Twenty-two mothers whose physiologic responses to infant signals had been recorded at an earlier date were videotaped with their infants during a feeding session when the infant was 9 months of age. Infants' development of the object concept was assessed at 15 months. (JMB)

Research supported in part by grants from the Ford Foundation and the National Institutes of Health (MH-08542).

Suggests an explanation for the link between environment, malnutrition, and rate of mental development in children. It is argued that biological factors and difficult socioeconomic conditions interact to slow mental development by undermining the establishment and maintenance of a "syntonic,""synchronic," and "reciprocal" relationship between the…

Three matched groups--hearing mother-hearing child, hearing mother-deaf child, and deaf mother-deaf child--were videotaped. Hearing mothers of deaf children were less likely to adapt their interactional strategies to meet their children's communicative needs and achieve intersubjectivity than were the other mothers. Results support Lev S.…

This study explored the relationship between the mother-infant interaction and the concurrent perceptual-cognitive and intellectual status of the infant. One hundred and eight-nine 12-week-old infants were given a battery of perceptual-cognitive tasks, including the Mental Developmental Index (MDI) of the Bayley Scales, the Corman-Escalona Scales…

Discusses parent-child interactions in which the content of television programing appears as explicit subject matter. Examines ways in which a child's development may be affected by these parent-child interactions. (JMF)

Several sets of evidence are offered to support the hypothesis that cognitive and social development are intimately interrelated, and that mother-infant interaction influences both. A mother's prompt responsiveness to her baby's signals tends to foster the development of varied and clear modes of communication and thus the development of one facet…

The early communication network existing between a mother and her 12-week-old infant was explored. Over 50 infants of both sexes from a variety of social classes were seen in their homes, and a wide variety of maternal and infant behaviors were studied. Of special interest was the vocalization-in-communication data. The results indicate a lawful,…

The article describes and illustrates data collection methods useful in establishing social interaction objectives for improving the quantity and quality of parent social interactions with their handicapped infants. Among these are visual analysis of relationship patterns across intervention sessions, and the use of percentage for describing…

This study investigated (1) the amount of time mothers spend with preschoolers in specific activities related to cognitive development and the level of intensity of contact shared between mother and child during these activities; (2) sociodemographic variables which influence mothers' time spent with children; and (3) relations between mothers'…

The relationships between aspects of mother-infant interaction and both communication and cognitive skills at 1 year of age were examined in 92 African American dyads, of whom 64 were poor. The overall quality of the home environment and maternal ratings of stimulation and elaborativeness were the most consistent correlates of infant communication…

A study examined patterns of development in spoken interaction and types of causal thought that might reflect the human capacity to displace, that is, to shift reference from the present moment to another moment in time. Participants were four infants and their parents, who came to a laboratory for one-half hour every 2 weeks from the child's…

This longitudinal study attempted to assess how environmental factors affect the development of competence, as defined by White, by delineating in detail the everyday environmental transactions of a group of children from age 1 to 3. The key questions of this research were: (1) Are certain experiences encountered by the young child in his everyday…

This paper reports on a longitudinal study involving 48 mother-infant dyads that attempts to explore the role of the caregiver-infant interactional environment in determining cognitive functioning as related to an understanding of environmental contingencies. The present report includes (1) a progress report to date of the longitudinal data…