Integrating language and gesture in infancy.

Whether language/gesture correlations in early language development can be explained by parallelism or comprehension mediation was examined. Study 1, parental report data for 95 1-year olds, suggested that word comprehension and production are dissociated in this age range and that the comprehension and production factors map onto distinct aspects of gesture. Study 2 tested 41 13–15-month-olds in a task in which the modeled gesture was accompanied by supportive, contradictory, or neutral narratives. Results showed that infants can use adult speech as an aid in reproduction of modeled gestures (comprehension mediation). However, there is still additional variance in gestural production that correlates with expressive vocabulary when comprehension-related variance is moved. Thus, comprehension mediation and parallelism both appear to be operating. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Maternal sensitivity during infancy and subsequent life events relate to attachment representation at early adulthood.

A prospective longitudinal research study of 86 prematurely born children from birth to age 18 years provided empirical evidence for continuity from infancy experience to representations of attachment at age 18 years. Young adults whose representation of attachment was dismissing had been objectively observed during infancy, 16–17 years earlier, to receive less sensitive maternal care than those infants who were later judged at early adulthood to have secure or preoccupied representations. Infancy experience alone did not differentiate young adults with secure representations from those with preoccupied representations. Rather, adverse life events through age 12, particularly parental divorce, reduced the likelihood of secure representations and increased the likelihood of preoccupied representations. The absence of adverse life events did not increase the likelihood of security for those who had not experienced early sensitive caregiving. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Maternal speech to infants in a tonal language: Support for universal prosodic features in motherese.

The prosodic features of maternal speech addressed to 2-month-old infants were measured quantitatively in a tonal language, Mandarin Chinese, to determine whether the features are similar to those observed in nontonal languages such as English and German. Speech samples were recorded when 8 Mandarin-speaking mothers addressed an adult and their own infants. Eight prosodic features were measured by computer: fundamental frequency (pitch), frequency range per sample, frequency range per phrase, phrase duration, pause duration, number of phrases per sample, number of syllables per phrase, and the proportion of phrase time as opposed to pause time per sample. Results showed that fundamental frequency was significantly higher and exhibited a larger range over the entire sample as well as a larger range per phrase in infant-directed as opposed to adult-directed speech. Durational analyses indicated significantly shorter utterances and longer pauses in infant-directed speech. Significantly fewer phrases per sample, fewer syllables per phrase, and less phrase-time per sample occurred in infant-directed speech. This pattern of results for Mandarin motherese is similar to that reported in other languages and suggests that motherese may exhibit universal prosodic features. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Precursors of reading skill from infancy to first grade in Finnish: Continuity and change in a highly inflected language.

The course of language acquisition from infancy to public primary school was followed in a sample of 56 Finnish children to examine precursors to reading at first grade. Structural equation modeling of continuity suggested effects from growth in early vocabulary to mastery of inflectional forms at preschool age. The early language directly influenced early phonological awareness (PA) and only indirectly influenced later development in PA and word reading. The course of development in PA progressed from detecting larger multiphonemic units toward recognizing and producing phonemes in words, which, in turn, were positively associated with differences in producing new words by deleting and blending phonemes at kindergarten age. Including word reading before school entry levelled out the influence of the concurrent phonemic awareness factor on reading at first grade. Hence, in a highly inflected language with a transparent orthography, the pathway to reading consisted of skills learned in succession, the last phase being characterized by simultaneous development involving phonemic awareness and emerging reading skill. The finding led to the conclusion that, in addition to universal routes, language- and culture-specific routes to literacy must be acknowledged when searching for the precursors to reading at school age. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Learning about tools in infancy.

These experiments explored the role of prior experience in 12- to 18-month-old infants' tool-directed actions. In Experiment 1, infants' use of a familiar tool (spoon) to accomplish a novel task (turning on lights inside a box) was examined. Infants tended to grasp the spoon by its handle even when doing so made solving the task impossible (the bowl did not fit through the hole in the box, but the handle did) and even though the experimenter demonstrated a bowl-grasp. In contrast, infants used a novel tool flexibly and grasped both sides equally often. In Experiment 2, infants received training using the novel tool for a particular function; 3 groups of infants were trained to use the tool differently. Later, infants' performance was facilitated on tasks that required infants to grasp the part of the tool they were trained to grasp. The results suggest that (a) infants' prior experiences with tools are important to understanding subsequent tool use, and (b) rather than learning about tool function (e.g., hammering), infants learn about which part of the tool is meant to be held, at least early in their exposure to a novel tool. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Auditory frequency discrimination in infancy.

Investigated the ability of 14 5–8 mo olds and 5 college students to detect changes in the frequency of pure tones. A head turn for visual reinforcement technique was used to obtain difference thresholds for infants and adults at 1,000, 2,000, and 3,000 Hz. With signals presented at 70 db above adult detection thresholds, infants reliably detected frequency changes on the order of 2%, whereas adults detected changes of about 1%. Data confirm previous findings indicating that infants can distinguish different frequencies and can make relatively fine discriminations. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attachments beyond infancy.

