Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Infants'
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1
Sterling, John W. (John Wilson). "Mother-Infant Interaction with Facially Deformed Infants." Thesis, North Texas State University, 1986. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc331799/.
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This study investigated the interactions of facially deformed infants (FD) with their mothers compared to a facially nondeformed control group (FND). All mother-infant dyads were videotaped for 10 minutes during a free play period. Mothers were instructed to spend time with their baby as they normally would. The videotaped interactions of 14 FD dyads and 14 FND dyads were rated by five raters for quality of interactions, amount of vocalization, touch, and face-to-face gaze. The infants were rated on their level of attractiveness from polaroid pictures and videotapes. Mothers also completed a questionnaire which assessed their infants' temperament. Three of the studies' four hypotheses were confirmed. First, the more attractive an infant was, the better his/her interactions with the mother were judged to be. Second, FD infant dyads were rated as significantly poorer in quality of interaction than FND dyads, although FD* dyads did not spend significantly less time vocalizing, touching, or in face-to-face gaze as predicted. A significantly higher percentage of FD infants were judged as having difficult temperament relative to FND infants. Finally, as predicted it was found that infants with difficult temperaments were more likely to exhibit poorer quality interactions than infants with less difficult temperaments. These results have important implications for providing anticipatory guidance to caregivers of FD infants. Without intervention, FD infants appear at risk for subsequent developmental problems stemming from disrupted early mother-infant interactions. Future research should focus on these interactions soon after the infant's birth, attempt to determine if FD infants' emotions can be reliably understood from their facial expressions (as has been found in normal infants) and extend the current research paradigm to include fathers of FD infants.
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Rowe, Jennifer. "Organising bodies : a study of feeding and sleep in infancy /." [St. Lucia, Qld.], 2000. http://www.library.uq.edu.au/iad/absthe15803.pdf.
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Pegg, Judith E. "Young infants demonstrate a preference for infant directed talk." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 1989. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/28997.
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This research was designed to assess 7-week-old infants' preference for infant directed and adult directed talk. (IDT and ADT) using the infant controlled habituation/dishabituation looking procedure. Infants were presented with short audio recordings of either a female or a male speaking in IDT during habituation and ADT during dishabituation or the reverse. In the control conditions, the stimulus did not change. Infants demonstrated preference for IDT over ADT in both male and female speaker conditions. They also demonstrated preference for the female speaker used in this study over the male speaker. Interactions among the dependent variables (first three looks), and the independent variables (infant gender, and style of speaking as well as infant gender, and speaker gender), suggest that the preference might not be as robust as the preference found in infants over 4 months. Evidence for discrimination between IDT and ADT was inferred from the between group demonstration of preference, but no evidence of within infant discrimination was found. Because the evidence suggests that 7-week-old infants demonstrate weaker preference for IDT over ADT than do infants of 4 months, it is assumed that infant preferences follow a developmental sequence. Thus, it is possible that developing preferences are influenced by experiential factors.Arts, Faculty of
Psychology, Department of
Graduate
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Abraham, Jane L. "Mother and infant communication: mothers' experiences and infants' preferences." Diss., Virginia Tech, 1995. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/39157.
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Two longitudinal studies were conducted to explore the mother-infant communication process during the first four months of postnatal life. One study focused on mothers' experiences communicating with their infants. Forty-seven mothers were interviewed when their infants were 6 to 8 weeks of age; 42 of the same mothers were interviewed when their infants were 16 to 18 weeks of age. Mothers were asked questions about their interactions with their infants, how they talked to their infants, why they talked to their infants, how they learned to talk to their infants, and what th,eir beliefs were about the relationship between talking to infants and development. A model was constructed from these data, conceptualizing the communication process between mothers and their young infants. Four themes were identified: expert advice influenced some mother-infant communication; mothers and infants co-regulated some of their communication; maternal communication behaviors were consistent across age and ethnicity; and experience talking to pets influenced some new mothers' speaking styles.Ph. D.
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SPINELLI, MARIA. "Parenting preterm infants: implications for mothers and mother- infant relationship." Doctoral thesis, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10281/45026.
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Prematurity and the associated neonatal complications are identified as risk factors that may bring psychological complications both for the baby’s development and for the early mother-infant relationship. The birth of a preterm infant, the sudden end of the pregnancy, and infant’s hospitalization, often represent stressful experiences for parents. Therefore, premature birth may affect parental perceptions and attitudes, thereby distorting parent-child interactions and relationship.
The present dissertation aims to examine the complex experience of parenting a preterm infant from a transactional perspective with a mixed method design. The theoretical framework integrates the transactional model of development, attachment theory and recent theories of infant research. Three studies, analyzing the phenomenon from different perspectives and using different methodological frameworks, are reported.
The first study qualitatively analyzed narratives of 30 preterm infant mothers. Mothers were interviewed during infant hospitalization on the experiences of pregnancy, delivery and infant recovery. The thematic analysis revealed three major themes relevant for mothers: The construction of maternal identity, The construction of the representation of the bond with the child; The relationship with the healthcare providers and external world.
The second study is a microanalysis of mother-infant’s emotion regulation and play during free play interactions at 3 and 6 months of infant’s age. Comparisons between 22 preterm and 20 full-term infant dyads revealed more differences at a maternal and dyadic level than at the infant’s level. Mother-premature infant dyads presented a typical interactive style characterized by maternal overstimulation and the tendency to lead the interaction. These dyads showed more difficulties to adjust their interaction to infant’s growth and more interactive risk indicators emerged at 6 months. The role of infant and maternal characteristics and maternal attachment models as protective and risk factors was explored.
The third study examined perinatal Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and the levels of parenting stress in 156 mothers of full-term children and 87 mothers of preterm children. This study proposed a mediating role of PTSD symptoms between preterm/full-term birth and levels of parenting stress. The mothers were asked to complete a Web survey assessing perinatal PTSD symptoms, parenting stress and social support. The findings showed that mothers of preterm children experienced more post-traumatic symptoms and parenting stress than did mothers of full-term children. Levels of PTSD symptoms were higher for mothers with infants born at lower gestational age. The relationship between preterm/full-term birth and levels of parenting stress was mediated by PTSD symptoms. Moreover, the child’s age moderated the association between maternal PTSD and parenting stress.
