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)     

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)     

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)     

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)     

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)     

Spondylitis in infancy. A case report

The authors report on a case of a spondylodiskitis in three year old child. Diskitis is an inflammatory process of the intervertebral disk space, not often described in pediatric age. The etiology is infective and generally presents with lumbar spine localization. Clinically it is characterized by lumbar pain at times radiating to a lower extremity. Symptoms are aspecific and radiological signs do not appear for several weeks after the onset of symptoms. Interest in this pathology derives from the fact that it may be more common than previously recognized. This case offered us the opportunity to review principal symptoms of diskitis and to describe the main diagnostic technics used.     

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)     

Development of salt taste in infancy.

Twelve infants, aged 16–25 weeks and formerly breast-fed, were tested for their preference for the taste of salt in the first food fed to them. Preference was found to decline with infant age. Because preference for salted food is known to relate to dietary experience of salt in 6-month-old infants, this decline suggests that an initial salt preference is modified by exposure to a low-sodium diet, that is, breast milk. Infant feeding behaviors were found to be a reliable indicator of satiety, and they were also found to differ according to taste preference. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Producing and processing self-propelled motion in infancy.

Three experiments investigated 5- through 8-month-olds' ability to encode self-propelled and caused motion and examined whether processing of motion onset changes when crawling begins. Infants were habituated (Experiments 1 and 2) or familiarized (Experiment 3) with simple causal and noncausal launching events. They then viewed the caused-to-move and self-propelled objects from the events both stationary and side-by-side, and their preferential looking to the objects was assessed. Results revealed that 5- and 6-month-olds displayed a different pattern of looking than did 8-month-olds. More notably, noncrawling 7-month-olds and 7-month-olds with crawling experience also demonstrated such a differential pattern. These data suggest that processing of motion onset changes in concert with the commencement of self-locomotion. Findings are discussed in reference to the mechanisms underlying infants' ability to recognize self-propelled motion and the scope of the relationship between action production and action perception in infancy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of logical search skills in infancy.

Presented 60 9–18 mo old Ss with manual search tasks involving the invisible displacement of objects. Ss were required to search 1 of 2 visited locations on the basis of critical information concerning the last place a hidden object was seen and the 1st place it was known to be missing. There were 2 task conditions: In the object-absent task, the object's container was shown to be empty after visiting the 1st and before visiting the 2nd location. In the object-present task, the object was shown to be still in the container after visiting the 1st location. The object was invisibly hidden at the 1st and 2nd locations, respectively, in the 2 tasks. Although the actual hiding could not be perceived, it could be inferred from the perceived sequence of events in each task. Results show that although 9-mo-olds frequently refused to search and 12-mo-olds were as likely to search the incorrect as the correct location, 15- and 18-mo-olds performed logical 1st searches. Analysis showed that 12-mo-olds preferred either spatial or temporal positions, while correct performance required the coordination of both types of information, a skill exhibited by the majority of 18-mo-olds. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Behavioral reactivity and approach-withdrawal bias in infancy.

Seven hundred seventy-nine infants were screened at 4 months of age for motor and emotional reactivity. At age 9 months, infants who showed extreme patterns of motor and negative (n = 75) or motor and positive (n = 73) reactivity and an unselected control group (n = 86) were administered the Laboratory Temperament Assessment Battery, and baseline electroencephalogram data were collected. Negatively reactive infants showed significantly more avoidance than positively reactive infants and displayed a pattern of right frontal electroencephalogram asymmetry. Positively reactive infants exhibited significantly more approach behavior than controls and exhibited a pattern of left frontal asymmetry. Results support the notion that approach-withdrawal bias underlies reactivity in infancy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Acoustic-optical correspondences and auditory-visual coordination in infancy.

Research on auditory-visual coordination is reviewed, and the following hypothesis is elaborated: The roots of perceptual development are biologically determined perceptual functions that serve information gathering and information processing. Early in infancy, these functions are influenced both by spatial and temporal factors and by formal correspondences between optical and acoustic information; more specifically, spatiotemporal properties constrain information gathering, and optical-acoustic correspondences facilitate exploration and processing. As a result, the infant learns the association between particular acoustic and optical aspects of objects and events. A formal presentation of spatial and temporal properties is outlined. (French abstract) (55 ref) (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)