Permitting maternal contact through vision alone: Films of mothers for promoting play and locomotion.

Studied the effectiveness of visually presented maternal stimuli for promoting adaptive behaviors. 40 36–54 mo old children in a standardized playroom were accompanied by either their mother; a silent, color, life-sized motion picture of her; a film of an unfamiliar woman; or a gray light. Ss with their mother, whether physically present or filmed, played longer than Ss with the filmed stranger or light. Thus, visual reception alone was sufficient to promote play duration. Other measures yielded similar but at times statistically nonsignificant patterns. Postexperimental interviews revealed that 40% of the Ss shown the filmed stranger mistook her for their mother. A reanalysis demonstrated that children misidentifying the stranger engaged in more play and locomotor activity than those correctly identifying her. This implied that any visual display perceived as the mother may suffice to promote adaptive responding in novel situations. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relations Between Children's Attachments to Their Mothers and to Security Blankets.

Are attachments to security objects and mothers related? Do children securely and insecurely attached to mothers use security blankets differently? Following the Strange Situation procedure (M. D. S. Ainsworth, M. C. Blehar, E. Waters, & S. Wall, 1978), 67 toddlers were left alone in a novel playroom with a stranger and their blanket. Although being blanket attached was unrelated to their security of attachment to mothers, avoidantly and securely attached children adjusted differently depending on their blanket attachments. Blanket-attached children also classified as avoidantly attached to mothers remained longer than did blanket-nonattached maternally avoidant, blanket-attached maternally secure, and blanket- blanketnonattached maternally secure children. Blanket-attached, maternally avoidant children may nonattached have relied on blankets as support to allay distress during separation. Availability of security blankets produces different adaptations to maternal separations among avoidantly and securely attached children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of stress and cohort on mother- and father-infant interaction.

20 18-mo-olds were observed interacting with their mothers and fathers in a structured laboratory setting. In an initial free-play session, infants directed more affiliative behaviors to their fathers than to their mothers. When observed alone with each parent there was more parent-child interaction than when both parents were present, though the same relative preferences emerged; however, the entry of a stranger caused infants to seek proximity to their mothers preferentially. The wariness occasioned by the stranger caused a shift in the infants' behavior from affiliation to attachment. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Measurement of identification: A methodological note.

Each of 16 children (age 5-8 yr.) watched his same-sex parent and a stranger of the same sex compete in a perceptual recognition task. Stranger and parent were prerehearsed to pass and fail specific items during the competition, and each was praised or censured following success or failure. The child's overt behavior and heart rate were recorded during the session. The children smiled more after the parent succeeded and the stranger failed than after parent failure and stranger success. Degree of cardiac acceleration following parent success and stranger failure was larger than under the opposite conditions. The data suggest the feasibility of assessing vicarious involvement with the model as an index of identification. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Genetic and Environmental Etiology of Social Behavior in Infancy.

A twin analysis was applied to infants' social behavior in standardized situations that permitted the comparison of social responding to mother and a stranger in different contexts. Ninety-two middle-class children (members of 21 identical twin pairs and 25 same-sex fraternal twin pairs, with an average age of 22.2 months) were observed in their homes using time-sampled observations of specific behaviors in seven situations: (a) a 5-minute warm-up period, (b) approach by stranger, (c) play with stranger, (d) play with mother, (e) cuddling with mother, (f) cuddling with stranger, and (g) separation from mother. Comparisons between intraclass correlations for identical and fraternal twins yielded significant differences for social behavior directed toward the stranger but not toward the mother. In addition, a novel measure of attachment using the difference in social responding toward the mother and stranger suggested heritable influences only in the initial warm-up situation. We conclude that in infancy, heredity affects individual differences in social responding more to unfamiliar persons than to familiar persons. The behavioral-genetic analysis also suggests that the substantial influence of environment in the development of social behavior may occur primarily within families (making members of a family different from one another-including systematic as well as stochastic effects) rather than between families (making family members similar to one another and different from other families), as is widely assumed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development and prediction of children's sociability from 1 to 2? years.