The discussions of the three studies are integrated in the final conclusions. Findings suggest that prematurity have implications for mothers’ transition to parenthood and for the development of mother-infant relationship confirming the need to examine the phenomenon from a transactional perspective. Implications for preventive interventions are addressed.
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Vingut, Riggall Marta Ana. "Els infants d’origen immigrat i l’educació infantil a Catalunya." Doctoral thesis, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/284132.
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“Els Infants d’Origen Immigrat i l’Escola Infantil a Catalunya” és el títol de la tesi doctoral presentada que deriva d’una investigació iniciada juntament amb el grup de recerca GRADASEL (Grup de Recerca d’Atenció a la Diversitat: Aspectes Socioculturals, Emocionals i Lingüístics”) de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, tot seguint la línia d’investigació de l’antropòleg Nord-americà Joseph Tobin centrada en l’acollida d’alumnat immigrat a l’escola infantil des d’una perspectiva transcultural. Els objectius de la recerca desenvolupada a Catalunya se centren a detectar quina és la percepció que tenen els mestres de l’escola infantil respecte de l’alumnat d’origen immigrat, així com les necessitats que es desprenen del seu discurs.
L’enfocament metodològic abordat en la recerca pretén escoltar la veu dels diferents agents implicats en l’acció educativa de l’escola infantil a partir del que Tobin anomena “Video-cued Multivocal Ethnography”. Aquest mètode de fonamentació etnogràfica es basa en l’anàlisi del discurs de grups de discussió (focus groups) a partir dels comentaris i observacions que fan els participants en veure uns vídeos etnogràfics que mostren el que seria un dia habitual a l’escola. D’acord amb els principis metodològics, el vídeo etnogràfic es converteix en una eina protectiva per a estimular la reflexió sobre la pràctica educativa tot provocant que emergeixi un discurs espontani entre els agents educatius que posi de manifest els seus valors personals i educatius.
L’anàlisi del discurs ha donat lloc a l’organització dels resultats en quatre blocs:
- Aproximació al marc educatiu de l’etapa Infantil: la recerca s’inicia amb l‘anàlisi del context educatiu de l’etapa infantil de manera genèrica, tot entenent que aquest determina el marc en el qual es valora l’educació de l’alumnat d’origen immigrat. De l’anàlisi es desprèn un discurs que posa l’accent sobre la tendència escolaritzadora de l’etapa infantil i un neguit pels continguts d’aprenentatge cognitiu, en especial vers la lectura i l’escriptura.
- L’etapa infantil i l’alumnat d’origen immigrat: les percepcions dels mestres mostren com la diversitat cultural es considera part inherent a la diversitat de l’alumnat, ignorant les especificitats derivades del contacte entre cultures o la influència dels valors i estereotips socials en el desenvolupament de la identitat. Tot i que en l’etapa infantil les valoracions són afectuoses vers aquest tipus d’alumnat, la percepció varia en funció de la quantitat acollida. S’evidencia que preval una percepció multicultural de l’educació i no tant intercultural.
- La relació Escola – Família: es fa palesa una distància entre l’escola i la família, considerant-se ambdós com a àmbits educatius separats, on la manca de comunicació i de relació genera tensió i exigències mútues, especialment en centres de tendència més escolaritzadora. Aquesta distància s’agreuja en el cas de famílies d’origen immigrat, alimentant o mantenint estereotips quan n’hi ha. Això no obstant, també es constaten iniciatives d’acostament significatives.
- Llengua i Aprenentatge: es reconeix la importància de vetllar per una adquisició natural de la llengua vehicular i s’empren mesures diverses i flexibles per a estimular-ne l’aprenentatge en els estadis inicials, però es deixa d’estimular un cop s’adquireix una competència conversacional bàsica. Es constata també una clara preocupació per la llengua catalana, especialment davant l’ús estès del castellà en els entorns socials. Les llengües d’origen dels alumnes no es fan presents a l’escola, desaprofitant el seu potencial educatiu de cara al foment de la competència plurilingüe."Children of Immigrant Origins and Early Childhood Education in Catalonia" is the title of the doctoral thesis presented stemming from an investigation initiated together with the GRADASEL research group (Research Group for Attention to Diversity: Socio-cultural, Emotional and Linguistic Aspects") of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, following American anthropologist Joseph Tobin’s research line focusing on the reception of immigrant students in ECE from a cross-cultural perspective. The objectives of the research carried out in Catalonia focus on detecting ECE teacher perceptions regarding children of immigrant origins, as well as the needs that emerge from their discourse. The methodological approach addressed in the research aims to listen to the voices of the ECE teachers throughout Tobin’s ''Video-cued Multivocal Ethnography". Such methodology, of ethnographic foundation, is based on focus group discourse analysis once having viewed school ethnographic videos. In accordance to the methodological principles, the ethnographic video becomes a projective tool stimulating reflection on educational practice bringing spontaneous discourse to the fore regarding personal values and educational expectations. The results of the analysis have been organized in four extensive blocks: - Approach to ECE: the research begins analysing ECE settings in a generic way, understanding that this determines the context in which children of immigrant origin’s education must be considered. The analysis proves a schoolifying tendency and concern over cognitive contents, especially reading and writing. - ECE and children of immigrant origins: teacher discourse shows how cultural diversity is considered as an intrinsic part of children’s diversity, ignoring the specificities arising from culture contact or the influence of social values and stereotypes in identity development. Although evaluations regarding the children are affectionate, perception varies depending on the amount of such children in the school. A multicultural perception prevails over intercultural education. - School and family relationship: distance between school and families becomes evident, considered as being separate educational institutions, where a lack of communication and relationship generates tension and mutual demands, especially in more academical schools. Such distance increases in the case of immigrant origin families, nurturing stereotyped perceptions. However, significant approaching initiatives become evident. - Language and learning: natural acquisition of the school’s vehicular language is enhanced and various flexible measures stimulating learning are applied in the early stages, although forgotten once general conversation skills are achieved. Alongside, concern over the Catalan language is also made evident, especially due to the expansion of the Spanish language in social environments. Children’s languages of origin are not present in school, wasting educational potential towards developing a plurilingual competence.
