| 1. |
- Dorn, Katharina, et al.
(författare)
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Watch and listen – A cross-cultural study of audio-visual-matching behavior in 4.5-month-old infants in German and Swedish talking faces
- 2018
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Ingår i: Infant Behavior and Development. - : Elsevier BV. - 0163-6383 .- 1879-0453 .- 1934-8800. ; 52, s. 121-129
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Investigating infants’ ability to match visual and auditory speech segments presented sequentially allows us to understand more about the type of information they encode in each domain, as well as their ability to relate the information. One previous study found that 4.5- month-old infants’ preference for visual French or German speech depended on whether they had previously heard the respective language, suggesting a remarkable ability to encode and relate audio-visual speech cues and to use these to guide their looking behavior. However, French and German differ in their prosody, meaning that perhaps, the infants did not base their matching on phonological or phonetic cues, but on prosody patterns. The present study aimed to address this issue by tracking the eye gaze of 4.5-month-old German and Swedish infants cross-culturally in an intersensory matching procedure, comparing German and Swedish, two same-rhythm-class languages differing in phonetic and phonological attributes but not in prosody. Looking times indicated that even when distinctive prosodic cues were eliminated, 4.5- month-olds were able to extract subtle language properties and sequentially match visual and heard fluent speech. This outcome was the same for different individual speakers for the two modalities, ruling out the possibility that the infants matched speech patterns specific to one individual. This study confirms a remarkably early emerging ability of infants to match auditory and visual information. The fact that the types of information were matched despite sequential presentation demonstrates that the information is retained in short term memory, and thus goes beyond purely perceptual – here-and-now processing.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Pijl, M. K. J., et al.
(författare)
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Parent-child interaction during the first year of life in infants at elevated likelihood of autism spectrum disorder
- 2021
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Ingår i: Infant Behavior and Development. - : Elsevier. - 0163-6383 .- 1879-0453 .- 1934-8800. ; 62
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) likely emerges from a complex interaction between pre-existing neurodevelopmental vulnerabilities and the environment. The interaction with parents forms a key aspect of an infant’s social environment, but few prospective studies of infants at elevated likelihood (EL) for ASD (who have an older sibling with ASD) have examined parent-child interactions in the first year of life. As part of a European multisite network, parent-child dyads of free play were observed at 5 months (62 EL infants, 47 infants at typical likelihood (TL)) and 10 months (101 EL siblings, 77 TL siblings). The newly-developed Parent-Infant/Toddler Coding of Interaction (PInTCI) scheme was used, focusing on global characteristics of infant and parent behaviors. Coders were blind to participant information. Linear mixed model analyses showed no significant group differences in infant or parent behaviors at 5 or 10 months of age (all ps≥0.09, d≤0.36), controlling for infant’s sex and age, and parental educational level. However, without adjustments, EL infants showed fewer and less clear initiations at 10 months than TL infants (p = 0.02, d = 0.44), but statistical significance was lost after controlling for parental education (p = 0.09, d = 0.36), which tended to be lower in the EL group. Consistent with previous literature focusing on parent-infant dyads, our findings suggest that differences between EL and TL dyads may only be subtle during the first year of life. We discuss possible explanations and implications for future developmental studies.
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| 4. |
- Sanchez, Monica Siqueiros, et al.
(författare)
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Visual disengagement in young infants in relation to age, sex, SES, developmental level and adaptive functioning
- 2021
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Ingår i: Infant Behavior and Development. - : Elsevier. - 0163-6383 .- 1879-0453 .- 1934-8800. ; 63
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Visual attention plays a key role in infants' interaction with the environment, and shapes their behavioral and brain development. As such, early problems with flexibly switching gaze from one stimulus to another (visual disengagement) have been hypothesized to lead to developmental difficulties (e.g. joint attention and social skills) over time. This study aimed to identify crosssectional associations between performance in the Gap task (gaze shift latencies and visual attention disengagement) and measures of development and adaptive behavior in conjunction to any sex or socioeconomic status effects in infancy. We measured visual attention disengagement in 436 5-month-old infants and calculated its association with cognitive developmental level, adaptive behaviours, socioeconomic status (SES) and biological sex. In the Gap task, participants must redirect their gaze from a central stimulus to an appearing peripheral stimulus. The three experimental conditions of the task (Gap, Baseline and Overlap) differ on the timepoint when the central stimuli disappears in relation to the appearance of the peripheral stimulus: 200 ms before the peripheral stimulus appears (Gap), simultaneously to its appearance (Baseline), or with peripheral stimulus offset (Overlap). The data from the experimental conditions showed the expected pattern, with average latencies being the shortest in the Gap and longest in the Overlap condition. Females were faster (p = .004) than males in the Gap condition, which could indicate that arousal-related effects differ as a function of biological sex. Infants from higher SES were slower (p =.031) in the Overlap condition compared to lower SES infants. This suggests that basic visual attention may differ by socio-cultural background, and should be considered when studying visual attention and its developmental correlates. We observed no significant association to concurrent developmental level or adaptive function. Given its large sample size, this study provides a useful reference for future studies of visual disengagement in early infancy.