Interactions of 60 children with their mothers and female strangers were observed in natural and semistructured situations at 12, 18, 24, and 30 mo. Their behavior was analyzed to reveal a "sociability" cluster of smiling, vocalizing, and playing. When mother and stranger behaved similarly, children's sociability to both adults was similar in components, stability, development, and relation to independently assessed aspects of the social environment, with the following exceptions: Sociability to mother was not consistently related to physical contact with her, whereas sociability and physical contact with the stranger were consistently correlated. Sociability to mother developed earlier than sociability to stranger. Sociability to the mother was more related to maternal behavior than was sociability to the stranger, whereas sociability to the stranger was more related to nonparental care. Sociability to both mother and stranger was related to the child's cognitive abilities but not to contact with objects or to the mother's intelligence or socioeconomic status. (49 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Different neural responses to stranger and personally familiar faces in shy and bold adults.

The shy-bold continuum is a fundamental behavioral trait conserved across human and nonhuman animals. Individual differences along the shy-bold continuum are presumed to arise from, and are maintained by, differences in the excitability of forebrain limbic areas involved in the evaluation of stimulus saliency. To test this hypothesis, the authors conducted an event-related functional MRI (fMRI) study in which brain scans were acquired on shy and bold adults during the presentation of neutral stranger and personally familiar faces. Shy adults exhibited greater bilateral amygdala activation during the presentation of stranger faces and greater left amygdala activation during personally familiar faces than their bold counterparts. Bold adults exhibited greater bilateral nucleus accumbens activation in response to stranger and personally familiar faces than shy adults. Findings suggest that there are distinct neural substrates underlying and maintaining individual differences along a shy-bold continuum in humans. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The reactions of Soviet nursery day-care and boarding-care children to a strange situation.

Compared the behaviors of 16 day-care and 16 boarding-care Soviet children (average age 30.5 mo) in a strange situation. Time-sampled observations focused on the Ss' general affective state and on their approaches to a responsive stranger. Results support the hypothesis that boarded Ss would be more upset by a strange situation than day-care Ss but reveal no differences between the 2 conditions in Ss' willingness to make social contact with the stranger. Findings are discussed in terms of theory on the effects of parent–child separation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Three types of shyness in Chinese children and the relation to effortful control.

Two studies were conducted to further differentiate 3 forms of shyness previously identified in Chinese children—shyness toward strangers, anxious shyness, and regulated shyness—by examining the relation of the 3 forms of shyness to children’s inhibited behavior, physiological reactivity (measured by heart period [HP]), and effortful control. In Study 1 (N = 237; M age = 9.17 years), the authors examined the 3 forms of shyness in relation to children’s inhibited behavior and HP assessed in 3 conditions: at baseline, during a stranger encounter, and in a card-sorting task with social evaluative cues. Results of confirmatory factor analyses provided support for a 3-factor model of shyness. Shyness toward strangers was associated with children’s inhibition (positively) and HP (negatively) in the stranger encounter and children’s HP (negatively) in the card-sorting session, whereas anxious shyness was related to children’s inhibition (positively) and HP (negatively) in the card-sorting session. Regulated shyness was not associated with children’s inhibition in any session but was negatively related to HP in the stranger encounter session. In Study 2 (N = 208; M age = 6.57 years), the authors examined children’s shyness toward strangers and effortful control at age 6 years in relation to anxious and regulated shyness 2 years later. Results showed shyness toward strangers was related to regulated shyness among children with high or moderate effortful control, and shyness toward strangers was related to anxious shyness among children with low or moderate effortful control. Findings support a multidimensional view of shyness in Chinese children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Limits of symhedonia: The differential role of prior emotional attachment in sympathy and sympathetic joy.

Seven studies tested the hypothesis that compared with sympathy symhedonia (sympathy for another's good fortune) is inherently more contingent on prior emotional attachment to its targets. As predicted, Studies 1-4 found that reported attachment was higher for past episodes of symhedonia than for those of sympathy and that recalled incidence of sympathy exceeded that of symhedonia when the target was a stranger. Study 5 showed that whereas symhedonia was significantly higher for high- versus low-attachment targets sympathy was not. Study 6 found that sympathy is more likely than symhedonia when a relationship is strained. Study 7 found that both sympathy and symhedonia are weaker for nonclose (vs. close) others, but the disparity is significantly smaller for sympathy than for symhedonia. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cardiac and behavioral interrelationships in the reactions of infants to strangers.