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Tang, Mei-po. "Weight gain and methods of feeding a retrospective cohort study of the Hong Kong Chinese infants /." Click to view the E-thesis via HKUTO, 2004. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record/B31972214.
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Mac, Dougall Ca~ida. "Growth and nutrional status of formula-fed infants aged 2-10 weeks in the Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) Programme at the Dr George Mukhari Hospital, Gauteng, South Africa /." Link to the online version, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10019/1504.
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Oswalt, Krista Lee. "Effects of infant massage on HIV-infected mothers and their infants." Birmingham, Ala. : University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2009. https://www.mhsl.uab.edu/dt/2009p/oswalt.pdf.
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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2009.Additional advisors: Daniel Marullo, Sylvie Mrug, Marsha Sturdevant, Lynda Wilson. Description based on contents viewed June 5, 2009; title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references (p. 48-52).
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Meadows, Denis William, and D. Meadows@mailbox gu edu au. "Mothers' Sensitivity to Infants' Communicative Acts." Griffith University. School of Cognition, Language and Special Education, 2001. http://www4.gu.edu.au:8080/adt-root/public/adt-QGU20030226.164131.
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This series of studies investigated the sensitivity of mothers towards the behaviour of their preverbal infants. More specifically, the investigation examined the consistency with which mothers identified what they considered to be communicative acts by their infants aged 6, 9, and 12 months, and the contingency and appropriateness of their maternal responses. The ability of other female adults to identify the same infant acts as communicative as the mothers was also investigated. In Studies one and two, 35 infants and their mothers were videotaped in a laboratory setting. Three weeks after the videotaping session, the mothers were asked to view a five-minute section and code the stream of infant behaviour into periods when they believed that their infant was engaging in communicative behaviours ('on' events) and periods when they considered that the infants were not ('off' events). This process was repeated three months after the first coding. At each coding session the mothers coded the videotape twice. Each mother's coded records were compared, in pairs, within and across coding sessions and the observed levels of agreement were calculated. A randomization procedure using 1000 iterations of the whole 'on' and 'off' events was used to determine the meaningfulness of the observed level of agreement between pairs of codings by providing distributions of chance levels of agreement with which the observed levels could be compared. Levels of agreement that exceeded chance values (p equals or is less than .05) were taken as evidence of consistency of maternal response. Consistency in the identification of communicative acts by other female adults (OAs) was investigated using a sample of 12 of the videotapes. Each videotape was coded by three separate OAs. The significance of the observed levels of agreement between the mother's coding and those of the OAs was determined using the randomization procedure. The results indicated that at each infant age, mothers were able to identify consistently their infant's communicatively salient behaviours, even over inter-coding intervals of three months. Further, both OAs and mothers identified the same infant behaviours as communicative. The third study investigated the abilities of a different sample of mothers and infants to describe the topography and meaning of their infants' behaviours during the 'on' events. Mothers' descriptions of their infants' behaviour during the 'on' events were also used to describe changes in the criteria that they used to identify infant behaviours as communicatively salient. Results indicated that the complexity of the criteria that the mothers used changed across infant age. First, mothers of younger infants were more likely, than mothers of older infants, to describe a single infant behaviour as being communicatively salient. The latter were more likely to identify two or three co-occurring infant behaviours as salient. Second, when more than one infant behaviour was identified in an 'on' event, the mothers of the older infants were more likely than the mothers of younger infants to state that all of the behaviours that they identified were communicatively important. These findings were interpreted to mean that mothers of older infants required more complex constellations of behaviour during the 'on' events in order to identify those behaviours as communicative. Study 4 investigated the contingency and appropriateness of the mothers' responses to the segments of their infants' behaviour that they identified as being communicative. Across infant age, findings indicated that the mothers' verbal responses to their infants were contingent upon whether they considered that their infants were engaged in communicatively salient behaviours. During periods of infant behaviour that the mothers identified as being communicative, mothers talked significantly more to their infants than they did when their infant's behaviour was considered to be non-communicative. Further, mothers' verbal responses were interpreted as being appropriate in two ways. First, during the 'on' events, changes occurred over infant age in the balance between the use of utterances designed to attract and maintain the attention of the infant (Attentional Directives) and those designed to provide comment on infant behaviour (Feedback). This shift is in keeping with widely reported changes in infant behaviour as children grow older (i.e., older infants' play a greater role in initiating and maintaining episodes of interaction). Second, during periods when the mothers considered that their infants were not communicating ('off' events) they rarely used 'Feedback' verbal responses. During 'off' events, mothers maintained high levels of 'Attentional Directive' talk, irrespective of infant age. Taken collectively, these studies provide evidence that supports the view that mothers are sensitive to what they consider to be communicative behaviours by their infants in terms of the consistency, contingency and appropriateness of their behaviour. The unique features of this investigation, the generality of the findings and the implications for future research are discussed in the final chapter.
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Idol, Marianne T. "Maternal sensitivity and strategies to regulate toddlers' distress relations to toddlers' emotion regulation /." View electronic thesis (PDF), 2009. http://dl.uncw.edu/etd/2009-1/idolm/marianneidol.pdf.
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Ferland, Mark B. "Infants' categorization of melodic contour." Thesis, McGill University, 1987. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=74028.
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Gschwendt, Miriam A. "Early manifestations of aggression in infants of high risk mother-infant dyads." Phd thesis, [S.l. : s.n.], 2002. http://pub.ub.uni-potsdam.de/2002/0021/gschwend.pdf.
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Shenfield, Tali. "Emotion regulation effects of infant-directed singing, evidence from infants and caregivers." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1999. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk1/tape10/PQDD_0007/MQ46171.pdf.
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Lilley, Rhonda J. "Distress learning in premature infants : early antecedents of dysfunctional parent-infant relationships /." The Ohio State University, 1990. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1487676847118147.
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McClellan, Catherine B. "Parent-infant interactions during acute painful procedures." Morgantown, W. Va. : [West Virginia University Libraries], 2001. http://etd.wvu.edu/templates/showETD.cfm?recnum=2214.