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| 5. |
- Uvnäs-Moberg, Kerstin, et al.
(författare)
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Neuroendocrine mechanisms involved in the physiological effects caused by skin-to-skin contact - With a particular focus on the oxytocinergic system
- 2020
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Ingår i: Infant Behavior and Development. - : Elsevier. - 0163-6383 .- 1879-0453 .- 1934-8800. ; 61:November
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- The positive clinical effects caused by skin-to-skin contact immediately after birth or after repeated skin-to-skin contact of premature infants (kangaroo care) or fullterm infants are well documented in the literature. However, information regarding the physiological mechanisms mediating these effects are surprisingly scarce and incomplete. In this article the oxytocinergic system and the cutaneous sensory pathways by which the oxytocinergic system is activated in response to skin-to-skin contact are presented in more detail. In addition, we discuss how the effects of skin-to-skin treatment can be attributed to different aspects of the effect spectrum of the oxytocinergic or calm and connection system.The structure of the oxytocinergic system, comprising the peripheral (circulating, hormonal) and the central (neurotransmitter) components, as well as, the pathways and mechanisms by which these functions are coordinated are described. Also the various effects induced by the oxytocinergic system (the calm and connection system) are reviewed.The sensory pathways, which include visual, auditory, olfactory and tactile stimuli, given and received by both mother and newborn and which activate the oxytocinergic system in response to skin-to-skin contact, are reviewed. A special emphasis is placed on the role of cutaneous sensory nerves and their activation by touch, light pressure and in particular warmth. The important role of the rise and the pulsatility of maternal temperature in mediating the positive effects of skin-to-skin contact in the newborn is highlighted. The concept of maternal giving of warmth and its possible link to the experience of trust and safety in the newborn is discussed from an evolutionary perspective.The effects induced by skin-to-skin contact can be attributed to the different functions of the oxytocinergic system. Ameliorated social interaction (e.g., more tactile and auditory interaction, more sensitive and synchronous interaction between mother and baby, the baby’s crawling behavior) are expressions of oxytocin’s ability to stimulate social interaction. The decreased levels of fear and stress are expressions of oxytocin’s ability to reduce the activity of the amygdala and of the stress system, e.g. the activity in the HPA-axis and the sympathetic nervous system. Increased HRV, increased activity in endocrine system of the gastrointestinal tract as well as stimulation of growth and maturation are examples of oxytocin’s ability to stimulate the activity of the parasympathetic nervous system and other peripheral and central mechanisms related to restoration and growth.The propensity of different types of treatment with skin-to-skin contact to induce long-term effects is also highlighted. We propose that the sustained effects caused by skin-to-skin contact are induced by an enduring shift in the balance between the oxytocinergic system (the calm and connection system) and the stress system (fight flight reaction) in favor of the oxytocinergic system. This shift leads to a sustained decrease in the HPA-axis and the sympathetic nervous system probably involving alpha 2-adrenoceptors.It is of clinical importance to be aware of the mechanisms by which skin-to-skin contact induces short and longterm positive effects in parents and newborns. If ward routines are adapted to ascertain a maximal stimulation of these mechanisms, the function of the oxytocinergic system will be optimized, which will be linked to a better clinical outcome for parents and newborns.
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| 6. |
- Heimann, Mikael, 1951-
(författare)
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Neonatal imitation, gaze aversion, and mother-infant interaction
- 1989
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Ingår i: Infant Behavior and Development. - : Elsevier. - 0163-6383 .- 1879-0453. ; 12:4, s. 495-505
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A relationship between elicited imitation in neanates and social interaction hasbeen proposed by several investigators. The present work examines if such arelationship can be found when studying neonatal imitation, gaze aversion, andmother-inFant interaction. Thirty-two infants were observed at 2 to 3 days, 3weeks, and 3 months of age. imitation of tongue protrusion and mouth openingwas assessed in all three observations. in addition, a face-to-face interactionbetween mother and child was included when the child reached 3 months of age_The most striking result was a negative relationship between the infants' briefgaze aversion observed at 3 months of age while interacting with their mothersand the inFants' imitative reactions at 2 to 3 days, 3 weeks, and 3 months of age_Behaviorally, these patterns indicate that high-imitating infants tend to displayfewer episodes of brief gaze aversion when interacting with their mothers.