Recorded cardiac and various behavioral reactions of 80 5- and 9-mo-old infants to strangers to determine (a) whether the shift with age from attentiveness to fearfulness of strangers is accompanied by a shift from heart rate (HR) deceleration to acceleration; (b) whether testing infants in the presence of the mother attenuates cardiac and behavioral manifestations of stranger distress; and (c) whether the direction of HR change is related to the direction of change of facial expression, even when age is held constant. Results are generally positive. Behavioral data confirmed that most 5-mo-olds were not frightened by the stranger, and many but not all 9-mo-olds were. HR responses also changed with age, being predominantly deceleratory to the stranger at 5 mo of age and acceleratory at 9 mo. The accelerations were of much greater frequency and larger magnitude when 9-mo-olds were tested in the mother's absence. In contrast, behavioral reactions were not significantly affected by the mother's absence. The direction of HR responding was linked at both ages to affective expression: Whether 5 or 9 mo of age, behaviorally distressed Ss gave progressively acceleratory responses, whereas behaviorally undistressed Ss did not. It is concluded that future studies can profit from careful recording of both HR and behavioral expression in the infant. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of waiting with others on changes in level of felt anxiety.

The generally held notion that "misery loves company" was tested on college students. Ss were exposed to an anxiety-producing situation, i.e., a recording of an apparently nerve-wracking procedure going on in the "next room" to which they soon would be exposed. 3 experimental conditions were employed; after exposure to the anxiety producing stimulus S was: (a) left alone, (b) put with other Ss and allowed to talk, or (c) put with others but not allowed to talk. Effect of group on experience of anxiety was measured. Being with others was effective in reducing anxiety only in Ss who were first-born children, and there was an effect on S's experience of anxiety when allowed to communicate. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Right- and left-handed counting of braille dots in subjects unaccustomed to braille

Previous work has shown that children acquainted with Braille can usually read better with their left than with their right hand. It is also known that, at least in right-handed people, the right cerebral hemisphere is dominant for counting dots. The present paper compares, in right-handed subjects unacquainted with Braille, the comparative skill of right and left middle (M) and index (I) fingers in counting Braille dots. In one experiment with 30 subjects no significant difference was found between LI and RI fingers. Another experiment failed to reveal any R/L differences although it detected a superiority of I over M fingers at P less than 0-025. When the task was split between the two I fingers working simultaneously they performed significantly (P less than 0-001) better than when working alone. This latter finding is thought to have a bearing on the failure to detect R/L differences; other possible explanations of the findings are also discussed.     

The effects of group and family day care on infant attachment behaviours.

Examined attachment behavior towards mother in 39 toddlers (mean age 22 mo) from 3 different child-care environments: a group day care center, family day care homes, and home with mother. Frequency of attachment behavior and security of attachment were assessed in laboratory separation episodes. The 2 substitute care groups behaved similarly; both played significantly more and cried less than did the home-reared group when left alone. No intellectual differences were found. Findings are interpreted as showing that children in group and family day care do not necessarily differ from home-reared children in strength or security of attachment, but that children in both forms of substitute care find brief maternal separations less novel and anxiety-provoking than do home-reared children. (French abstract) (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interplay among behavioral systems: Illustrations from the study of attachment, affiliation, and wariness in young children with Down's syndrome.

42 Down's syndrome (DS) children, age 30–42 mo, were seen in M. D. Ainsworth and B. A. Wittig's (1969) "strange situation" to assess the interrelationships among the affiliative, attachment, and fear/wariness behavioral systems. A stranger evoked affiliative behaviors in Ss but also elicited wariness and attachment behaviors. The emergence, sequence, and intensity of these behavioral systems varied with the context and the behaviors of both stranger and mother. The finding that more than one behavioral system was activated suggests that an explanation of social responsiveness must be sufficiently broad and integrative to encompass different but interrelated behavioral systems, with their respective functions and determinants. Despite certain quantitative and qualitative differences, behavioral systems appear to be similarly organized in DS and normal children. It is argued that the behavioral organization manifested by the retarded children supports and extends E. Zigler's (see record 1969-08608-001) "developmental" position. These findings suggest that the DS group constitutes a legitimate target of research for elucidating the processes of normal and deviant development. (43 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children learning to use the telephone: Emergency and non-emergency calling.