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Thesis (M.A.)--West Virginia University, 2001.Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains v, 41 p. Vita. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 23-28).
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Neal, Diana Odland. "The physiological effects of a nursing intervention of intermittent human tactile contact on preterm infants." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 1988. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/276799.
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The purpose of this study was to assess if preterm infants receiving an intervention of intermittent human tactile contact would demonstrate clinical improvement over infants who did not receive the intervention. A quasi-experimental design was used with 26 infants between 28 and 32 weeks gestation. Hands were placed on the infants' heads and lower backs for a total of 36 minutes of tactile contact a day for 10 days. Findings indicated a significant gain in mean body weight for both groups between Day 0 and Day 10. Also, there was a significant decrease in mean hematocrit in the control group between Day 0 and Day 10. On Day 10, experimental infants had a significantly higher mean number of apneic and bradycardic episodes than control infants. There were no significant mean differences between the groups for body weight, body temperature stability, oxygen variance, or hematocrit. Data suggest that gentle human touch may be correlated with desireable outcomes. Further research is necessary.
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Barbosa, Vanessa M. "Effective reliability of mother/child interaction assessment in 9 month old children." Thesis, Boston University, 1994. https://hdl.handle.net/2144/38000.
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Thesis (M.S.)--Boston UniversityPLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you.
Judgment methodology was employed to provide a qualitative description of mother/child interaction during infant play. Videoclips of 40 9-month-old infants in a free play situation with their mothers were rated by a panel of 10 judges using a series of 9 point Likert scales. Thirteen qualitative items, grouped into the five different areas of communication, coordination, engagement, affect, and overall quality of interaction, were rated from low or absent (0) to consistently high (8). Each mother/child dyad was assessed on two different segments. The reliability of the scales for assessing the mother/child interaction (mean ratings of 10 judges) ranged from .65 (mismatch) to .81 (mutual responsiveness) with an overall mean effective reliability of .77. There was a high intercorrelation among individual variables and overall quality of the interaction suggesting that no one of the rated qualities was more predictive of the overall mother/child interaction. Differences found in the rated quality of mother/child interaction between the two segments raise questions regarding the validity of conclusions about the overall quality of interaction based on a single short segment. Results are discussed in terms of the psychometric features of the scales and in terms of the mother/child interactional patterns. Suggestions for revising the methodology and the assessment tool are made to improve reliability and validity. More studies are necessary to validate the usefulness of the judgment methodology as an alternative approach to studying the quality of mother/child interaction.
2031-01-01
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Brandos, Mavis Marie 1944. "Infant health, caregiver burden, and social support as perceived by mothers of low birth weight infants and mothers of normal birth weight infants." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 1994. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/558238.
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Wiedman, Cheryl. "Correlates of 9-month-old infants' night awakening." Morgantown, W. Va. : [West Virginia University Libraries], 2004. https://etd.wvu.edu/etd/controller.jsp?moduleName=documentdata&jsp%5FetdId=3372.
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Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 2004.Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains x, 113 p. : ill. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 66-73).
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Hayes, Rachel Anne. "Speech perception in infancy : infants' perception of rhyming and alliterative syllables." Thesis, University of Exeter, 2002. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.248118.
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Atkinson, Jessica. "An in-vivo structural MRI investigation of newborn infants' brains : preterm infants and infants born with intrauterine growth restriction." Thesis, University of Liverpool, 2012. http://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/2002304/.
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Introduction: It is well documented that preterm infants are less developed than term infants at term age and infants with IUGR are said to be of higher vulnerability. Fractional Anisotropy (FA) and Apparent Diffusion Coefficient (ADC) are sensitive to micro structural abnormalities and increases in anisotropy associated with premyelination are the earliest indications of the beginning processes of myelination. Furthermore reductions in brain volumes have been found in preterm infants compared to controls and IUGR infants. Thyroxine (T4) is necessary for normal growth and development of the central nervous system. Infants born preterm miss out on the maternal transfer of T4 that occurs during the third trimester and are born with an underdeveloped thyroid gland that is not yet producing sufficient amounts of T4. Method: Sixty nine infants (51 preterm, 9 IUGR and 9 controls) were imaged on a 1.5 Telsa MRI Scanner. DTI analysis was performed using medical imaging software (DTIstudio). FA and ADC maps were used to draw regions of interest around the posterior limb of the internal capsule (PLIC), corpus callosum (CC), frontal lobes (FL) and occipital lobes (OL). The software Brain Voyager QX (version 1.9.10) was used for image realignment and demarcation of T2 Weighted images and the images were analysed using medical imaging software for structure- specific brain volume measurements (Easymeasure). Statistical analysis was conducted with repeated measures ANOVA using SPSS version 18. Results: A significant interaction when investigating anterior vs. posterior structures and laterality of structures with treatment in the frontal lobes and posterior limb of the internal capsule was found suggesting a group difference between infants treated with levothyroxine and those receiving placebo. IUGR infants generally had lower FA and ADC than the control group. Generally lower structural volumes were found in the placebo and IUGR group. Conclusion: Administration of levothyroxine affects the structures on different sides of the brain differently and raises structural volumes. Levothyroxine may be of particular benefit to infants with low levels of thyroxine in their blood (hypothyroxinemia) and male preterm infants. Preterm infants born with intrauterine growth restriction are of higher vulnerability than appropriate for gestational age preterm infants with lower FA, higher ADC and lower structural volumes. Further research is required to fully explore asymmetries in the preterm and IUGR brain and should look at administering levothyroxine to infants with low levels of thyroxine in their blood.
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Nduna, Themba. "Infant and young child feeding in Zimbabwe : developing food-based complementary feeding recommendations for infants." Thesis, University of Aberdeen, 2016. http://digitool.abdn.ac.uk:80/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=231072.