Attachment theory is extended to pertain to developmental changes in the nature of children's attachments to parents and surrogate figures during the years beyond infancy, and to the nature of other affectional bonds throughout the life cycle. Various types of affectional bonds are examined in terms of the behavioral systems characteristic of each and the ways in which these systems interact. Specifically, the following are discussed: (a) the caregiving system that underlies parents' bonds to their children, and a comparison of these bonds with children's attachments to their parents; (b) sexual pair-bonds and their basic components entailing the reproductive, attachment, and caregiving systems; (c) friendships both in childhood and adulthood, the behavioral systems underlying them, and under what circumstances they may become enduring bonds; and (d) kinship bonds (other than those linking parents and their children) and why they may be especially enduring. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perception of symmetry in infancy.

Symmetrical visual patterns, particularly vertically symmetrical ones, are preferred and processed faster than asymmetrical patterns by adults. Results of 3 experiments with 61 4- and 12-mo-olds show that (a) 4-mo-old infants showed no preference for symmetry, but they processed vertically symmetrical patterns more efficiently than horizontally symmetrical or asymmetrical ones; and (b) by 12 mo, infants preferred vertical symmetry to horizontal symmetry and asymmetry. Thus, preference for symmetry seems to develop late, whereas recognition of vertical symmetry is innate, matures very quickly, or is learned very early. (37 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceiving bimodally specified events in infancy.

In 2 experiments with 32 4-mo-olds, it was found that Ss could perceive bimodally specified events. They responded to relationships between optic and acoustic stimulation that carried information about an object. Infants did this by detecting the temporal synchrony of an object's sounds and its optically specified impacts. They were sensitive both to the common tempo and to the simultaneity of such sounds and visible impacts. Findings support the view that intermodal perception depends at least in part on the detection of invariant relationships in patterns of light and sound. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of spatial orientation in infancy.

The ability of infants at 6, 11, and 16 mo to keep track of their relationship to a place in space was assessed in 4 experiments with 72 Ss. Ss were trained to expect an event to occur to their right or left; they were then moved so that their view of the space was reversed. The direction in which they turned in anticipation of the event indicated whether they were coding the location egocentrically or objectively. In Exp I, a longitudinal study of 24 infants, significant shift with age from egocentric responding at 6 and 11 mo to objective responding at 16 mo was revealed, a change that data in Exp II indicated was not simply due to previous experience with the experimental space. In Exps III and IV, manipulation of the type of experience Ss had during training failed to decrease egocentric responding at 6 and 11 mo. The overall pattern indicated that a landmark had its greatest impact at 11 mo. The data support Piaget's theory that in coding location, young infants rely on past accommodations to an object rather than its relationship to other objects or the larger space. (8 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Visual perception of numerosity in infancy.

Numerosity was defined as an invariant property of a collection of objects specifying its numerical size. Infants looked at displays of small numerosities that changed optic structure such that size was not tied to certain static or dynamic configurational properties of the display but remained constant across patterns of optic motion. The displayed figures moved continuously and at a constant speed. The trajectories were irregular and could produce occlusion of objects. The task used involved infant-controlled habituation of visual looking time. At ages 5 mo, 8 mo, and 13 mo, 44 infants were tested for the numerosities 2, 3, and 4 in 3 randomly ordered sessions. The results demonstrated that infants from the age of at least 5 mo perceive small numerosities. It appears that discrimination of units, rather than discrimination of characteristic patterns, underlies numerosity perception. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceptual completion of surfaces in infancy.

Two experiments provide evidence that 4-month-old infants perceive background surfaces as continuous behind occluding objects. Infants were shown a partly hidden background surface either for a brief period of familiarization (Experiment 1) or until they met a criterion of habituation (Experiment 2). The infants were then tested with nonoccluded surfaces that were either continuous or interrupted by a gap where the occluder had been. The infants in each study looked longer at the interrupted than at the continuous surface, relative to infants in baseline controls, which suggests that the partly hidden surface was perceived as continuous. Contrasting findings were obtained in a third experiment, in which infants were habituated to a partly hidden surface that stood in front of a background so that its edges were visible: Infants gave no evidence of perceiving the foreground surface as continuous behind the occluder. These experiments provide evidence that infants perceive a surface as continuous only if it serves as the background of a scene. The results are discussed in relation to figure-ground perception in pictures and surface layouts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The study of infancy.

Summarizes a series of articles that examine various aspects of infant perceptual development, including visual and auditory processes, infants' reponsiveness to various aspects of speech, the infant's ability to localize sounds in space, and conditions promoting intersensory coordination. Areas needing additional research are suggested. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Memory for multiple visual ensembles in infancy.