Examined developmental differences in children's telephoning skills. Four girls and 4 boys from each of preschool, 1st, 3rd, and 5th grades were interviewed. Ss demonstrated how they would telephone a friend and an ambulance and how they would receive calls from a stranger and a friend. A general developmental trend was found for Grades 1, 3, and 5. Incoming calls were performed better than outgoing calls, but the gap decreased with increasing grade level. Preschool Ss performed as well as Ss in Grade 1. Children of all grades were generally knowledgeable about the technical procedures for contacting help in an emergency, but did not know what information was important and necessary to supply. 62.5% of Ss responded that parents were not home during the stranger call. Results support previous studies suggesting that children may lack the skills for stranger and emergency calling. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Single toxin detection is inadequate to diagnose Clostridium difficile diarrhea in pediatric patients

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Clostridium difficile is an important cause of symptomatic diarrhea in pediatric patients. The bacterium produces two toxins, although many laboratories assay for only one. We questioned this diagnostic approach when patients had positive results for C. difficile at our institution, but initially had tested negative at outside laboratories. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed relative frequencies of C. difficile toxin A alone, toxin B alone, and toxins A and B from pediatric patients with diarrhea. Results were stratified according to toxin detection and patient age. RESULTS: Of 1061 specimens, 276 (26.8%) were positive for C. difficile toxin(s). Fifty-one (18.5%) were positive for toxin A alone, 133 (48.2%) for toxin B alone, and 92 (33.3%) for both toxins. Assaying for toxin B identified C. difficile infection more frequently than did assaying for toxin A (P < 0.0001). The frequency of toxin B detection was significantly higher for older children but not for infants. CONCLUSIONS: Testing for C. difficile toxin A or toxin B alone will result in more frequent misdiagnosis than testing for both toxins. This practice may lead to inappropriate further invasive investigations in children, although this finding may not be applicable to adults.     

The development of mother-infant and father-infant attachments in the second year of life.

Observed 20 infants at home interacting with their mothers, fathers, and an unfamiliar investigator, when they were 15, 18, 21, and 24 mo of age. The infants showed significant preferences for their fathers over their mothers in the display of attachment and affiliative behaviors. Both parents were preferred to the investigator on attachment behavior measures, though when the relative activity of the adults was taken into account, the infants directed more affiliative behaviors to the investigator than to their parents. Over the year, there were declines in the occurrence of most attachment and affiliative behaviors. Fathers were far more active in interaction with sons than with daughters. At 24 mo, the infants were observed in a laboratory playroom with their parents. In this situation, the infants showed no preference for either parent in the display of attachment and affiliative behaviors. They interacted far more with each parent when alone with her/him than when both parents were present. A stranger's presence had a similar effect on affiliative interaction within each parent–infant dyad, though the stranger effect was differentiated by intensification of the attachment behavior system. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The treatment of elective mutism as stranger reaction.

Discusses the treatment of 15 preschool children with elective mutism (EM), which involves a fixation at or a regression to an earlier developmental stage when children typically exhibit stranger anxiety. It is suggested that the treatment of EM children should be determined by developmental considerations as well as etiological theories and that treatment should focus on unblocking of maturational processes. Treatment techniques and setting are described. Case examples illustrate that there were subtypes of EM children who were compliant and who were noncompliant and aggressively avoidant. The former responded to slow, psychodynamically oriented treatment and the latter responded to group therapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Twelve-month-olds and their parents: Interaction in a laboratory playroom.

19 12-mo olds were observed interacting with both parents in a standardized situation. In an initial episode with both parents present, Ss directed more distal-affiliative behaviors to their fathers but showed no preference for either parent in the display of proximal-attachment behaviors. The same was true when Ss were alone with either parent. However, the entrance of a stranger combined with boredom or fatigue to produce a shift in the Ss' social behavior toward their mothers. More proximal-attachment behaviors were directed to mothers, while there was no preference for either parent in the display of distal-affiliative behaviors. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)