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Background: Undernutrition is a global public health challenge with life-long consequences. For a child chronically undernourished within the first 1000 days of its life, the consequences include lower school attainment, shorter adult height, reduced adult income and national economic productivity. Investing in preventing child undernutrition has both immediate and later life benefits for children and society. To prevent child undernutrition, promote optimal growth and development, nutrition interventions should target the 1000-days window of opportunity. Aim and objectives: This thesis aimed to assess infant feeding practices in the Matebeleland region of Zimbabwe. The objectives were to (i) explore factors associated with exclusive breastfeeding, (ii) estimate nutrient intake and assess nutritional quality of infants' diets and (iii) formulate and pilot food-based feeding recommendations for infants. Methods: This thesis employed mixed methods. The breastfeeding study and piloting of feeding recommendations were qualitative, whilst the food intake and linear programming studies were quantitative. Results: Diets consumed by infants in the Matebeleland region are predominantly plant-based and poor in both diversity and micronutrient density. The diets do not meet calcium, iron, zinc, and vitamin B3 requirements for 9-11 month-old infants. Urban infants and those from wealthier households had higher median nutrient intakes than infants from rural and poor households did, respectively. Conclusion: Diets consumed by infants in the Matebeleland region are poor in diversity and micronutrient density and cannot meet calcium, iron, zinc, and vitamin B3 requirements for the 9-11 months target group. Maize meal fortification improved the micronutrient density of the diets.
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Chen, Chao-Ying. "Cognitive, motor, and autonomic function in infants with complex congenital heart diseases, infants born preterm, and infants born full-term." The Ohio State University, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1408984094.
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Shallcross, Wendy L. "Enhanced attention to "motionese" do infants prefer infant-directed to adult-directed action? /." Click here for download, 2006. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/villanova/fullcit?p1434312.
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Wilson, C. Elizabeth. "The environmental niche of Aboriginal infants, possible implications for sudden infant death syndrome." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1999. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/ftp03/NQ35048.pdf.
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Clarke, Christy. "The Quality of Attachment in Premature Infants: An Analysis of Mother-Infant Relationships." Honors in the Major Thesis, University of Central Florida, 2013. http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ETH/id/1550.
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The purpose of this study was to conduct a qualitative case study using secondary data on four mothers with premature infants in a home visitation intervention group. Three data points
were collected on each mother and infant: the health of the infant, the quality of attachment as seen in play interactions, and maternal life circumstances such as depression, social support and use of community resources. The data was looked at prenatally up until the infants were 15 months old. The results indicated that all four infants were relatively healthy across the first year of their lives. Three out of the four mothers had a secure attachment with their premature infants at 12 months of age and one mother was at risk for an insecure attachment. All four mothers demonstrated some positive play interactions; however, one mother in particular demonstrated low involvement. Of the four mothers, one was highly depressed, and the other three mothers were minimally to moderately depressed. The four mothers were also in a marital or partner relationship, and all reported satisfaction in their support systems as well as very similar uses of community resources. The results of this study can be used to assist Home Visitors in understanding the need to help mothers improve their interactions with their premature infants and to encourage the Home Visitors to refer the mothers who show any signs of depression.B.S.
Bachelors
Education and Human Performance
Teaching, Learning and Leadership
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Cooper, Jamie S. "The Ability of Speaking Rate to Influence Infants' Preferences for Infant-Directed Speech." Thesis, Virginia Tech, 1998. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/10063.
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Much research has examined how rate affects visual preferences in human infants and auditory preferences in avian infants. In the visual domain, it seems that human infants prefer stimuli (e.g., flashing displays) presented at faster relative rates. Research using avian species has shown that ducklings, for example, prefer their species- specific maternal call only when it is presented at values close to the species-typical mean. These studies have shown that experience affects ducklings' preferences for rate in auditory events. Researchers in the areas of human infant preferences for visual rate and avian infant preferences for auditory rate have suggested that an effective window of frequencies exists for which infants show maximal attention. Unlike these two areas, little research has addressed how rate affects human infants' preferences for auditory events. A study by Cooper and Cooper (1997) was the first to find that infants attend to rates of speaking infant directed (ID) speech. Specifically, infants preferred ID speech at its normal rate to ID speech at a faster rate. The present study was intended to further investigate how rate of speaking affected infants' preferences for ID speech. More specifically, this study sought to determine whether a window of effective rates also exists for infant preferences for rate in ID speech. Using an infant-controlled preference procedure, 20 six- to eight-week old infants were presented with ID-normal speech (ID speech as its normal rate) and ID- slow speech (ID speech slowed to half the normal rate). It was found that infants looked longer to a visual display when it was paired with ID-slow speech than when it was paired with ID-normal speech. How these results relate to research and theory on visual rate preferences in human infants and auditory rate in avian species is discussed, as well as future directions for this line of research.Master of Science
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DeLaurentis, Angeline Dijamco. "Emotion processing in typically developing infants and infant siblings of children with autism." Diss., Restricted to subscribing institutions, 2008. http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1562130001&sid=1&Fmt=2&clientId=1564&RQT=309&VName=PQD.
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Gurko, Krista L. "Socioeconomic Status Influence on Mothers’ Interactions with Infants: Contributions to Early Infant Development." DigitalCommons@USU, 2018. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/7080.
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Children from different socioeconomic backgrounds often have different long-term outcomes in terms of school, language, and emotional wellbeing. At this time, no reasons for these differences have been agreed upon by experts across disciplines. Parents with different personal characteristics and life situations use different types and amounts of interactions with their infants. The social interactions infants experience during their first year of life provide the start of their developmental path in the areas of language and executive control while also guiding their expectations for interactions with people around them.
This study used previously unpublished data from a sample of 79 young infants, age 3 to 9 months, and their mothers. There was a set of five research questions. The first question guided exploration of how socioeconomic status (SES; represented by maternal education and family income) was associated with the parenting behaviors mothers used with their infants. The second question guided exploration of how mothers’ psychosocial resources (represented by child development knowledge and parenting stress) were associated with the parenting behaviors mothers used with their infants. The third question addressed whether associations between maternal education and parenting behavior were directly connected or if the amount of child development knowledge influenced the association. The fourth question addressed whether associations between family income and parenting behavior were directly connected or if the amount of mothers’ parenting stress influenced the association. The final question addressed whether associations between mothers’ psychosocial parenting resources and infant development were directly connected or if the associations were instead connected by mothers’ psychosocial resources.
