Purpose: Responsive and dynamic aspects of father-child play are associated with behavioral and neurocognitive development in children and could represent an important contributor to executive function (EF) skills for children who are deaf and hard of hearing (DHH). This study examined associations between paternal behaviors during play and EF…

This study investigated whether parents and kindergarten children show concurrent and time-lagged physiological synchrony during dyadic interaction. Further, we tested whether parent-child behavioral co-regulation was associated with concurrent and time-lagged synchrony, and whether synchrony varied by the type of interaction task. Participants…

Children with developmental disabilities are slower to develop skills at intentional and symbolic communication than typically developing children, and may rely on atypical patterns of preintentional behaviors to support more complex communication development. The present study compared complex gaze engagement behaviors elicited by 25…

Looking behavior for 11 Downs syndrome and 11 nonretarded infants was coded while they played with their mothers without toys. No significant group differences were found for maternal looking, holding, and vocalization behavior, but the Downs syndrome infants looked toward their mother nearly twice as often as the contrast group. (Author/SW)

Analysis of videotaped mother interactions with 21 visually impaired and 16 nonhandicapped infants revealed that visually impaired infants demonstrated fewer periods of positive vocalization and responses, fewer social initiations, more negative vocalizations and periods of negative affect, and more ignoring of the mothers than did the controls.…

The ways in which fathers and mothers communicate with and teach their 6-month-old first-born infants were compared. Twenty-two white, middle class mothers and fathers were videotaped interacting with their infants (11 male, 11 female) on 10 tasks. Trained observers coded the parents' interaction with their infants on the following variables:…

The relationship of maternal behavioral style to cognitive development states of 60, 1-, 2-, and 3-year-old organically impaired, mentally retarded children was investigated. Factor analysis of maternal behavioral items revealed three major parameters of behavior. Child-Oriented/Maternal Pleasure was related positively, whereas Quantity of…

In this sample of 66 dual-earner mothers and fathers and their 1-year-old infants, associations among parental ratings of infant difficulty, parental perceived control over caregiving outcomes, and parental sensitive and directive behavior were examined during a triadic free-play session in the home. Perceived infant difficulty was related to…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of group size on toddlers' peer interactions and social interactions with mothers. In particular, the study sought to answer the following questions: (1) When both mothers and peers are available to the child, with whom does he/she prefer to play? and (2) Are there differences in the types of…

Tested two models of the relationship between a hypothetical attachment mechanism and an incompatible motivation (a tendency to explore) by pitting two levels of attachment motivation against two levels of exploratory motivation among 15- to 18-month-old infants, alternating freely between play with novel toys at one end of the room and visits…

This study, involving 40 young siblings of either handicapped or nonhandicapped children, found that siblings of handicapped children engaged in more parallel and social play and were more nurturing with their siblings than were control children. Mothers were more likely to deliver commands, directives, and reprimands to siblings of handicapped…

Seventeen sets of opposite sex twins, 13 to 14 months old, were observed in a playroom situation with their mothers. Attachment behaviors, toy preference, style of play, and activity level were recorded. Analysis of four attachment behaviors indicated that girls looked at, vocalized to, and maintained proximity with their mothers significantly…