This study examined verbal and non-verbal features of mother-infant shared book reading in Australia during the first year of life and explored the relationship between these features and infant cognition. Mother-infant dyads were observed in this cross-sectional study reading an unfamiliar book in a laboratory setting when infants were aged 6…

There is evidence that parents could influence the development of their children's effortful control in infancy through social interaction. Playful interactions in infancy often involve scaffolding - i.e. the parental provision of support and modelling for problem solving and learning during play. However, previous research has found little…

Harsh environments are known to predict deficits in children's cognitive abilities. Life history theory approaches challenge this interpretation, proposing stressed children's cognition becomes specialized to solve problems in fitness-enhancing ways. The goal of this study was to examine associations between early environmental harshness and…

Prosocial behavior in early childhood is a precursor to later adaptive social functioning. This investigation leveraged mother-reported, physiological, and observational data to examine children's prosocial development from age 2 to age 4 (N = 125). Maternal emotion socialization (ES) strategies and children's parasympathetic regulation have each…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the alternative forms of young children's help-seeking in free play and problem-solving contexts. A total of 72 children aged 18 (N=36) and 24 (N=36) months were observed in pairs in free play and problem-solving settings, as well as in different social contexts--same-age versus mixed-age pairing. Both…

To investigate the relationship of differences in 2-year-old children's reactions to strangers to differences in their temperaments and their security of attachment with their mothers, a correlational study was conducted with 47 infants and their parents. In the first component of the study, both parents completed a child temperament rating…

Sixty-four mother-infant pairs were videotaped during structured episodes in which the mother challenged the infant to use her instrumentally to get access to or to operate a toy. At age 6 months the infants could use their mothers instrumentally in 36% of the episodes, increasing to 67% at 9 months and 78% at 13 months. (MDM)

Mastery motivation, usually measured by task persistence, is often used to predict infant competence. This study attempted to clarify how a measure of persistence can be used to facilitate the prediction of competence when examining the relationship between persistence and maternal child-rearing behavior. The measure of persistence used in this…

Mothers whose infants varied in early biological characteristics (born at term, n = 120; born at very low birth weight [VLBW], n = 144) were randomized to a target group (n = 133) or developmental feedback comparison group (n = 131) to determine whether learning responsive behaviors would facilitate infant development. The target condition…

Used home observations and laboratory procedures with 85 Chilean mothers and infants to examine the association between infants' chronic undernutrition and maternal sensitivity, sociodemographic variables, and infants' play and problem solving. Found that maternal sensitivity was correlated with maternal education, maternal weight, marital…

Consistency in characteristics of maternal behavior with different siblings was investigated among 65 economically disadvantaged families, each having two children. Quality of infant/mother attachment was assessed when firstborn children were 12 and 18 months old, respectively, and when secondborn children were 12 months old. When children were 24…

Attempted to replicate findings of a previous study which found that mother-toddler interaction during problem solving was related to the child's prior attachment security. Examined the relationship between problem-solving interactions on the one hand, and mother-child interactions at home and infant temperament on the other. (PCB)

The purpose of the present study was to identify variables (maternal knowledge and problem-solving ability) associated with the early introduction of complementary foods (i.e. foods other than breastmilk or formula) into infants diets. Ninety-eight primarily African-American mothers who presented to an urban, ambulatory care clinic in the Midwest…

The results of an experience obtained while working with children in the early stages of infancy are presented. They are basically observations taken of a child's reaction to sudden changes, particularly separation from its mother. Anxiety was observed in these infants in diverse circumstances; in some cases it was at a normal level and in others…

A study of the advantages and disadvantages of various types of infant care provided by someone other than the mother is presented. Problems listed as occurring in intervention programs include: maternal-child attachment, individual differences among infants, planning problems, and emotional-social development. Types of intervention studied are:…