During a single home visit with each mother and her young infant, the research visitor assessed infant development, video recorded the mother and infant playing during a free play session, and asked mothers to fill out questionnaires. Project questionnaires addressed mothers’ education and family income as well as their levels of child development knowledge and parenting stress. None of the findings directly related to the five hypotheses were statistically significant. However, follow-up analyses provided information about potential future directions for investigating the links between SES, parenting interactions, and infant competencies using smaller categories of education and income levels. These findings from follow-up questions may guide potential future directions for identifying SES and psychosocial influences on early parenting interaction behaviors and young infants’ early development.
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Dixon, Wallace E. Jr, Jaima S. Price, and Matthew T. McBee. "Authoritarian Parenting and Infant Negative Affectivity Jointly Contribute to Vocabulary Delay in Infants." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2014. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/4917.
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Cramer-Berness, Laura J. "A comparison of behavioral interventions for infant immunizations." Diss., Online access via UMI:, 2005.
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Chan, Yuk-ying Eugenie. "The lived experience of Hong Kong Chinese mothers with premature infants hospitalized in special care units /." View the Table of Contents & Abstract, 2005. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record/B31937895.
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Racine, Timothy Philip. "The role of shared practice in the origins of joint attention and pointing /." Burnaby B.C. : Simon Fraser University, 2005. http://ir.lib.sfu.ca/handle/1892/2056.
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Rust, Libi. "Growth and development in very preterm infants : the influence of infant, maternal and medical factors." Thesis, University of Hertfordshire, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/2299/14177.
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It is generally acknowledged that infants born very preterm are at a high risk of developmental delay. It has been suggested that the first few months of life ex-utero might constitute a "sensitive period" during which growth rate could influence later outcome measures including cognitive development. This study investigated the early growth of a sample of 90 infants born very preterm and the developmental status (at 18 months of age) of 81 of those infants (mean gestational age 29.4 weeks; mean birth weight 1283g). Two main issues were addressed. One concerned the relative contribution of various early infant, maternal and medical factors to rate of growth up to 3-months corrected age. The other issue was the extent to which these early factors, as well as early growth rate, were predictive of developmental status at 18 months of age (again corrected for gestation), using the Mental Development Index of the Bayley Scales. Analyses revealed that there were few significant predictors of early growth among the variables that were examined. Infants who had required more intensive medical care during the neonatal period showed a slower growth rate than the more robust infants. Breast-fed infants grew slower from birth to term, but thereafter grew significantly better, resulting in no discernable difference over the whole 5-7 month period. None of the infant behavioural, maternal or social variables examined appeared to be related to early growth. Infants who were born lighter-for-gestation grew faster than the infants who were heavier for gestational age. At the 18-month follow-up assessment this very preterm sample performed poorly overall in comparison to published norms for full term infants. When regression analyses were performed, weight at 3-months of age was found to be predictive of developmental status at 18-months (even when concurrent weight was taken into account), whereas actually being born growth retarded was not found to be a risk factor for poorer developmental outcome. This supports the concept of a "sensitive period" during the first few months of life, when growth rate may influence developmental outcome. Other significant predictors of developmental outcome were gender, early brain scan and mean parental height.
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Schmitow, Clara A. "The Social World Through Infants’ Eyes : How Infants Look at Different Social Figures." Doctoral thesis, Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för psykologi, 2012. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-168304.
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This thesis aims to study how infants actively look at different social figures: parents and strangers. To study infants’ looking behavior in “live” situations, new methods to record looking behavior were tested. Study 1 developed a method to record looking behavior in “live” situations: a head-mounted camera. This method was calibrated for a number of angles and then used to measure how infants look at faces and objects in two “live” situations, a conversation and a joint action. High reliability was found for the head-mounted camera in horizontal positions and the possibility of using it in a number of “live” situations with infants from 6 to 14 months of age. In Study 2, the head-mounted camera and a static camera and were used in a “live” ambiguous situation to study infants’ preferences to refer to and to use the information from parents and strangers. The results from Experiment 1 of Study 2 showed that if no information is provided in ambiguous situations in the lab, infants at 10 months of age look more at the experimenter than at the parent. Further, Experiment 2 of Study 2 showed that the infants also used more of the emotional information provided by the experimenter than by the parent to regulate their behavior. In Study 3, looking behavior was analyzed in detail when infants looked at pictures of their parents’ and strangers’ emotional facial expressions. Corneal eye tracking was used to record looking. In this study, the influence of identity, gender, emotional expressions and parental leave on looking behavior was analyzed. The results indicated that identity and experience of looking at others influences how infants discriminate emotions in pictures of facial expressions. Fourteen-month-old infants who had been with both parents in parental leave discriminated more emotional expressions in strangers than infants who only had one parent on leave. Further, they reacted with larger pupil dilation toward the parent who was actually in parental leave than to the parent not on leave. Finally, fearful emotional expressions were more broadly scanned than neutral or happy facial expressions. The results of these studies indicate that infants discriminate between mothers’, fathers’ and strangers’ emotional facial expressions and use the other people’s expressions to regulate their behavior. In addition, a new method, a head-mounted camera was shown to capture infants’ looking behavior in “live” situations.
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Osterling, Julie A. "Early identification of infants with autism and infants with a global developmental delay /." Thesis, Connect to this title online; UW restricted, 1997. http://hdl.handle.net/1773/9175.
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Rodrigue, Shannon Rae. "Communication and social-cognition in 12-month-olds from low- and middle-income homes." Connect to a 24 p. preview or request complete full text in PDF format. Access restricted to UC campuses, 2006. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/ucsd/fullcit?p3212025.
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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego and San Diego State University, 2006.Title from first page of PDF file (viewed June 26, 2006). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 178-190).
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Bernard, Rebecca S. "Parent distress, parent behavior, and infant distress during pediatric immunizations." Morgantown, W. Va. : [West Virginia University Libraries], 2001. http://etd.wvu.edu/templates/showETD.cfm?recnum=2225.
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Thesis (M.A.)--West Virginia University, 2001.Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 47 p. : ill. Vita. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 29-35).
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Gutbrod, Tina. "Emotion regulation in very preterm infants : the influence of infant, maternal and medical factors." Thesis, University of Hertfordshire, 2001. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.247327.
