maternal and paternal reports have a basis in laboratory- and diary-based behaviors. Results indicate the strong contributing influence of infant irritability to the perception of difficult temperament and support the validity of parental reports of infant irritability in the first 6 weeks of life.     

Does Infant Carrying Promote Attachment? An Experimental Study of the Effects of Increased Physical Contact on the Development of Attachment

This study was designed to test the hypothesis that increased physical contact, experimentally induced, would promote greater maternal responsiveness and more secure attachment between infant and mother. Low-SES mothers of newborn infants were randomly assigned to an experimental group (n = 23) that received soft baby carriers (more physical contact) or to a control group (n = 26) that received infants seats (less contact). Using a transitional probability analysis of a play session at 31/2 months, it was demonstrated that mothers in the experimental group were more contingently responsive than control mothers to their infants' vocalizations. When the infants were 13 months old, the Ainsworth Strange Situation was administered. Significantly more experimental than control infants were securely attached to their mothers. We infer from these results that for low-income, inner-city mothers, there may be a causal relation between increased physical contact, achieved through early carrying in a soft baby carrier, and subsequent security of attachment between infant and mother.