Interpersonal interactions during childhood form the foundation for development and learning (Tomasello, 2014; Vygotsky, 1962, 1978). Numerous studies have documented the impact of interactions between preschool teachers and preschool-aged children between 3 and 6 years of age (e.g., Denham et al., 2003; Hamre, Hatfield, Pianta & Jamil, 2013).…

Maternal responsive and directive speech to children at ages 0;10 and 2;0 was investigated by applying a procedure frst introduced by Flynn and Masur (2007) to a new language community (Finnish). The issues examined were consistency and stability over time, and also the role of responsiveness and directiveness in child linguistic development at…

Ethnographic methods are used to investigate infant--toddlers relationships in an early childhood setting. The metaphorical and emotionally based concepts of holding [Winnicott, D. W. (1960). "The theory of the parent-infant relationship." "International Journal of Psychoanalysis," 41, 585-595.] and container: contained [Bion,…

Family environment plays a very important role in early child development and the availability of stimulating material in the early years of a child's life is crucial for optimising development. The Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME) inventory is one of the most widely used measures to assess the quality and quantity of…

Examines difficulties associated with the use of conversational features in the analysis of mother-infant vocalization episodes. Observations of six mother-infant dyads revealed difficulties involving (1) pooling of data; (2) the unit of analysis; and (3) selection of appropriate "expected" values for dyadic parameters used in tests of…

Presents an analysis of the control techniques adopted by the mothers of 15- and 24-month-old children during an eight-minute laboratory play situation. Mothers were requested to take an active role in the interaction by ensuring that the child played with the full range of toys available. (JMB)

Analysis of transcripts of interviews with 16 Taiwanese mothers of babies with Down syndrome identified two themes. The first theme highlights ways in which mothers talked about the abilities and limitations of their babies; the second describes what appear to be two distinct frames of reference (pessimistic and optimistic) with respect to having…

This longitudinal study looked at how communication developed in seven deaf infants (ages 6-18 months) with either deaf or hearing parents. The children were video- recorded in interactional settings with their parents in their home every second month. A parallel study was conducted with seven blind infants and three severely visually impaired…

Thirty-six pairs of mixed-sex siblings were observed for two 1-hour periods in their homes. The younger siblings averaged 20 months of age and the interval between siblings was either large or small. Results are compared with a previous study of same-sex sibling interaction. (Author/RH)

Evaluates a comprehensive intervention program for deaf children under age three in Vancouver, British Columbia. Twelve subjects were compared with a matched sample of children undergoing less-systematic intervention. Results indicated more developmentally mature communication and higher quality interaction in families who had received…

The expansion process of the family after the arrival of a second child was the focus of this longitudinal study. Sixteen families, each with one child between one and three years old and a second child born at the beginning of the study, were observed in everyday situations when one or both parents were interacting with one or both children.…

In developmental research, the family has mainly been studied through dyadic interaction. Three-way interactions have received less attention, partly because of their complexity. This difficulty may be overcome by distinguishing between four hierarchically embedded functions in three-way interactions: (1) participation (inclusion of all…

This paper describes a cross cultural study of face to face interactions between American and Gusii mothers and their infants. Observations of the Gusii people of Western Kenya suggest that the direct expression of intense affect is de-emphasized through an avoidance of direct face to face interactions. The present study investigated (1) how and…

Explores the effect of variations in caregiver sensitivity on the timing of their severely and profoundly deaf infants' acquisition of communication skills. Found that caregivers of deaf infants showed considerable variation in comparison to the caregivers of normally hearing infants. Contextual factors of a dynamic nature operate with varying…