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Cruz-Khalili, Amir A. "Factors affecting infants' choices: An examination of infant choice stability and parent expectancy effects." Scholarly Commons, 2016. https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/279.
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Several researchers posit the tendency of adults and children to behave positively towards individuals similar to themselves (in-group bias) and to behave hostilely towards those dissimilar to themselves (out-group bias) is not learned, but is instead innate. Using infant-parent dyads, Mahajan and Wynn (2012) examined this question by asking infants ( n = 32), seated in their parents' lap, to choose between two foods, watch a puppet show during which two puppets verbally stated a liking or disliking of these foods, and then choose one of the puppets. They found more infants chose the puppet that “liked” the same food the infants chose. Based on these results, Mahajan and Wynn suggest this tendency is innate. However, methodological limitations including the unintentional effects of parent bias and use of a single choice-trial make this conclusion premature. The purpose of the current study was to replicate and extend the methodology of Mahajan and Wynn by addressing these limitations. Twenty-four infant-parent dyads were separated into two groups. After choosing a food and watching the puppet show, infants in Group 1 (multiple-baseline across participants design) chose a puppet 3-5 times before their parents were exposed to the parent bias measure and then chose an additional five times; parents in Group 2 (between-subjects comparison group) were exposed to the parent bias measure first, then infants chose a puppet five times. In Group 1, 7 of 12 infants (58%) selected the similar puppet on the first choice trial. In Group 2, 2 of 12 infants (17%) selected the similar puppet on the first choice trial. Repeated choice trials showed no influence of parent bias but did show patterns of side stability with 18 of 24 infants making a majority of their puppet selections on the same side.
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Weber, Ashley Marie. "The effect of parent-infant interaction on physiological outcomes during feeding in preterm infants." The Ohio State University, 2012. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1330366904.
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Taylor-Colls, S. "The effects of the early parent-infant relationship on infants' neural processing of emotion." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 2017. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1575648/.
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This doctoral dissertation provides novel data on the association between the early parent-infant relationship and infants’ neurological processing of emotion in non-clinical families. This thesis examines four main contributors to the parent-infant relationship; infant temperament, parental mental health, parental sensitivity and infant attachment in relation to infants’ neurological responses to emotional faces as indexed by electroencephalography (EEG) data. All four dimensions of the parent-infant relationship are analysed in relation to infants’ Event Related Potentials (ERPs) from EEG data while viewing positive, negative and neutral emotional faces. Three infant face and emotion sensitive ERP components were identified; N290, P400 and the Negative Central (Nc). Maternal mental health, specifically anxiety and depression can be observed to relate to the processing of positive emotion for the early ‘face-sensitive’ ERP component the N290 and the ‘emotion-sensitive’ ERP component the Nc respectively. Further yet, parental behaviour, in particular sensitive caregiving, is associated with the neural processing of positive emotion at the most highly studied infant ERP component, the Nc. Infants’ neural processing of negative emotion appears sensitive to elements of infant temperament, specifically self-regulatory traits. Infants’ attachment to their primary caregiver appears unrelated to infants’ ERP responses to emotion. The results are discussed in relation to their theoretical implications for ERP and parent-infant research and the clinical implications associated with emotion processing difficulties.
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Phillips, Raylene May. "Supporting parents in the neonatal intensive care unit." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 1996. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/1163.
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Kyjonkova, Hana. "Specialization of the motor system in typically developing infants and infants with Down syndrome." Thesis, Goldsmiths College (University of London), 2017. http://research.gold.ac.uk/20542/.
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A growing body of evidence suggests that, compared to later in development, the infant brain starts out less specialized, producing more widespread activation in response to stimuli. Such theorizing has hitherto been mainly applied to perceptual and socio-cognitive development. In this thesis, I investigate whether a similar process of gradual specialization operates in motor development in infancy. I examine whether purposeful actions are initially ‘broadly tuned’ and widespread across limbs by measuring developmental changes in extraneous movements (movements in the other limbs that accompany the movement of a limb engaged in goal-directed action). In Study 1, I found a decrease in extraneous movements between 9- and 12-months of age in typically developing infants. I showed that this decrease is related to improvements in selective attention and amount of motor experience. In Study 2, I demonstrated that spatiotemporal coupling of both arms is a general characteristic of motor functioning in early infancy, and that this coupling declines between 9- and 12-months of age. Furthermore, I observed increased coupling with speed. In Study 3, I showed that extraneous movements are linked to, and likely limit, functional behaviour (in this case, intermanual coordination). Based on this series of studies with typically developing infants, I concluded that infant motor activity starts out broadly tuned and becomes progressively specialized over development. I subsequently extended my investigation to include atypically developing infants and toddlers (with Down syndrome). In Study 4, I showed that motor specialization in Down syndrome was more delayed than expected for children at their developmental level. Taken together with evidence that motor difficulties often appear before the onset of other behavioural symptomatology in disorders of unclear aetiology (e.g., ASD, ADHD), this opens up an important line of research in the possibility of using extraneous movements as an early marker of neurodevelopmental difficulties.
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Ilari, Beatriz Senoi. "Music cognition in infancy : infants' preferences and long-term memory for complex music." Thesis, McGill University, 2002. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=38490.
