International Journal of Behavioral Development

The major focus of the present project was the relation between caregiver behaviour towards toddlers, and caregiver and toddler nutritional intake across two cultures. Kenyan subjects were 110 toddlers, 18-30 months of age and their caregivers; Egyptian subjects were 153 toddlers, 18-30 months of age and their caregivers. Based on monthly observations and maternal report, food intake values were calculated for both mothers and toddlers in both countries. In Kenya, based on bimonthly observations, five measures of caregiver behaviour were collected; based on monthly observations, nine measures of caregiver behaviour were collected in Egypt. Results indicated that in both countries caregiver behaviours toward their toddlers were driven primarily by toddler rather than by maternal intake. However, the specific pattern of relations differed across each culture. Specifically, in Egypt, more adequately nourished toddlers received more appropriate stimulation from caregivers. In Kenya, more adequately nourished toddlers had less physical contact with their caregivers and their caregivers responded verbally to their vocalisations less than they did for poorly nourished toddlers.

The present study compared American and Japanese toddlers and their mothers on dimensions of language and play when the toddlers were 13 months of age. In both cultures and in both domains, individual variation in toddlers was associated with individual variation in mothers. In general, the frequency and variance of language and play activities were similar in the two groups. However, two notable cultural differences emerged. American toddlers were more advanced in both their productive and receptive vocabularies, and this cultural difference was matched by the tendency for American mothers to label and desciibe properties, objects, and events in the environment more frequently. In contrast, Japanese toddlers were more advanced on symbolic play, and their advanced play was matched by more advanced play in Japanese mothers, particularly for "other-directed" acts of pretence. These findings suggest that during this early period of symbolic development, as expressed through language and play, American and Japanese dyads emphasise different modes of representation and do so in ways that accord with traditional cultural concerns.

A total of 39 children, classified in Ainsworth's Strange Situation at 12 and 18 months of age with their mothers and fathers, were observed in play groups and given a cartoon-based social perception test at 5 years of age. Children with anxious attachment histories (primarily avoidant in this sample) differed from those with secure histories on a number of single variables, and behavioural profiles based on combinations of variables showed strong significant differences in quality of play, conflict resolution, and problem behaviours. Measures of play competence, conflict resolution, and behaviour problems were significantly related to infant-mother attachment for girls, but not for boys. Overall competence, however, was significantly related to attachment to the mother for both boys and girls. Children with anxious attachment histories also showed misperceptions of cartoon stimuli, more often perceiving negative intentions than children with secure histories. Between-group differences were notably stronger using classifications with mothers than classifications with fathers. However, effects based on combined attachment information with both mother and father were more powerful for some variables.

A total of 32 first-time families from the Sunraysia district in Victoria, Australia participated in a study on the effects of a training programme (demonstration of baby massage and the Burleigh Relaxation Bath technique) with a particular emphasis on the father-infant relationship. The infants, whose parents received the training at 4-weeks post-partum, differed from comparison group infants on a constellation of behaviours at the 12 week home observation. Treatment group infants greeted their fathers with more eye contact, smiling, vocalising, reaching, and orienting responses and showed less avoidance behaviours. As well, in a 10 minute observation, the treatment group fathers showed greater involvement with their infants than comparison group fathers. The brief intervention at four weeks seems to have favourably affected the father-infant relationship in ways which would assist in the establishment of a positive bond between the first-time fathers and their infants.

In contrast to the research examining infant-mother attachment, much less is known about the development of infant-father attachment relationships. Several recent findings suggest that infants in dual-earner families may develop insecure attachments not only to their mothers, but to their fathers as well. The purpose of the present study was to examine characteristics of the father, the infant, and the marital relationship as antecedents of secure/ insecure infant-father attachments in dual-earner and single-earner families as recent reports suggest that different family processes may exist within these two family ecologies. Longitudinal data from 113 fathers and their firstborn infants were collected before the birth of the child, and when infants were 3 and 9 months old, while Strange Situation assessments were conducted when infants were 13 months of age. Results indicated that change in perceived infant temperament, men's recollected child-rearing histories, and the division of labour distinguished families in which secure or insecure infant-father attachments developed. In only one instance, that of marital conflict, does it appear that different antecedent processes underlie the development of infant-father attachment security across the two family contexts. Results suggest that conclusions based upon research on the antecedents of infant-mother attachment security cannot be presumed to apply to the study of infant-father attachment.