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Kellman, PJ, et al.
(författare)
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Concurrent motion in infant event perception
- 1987
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Ingår i: Infant Behavior and Development. - : Elsevier BV. - 0163-6383 .- 1879-0453. ; 10:1, s. 1-10
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Infant sensitivity to motion relationships specifying certain complex events, such as a person walking, has recently been demonstrated, but the perceptual principles underlying early event perception are not well understood. Retinal motion toward a common point (concurrent motion) specifies translation in depth to adult perceivers in the absence of conflicting information (Börjesson & von Hofsten, 1973). We tested this principle of event perception with 28 16-week-old infants. One group was habituated in a dark room to a concurrent motion: three points of light moving in a frontoparallel plane toward and away from a central point (not seen). After habituation, the room was illuminated, and looking time was tested to alternate presentations of two displays. In one display (depth motion), three lights were attached to a triangle actually moving in depth; in the other display (surface motion), the three lights moved visibly along the surface of a fronto-parallel stationary triangle. If concurrent motion, in the absence of conflicting information, specifies motion in depth to infants, they were expected to look longer after habituation at the surface motion display. A control group tested infants' relative interest in the two test displays with no prior habituation period. Control-group infants marginally preferred the depth movement display. The habituation group responded three times as much to the surface motion display, suggesting that motion in depth had been perceived during habituation. Specification of motion in depth by concurrency of relative proximal stimulus motions seems to be an operative principle in infants' perception; moreover, at least some principles of early event perception are unrelated to person perception or biological motion. The relation of these results to recent findings in infant object perception is discussed.
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| 9. |
- Adam, Maurits, et al.
(författare)
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Goal saliency boosts infants' action prediction for human manual actions, but not for mechanical claws
- 2016
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Ingår i: Infant Behavior and Development. - : Elsevier BV. - 0163-6383 .- 1879-0453. ; 44, s. 29-37
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Previous research indicates that infants' prediction of the goals of observed actions is influenced by own experience with the type of agent performing the action (i.e., human hand vs. non-human agent) as well as by action-relevant features of goal objects (e.g., object size). The present study investigated the combined effects of these factors on 12-month-olds' action prediction. Infants' (N=49) goal-directed gaze shifts were recorded as they observed 14 trials in which either a human hand or a mechanical claw reached for a small goal area (low-saliency goal) or a large goal area (high-saliency goal). Only infants who had observed the human hand reaching for a high-saliency goal fixated the goal object ahead of time, and they rapidly learned to predict the action goal across trials. By contrast, infants in all other conditions did not track the observed action in a predictive manner, and their gaze shifts to the action goal did not change systematically across trials. Thus, high-saliency goals seem to boost infants' predictive gaze shifts during the observation of human manual actions, but not of actions performed by a mechanical device. This supports the assumption that infants' action predictions are based on interactive effects of action-relevant object features (e.g., size) and own action experience.
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| 10. |
- Bakker, Marta, et al.
(författare)
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Development of social perception : A conversation study of 6-, 12-and 36-month-old children
- 2011
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Ingår i: Infant Behavior and Development. - : Elsevier BV. - 0163-6383 .- 1879-0453. ; 34:2, s. 363-370
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A conversation is made up of visual and auditory signals in a complex flow of events. What is the relative importance of these components for young children's ability to maintain attention on a conversation? In the present set of experiments the visual and auditory signals were disentangled in four filmed events. The visual events were either accompanied by the speech sounds of the conversation or by matched motor sounds and the auditory events by either the natural visual turn taking of the conversation or a matched turn taking of toy trucks. A cornea-reflection technique was used to record the gaze-pattern of subjects while they were looking at the films. Three age groups of typically developing children were studied; 6-month-olds, 1-year-olds and 3-year-olds. The results show that the children are more attracted by the social component of the conversation independent of the kind of sound used. Older children find spoken language more interesting than motor sound. Children look longer at the speaking agent when humans maintain the conversation. The study revealed that children are more attracted to the mouth than to the eyes area. The ability to make more predictive gaze shifts develops gradually over age.
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