The number of individual items that can be maintained in working memory is limited. One solution to this problem is to store representations of ensembles that contain summary information about large numbers of items (e.g., the approximate number or cumulative area of a group of many items). Here we explored the developmental origins of ensemble representations by asking whether infants represent ensembles and, if so, how many at one time. We habituated 9-month-old infants to arrays containing 2, 3, or 4 spatially intermixed colored subsets of dots, then asked whether they detected a numerical change to one of the subsets or to the superset of all dots. Experiment Series 1 showed that infants detected a numerical change to 1 of the subsets when the array contained 2 subsets but not 3 or 4 subsets. Experiment Series 2 showed that infants detected a change to the superset of all dots no matter how many subsets were presented. Experiment 3 showed that infants represented both the approximate number and the cumulative surface area of these ensembles. Our results suggest that infants, like adults (Halberda, Sires, & Feigenson, 2006), can store quantitative information about 2 subsets plus the superset: a total of 3 ensembles. This converges with the known limit on the number of individual objects infants and adults can store and suggests that, throughout development, an ensemble functions much like an individual object for working memory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Duration illusion and auditory grouping in infancy.

Extended previous research on perceptual grouping in infancy (Thorpe, Trehub, Morrongiello, & Bull, 1988). Infants' detection of temporal increments to silent intervals between groups of tones was compared with their detection of comparable silent increments within groups of tones. Ss were presented with standard 6-tone sequences, with the first 3 tones differing from the last 3 in harmonic structure, frequency, or intensity, and contrasting sequences with increments of 80 or 100 ms to the silent interval between the 3rd and 4th tone (XXX OOO, between groups) or between the 4th and 5th tone (XXXO OO, within group). Infants discriminated temporally altered sequences from the standard only when the increments occurred within a group. The authors conclude that perceptual grouping processes are operative in infancy and that infants perceive the silent increments between groups of sounds as longer than identical intervals within a group, as do adults. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive learning in infancy and early childhood.

The stress on genetic factors in early cognitive development has led to the amassing of a considerable body of normative data. However, there has been little interest in determining the scope and complexity of learning possible during the initial phases of development. Research literature and theoretical orientations are presented to show the potential importance of studying early cognitive learning. (201 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Object perception and object-directed reaching in infancy.

Conducted 5 experiments to investigate the effects of spatial and kinetic information on infants' perception of and reaching for objects. 65 20–23 wk old infants were presented with a small object, a larger object, and a background surface arranged in depth so that all were within reaching distance. Patterns of reaching for this display were observed, while spatial and kinetic properties of the display were varied. Results show that when the Ss reached for the display, they did not reach primarily for the surfaces that were nearer, smaller, or presented in motion. Ss reached, instead, for groups of surfaces that formed a unit that was spatially connected and/or that moved as a whole relative to its surroundings. Ss reached for the nearer of 2 objects as a distinct unit when the objects were separated in depth or when one object moved relative to the other. They reached for the 2 objects as a single unit when the objects were adjacent or when they moved together. The reaching patterns provide evidence that the Ss organized each display into the kind of units that adults call objects: manipulable units with internal coherence and external boundaries. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Geometric complexity and object search in infancy.

In four experiments we investigated the role of geometric path type in infants' ability to make spatial inferences about the location of a hidden object after they themselves had been moved through space. Nine-month-old infants were moved along geometrically simple paths of rotation (Experiments 1 and 2) or translation (Experiment 3) or along geometrically complex paths of combined rotation and translation (Experiment 4). In all but the fourth experiment, infants were able to retrieve an object hidden before they were moved, as long as the object was not located behind them at test time. Direct comparisons among the conditions showed that moving infants along geometrically simple paths led to significantly better performance than moving them along geometrically complex paths. We found the length of a path, the time needed to traverse it, and the likelihood of fixation of the target to be unrelated to the infants' performance. These findings are discussed in the context of theories of the development of spatial knowledge. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Risk in infancy: Origins and implications.

This article focuses on biological risks that can adversely influence development during infancy and later. In the first part of the article, the origins of risks and their potential consequences are discussed relative to prepregnancy, prenatal, perinatal, and postnatal periods. Epidemiological data are presented. The second part of the article addresses issues pertaining to assessment of infant development and interventions provided for infants whose development may be in jeopardy. Finally, goals for prevention are highlighted and the need for a nationally derived data base on risk and outcomes is emphasized. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting shared parent-child book reading in infancy.

This study examined the degree to which parental contextual factors and infant characteristics predicted whether parents read aloud to their 8-month-old infants. Discriminant function analysis revealed that mothers with higher family incomes and those who reported less parenting stress and fewer general hassles were more likely to read to their infants. Gender and temperament of the infant did not significantly predict whether mothers would engage in shared reading. Furthermore, there was no evidence that mothers who reported reading aloud to their infants display more enriching parenting practices in the laboratory. Paternal contextual factors did not discriminate readers from nonreaders, but infant temperament did. Fathers who read aloud had infants who were less soothable and who displayed longer durations of orienting. The possibility that book reading could serve as 1 mediator of the temperament-cognition relationship is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)