The transactional relation between parental support and the development of competence in children was investigated in a longitudinal study. Sensitivity of the parent is assumed to be a prerequisite for the ability to provide adequate social support. Subjects were 100 children, aged 9 months to 12 years, and their primary caretakers. For both boys and girls, parental responsiveness was found to have an effect on the competence of the child at the age of 9 months, at that age measured by exploration and contingency analysis. Interindividual differences in competence remained stable in boys from age 9 months to 7 years, and between the ages 7 and 10, and 10 and 12. For girls, interindividual stability in competence was only found during the elementary school years. In both boys and girls the competence of the child (as indicated by their ego-resiliency) was related to later social support given by the parent. For boys, parents were more consistent in their approach and only their respect for the child's autonomy was related to earlier competence of the child. For girls, more dimensions of parental support were related to earlier competence of the child. These results thus indicate a strong effect of parental support on a child's competence in infancy, then a genderdifferentiated stability of competence from infancy to the end of elementary school, and a relation between the competence of a child and later parental support.

The study explored whether young children and congenitally totally blind children show mental practice effects for blind movements which cross the body midline. Experiment 1 tested blindfolded sighted children, with a mean age of 7 years and 11 months, on recall of a linear movement. Prior to recall, subjects either had to perform, or to imagine irrelevant (larger/smaller/same) movements. Irrelevant movements produced significant bias (CE/Constant Errors), whether carried out or imaged, although bias from imagined movements was smaller. The VE (variance/consistency) scores improved with (actual and mental) rehearsal. Articulatory suppression during delays had no effect. Experiment 2 used the same paradigm to test three groups of congenitally totally blind children with respective mean Mental Ages (MA) of 10 years and 7 months, 13 years and 7 months, and 16 years and 4 months, based on IO scores on the Williams Intelligence Test (1956) for visually handicapped children. Irrelevant movements during delays produced bias (CE) in recall, whether the movements were carried out or imagined, although bias was smaller in imagery conditions. The (CE) bias effects did not interact with MA. Mental Age interacted significantly with Delay Tasks in VE scores. The lowest MA group was less efficient (more variable) than the others, particularly in (actual and imagined) rehearsal. Articulatory suppression had no effect. The results suggest that young children can show mental practice effects in the absence of current visual cues, and that visuospatial imagery is not a necessary condition, because imagined movements also biased recall by the congenitally totally blind. It was argued that movement as well as cognitive factors can be involved in mental practice effects, and that the nature of mediation depends on the available information.

A contextualist approach was adopted to assess cognitive functioning and psychological well-being in a representative sample of young-old (60-74 years, n = 107) and old-old (75-92 years, n = 58) women and men in an effort to: (1) delineate age and gender similarities and differences within this elderly cohort; and (2) identify individual differences predictive of remembering. Measures of subjective well-being included morale, depression, and perceived control. Cognitive measures included intentional story recall and incidental symbol memory, rate of information processing, and cognitive flexibility. Health status, gender, and education were also investigated. Decrements were observed in intentional and incidental memory, rate of information processing, solution of Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices, and Mini-Mental Status Examination, but not on accuracy of information processing, estimates of intelligence, well-being measures, education, or health status. The intentional story memory of women was more accurate than that of men. Education and gender, along with processing speed and mental ability, as indexed by the Raven coloured matrices, predicted story memory. These results of a representative sample validate recurrent trends seen in previous convenience samples. They extend the understanding of the relationship between ageing and cognition by identifying the role of processing resource, psychosocial, and demographic factors in modulating memory performance and highlighting methodological factors which must temper interpretation of these relationships.