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The purpose of this study was to investigate infants' preferences and long-term memory for two contrasting complex pieces of music, that is, Prelude and Forlane from Le Tombeau de Couperin by Maurice Ravel (1875--1937). Seventy 8.5-month-old infants were randomly assigned to one of four experiments conducted on the Headturn Preference Procedure. The first experiment examined infants' preferences for Prelude and Forlane in piano timbre. The second experiment assessed infants' preferences for Prelude and Forlane in orchestra timbre. Infants' preferences for the Forlane in piano and orchestra timbres were investigated in the third experiment. The last experiment aimed at infants' long-term memory for complex music. Thirty infants were exposed to either the Prelude or the Forlane three times a day for ten consecutive days. Two weeks following the exposure, infants were tested on the HPP. It was predicted that these infants would prefer to listen to the familiar piece from the exposure over the unfamiliar one. Results suggested that 8.5-month-olds could tell apart two complex pieces of music in orchestra timbre and could discriminate between the piano and the orchestra timbres. Contrary to the belief that infants are ill equipped to process complex music, this study found that infants could encode and remember complex pieces of music for at least two weeks.Because infants rely on their caretakers to provide musical experiences for them, maternal beliefs and uses of music were also investigated. Mothers of participating infants were interviewed on musical background, listening preferences and musical behaviors and beliefs with their infants. The analysis of interview data yielded the following main results: (1) Singing was the primary musical activity of mothers and babies; (2) Maternal occupation and previous musical experiences affected their musical behaviors with their babies; (3) Most mothers held the belief that there is appropriate music for babies to listen to although there was no consensus as to what is appropriate music. Such beliefs reflect a conflict between maternal beliefs regarding infants' music cognition and the actual music-related perceptual and cognitive abilities of infants. Attempting to attenuate this conflict, suggestions for music educators, parents and researchers were proposed.
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Au, Man-tak. "A study on the growth profile and factors affecting the rate of growth of new born babies in Hong Kong." [Hong Kong] : University of Hong Kong, 1991. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record.jsp?B13064915.
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Swanepoel, Daniël Christiaan De Wet. "Infant hearing screening at maternal and child health clinics in a developing South African community." Pretoria : [s.n.], 2004. http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-08242005-093303.
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Watt, Jan. "Infants at risk : a longitudinal study of the interrelationships of state organisation, mother-infant interaction, developmental status and other factors in preterm and small-for-dates infants." Thesis, University of Canterbury. Psychology, 1985. http://hdl.handle.net/10092/6558.
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A longitudinal investigation which was principally exploratory in nature was undertaken in order to elucidate the interrelationships among several factors associated with development in the first year. Ten full term appropriate-weight, fourteen preterm appropriate-weight for dates, and ten full term small-for-dates (SFD) infants, and their mothers were assessed in the areas of sleep state organisation, maternal perception of her neonate, mother-infant interaction patterns at two, three, and six months, developmental status at four and ten months, and perceived infant temperament at six months. The implications of state variables were focussed on in regard to interaction and developmental status.
Both preterm and SFD infants were disorganised in their sleep states and in comparatively their waking states until three months, with state instability persisting to six months in the SFD group. Sleep state stability predicted ten-month development in full term and preterm infants, waking active stage levels at two and three months were predictive in SFD infants. Preterm and SFD infants scored lower than full term infants on MDI assessments at four and ten months; maternal stimulation was negatively related to development in the preterm group and positively related in the full term group, supporting previous suggestions that preterm infants have a low threshold for. overstimulation. There was a negative relationship in the SFD infants between ten-month development and variables reflecting early infant activity. SFD dyads were remarkably inflexible in their interaction patterns from two to six months, and perceived infant temperament was strongly related to ten-month development.
The findings document striking differences in the course of development in the first year for the three kinds of infants. The importance of considering state related variables is underscored, and the differential effects of stimulation, maternal perception, perceived temperament, and infant neonatal status on the underlying processes of development are demonstrated
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Fernández, i. Barrera Josefina. "Infants com a ciutadans, Els." Doctoral thesis, Universitat de Barcelona, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/2871.
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Aquesta tesi es divideix en tres parts. La primera incorpora el marc teòric i metodològic. S'analitzen els significats dels termes més centrals sobre els que versa. S'exposa el significat que es dóna al concepte d'infància i com es relaciona amb la noció de protecció i també qué s'enten per participació Es fa una incursió a la noció de ciutadania per vincular-la al propi paper que els infants tenen com a ciutadans en les societats actuals. Es fa una reflexió sobre la noció "interès superior de l'infant" per la seva vinculació amb totes les normatives i actuacions que es venen realitzant en les polítiques socials adreçades a la infància i també en matèria d'interpretació legislativa. Es presenta un ventall d'experiències existents on es mostra quin és l'estat de la qüestió en relació a iniciatives que propugnin la participació dels infants.Els fonaments metodològics sobre els que s'ha basat l'estudi han estat bàsicament de tipus etnografic i s'ha centrat en l'observació participant d'espais on els infants participen. S'han realitzat entrevistes en profunditat a adults on s'han contrastat experiències i analitzat els procesos, comportaments i sentiments que els desperta visualitzar els infants com a subjectes participants.
Per a l'anàlisi i el redactat final s'ha partit del "mètode compartiu contrastant" (Glasser i Strauss, 1968) tot comparant un grup d'informacions obtingudes en un espai amb un altre grup d'informacions obtingudes en un altre espai. Es veu com encaixen les interpretacions del tema amb aquelles que s'havia obtingut dels actors estudiats, quines son les variacions entre tota la gamma de casos i estratègies que s'havien aconseguit, es realitza la seva classificació en un cos articulat de tipus i estratègies. Finalment, es presenta de manera ordenada en l'escriptura narrativa final.
La segona part del treball es dedica a tota l'elaboració realitzada a partir de l'anàlisi de les dades en base a les diverses metodologies emprades.
S'analitza quines són les condicions i els condicionants de la participació dels infants. Ha merescut una consideració especial l'edat, tot analitzant si aquesta influeix o no en la possibilitat de participar, i s'ha analitzat la limitació que representa el fet que els infants siguin "menors d'edat" sense capacitat d'obrar des d'una perspectiva jurídica. S'exposa quina és la visió que tenen els adults dels infants i el seu posicionament en front del fet de considerar-los com a persones a les que s'ha de tenir en compte.
Es fa una anàlisi dels espais on els infants poden participar. Els espais són aquells que han pogut ésser coneguts i/o observats a partir del treball de camp. Són: la família, l'àmbit educatiu i el lleure. A causa de la riquesa del treball etnogràfic realitzat, en aquesta part, s'hi fa una exposició de l'etnografia força exhaustiva a fi i efecte de poder copsar "en directe" les diverses experiències. Aixi es fa més presents els infants amb les seves aportacions. S'inclou la valoració dels espais, per donar una petita visió sobre quines podrien ser les possibles metodologies més o menys adients per afavorir la participació dels infants. A la vegada, la plasmació de varis dels contextos etnogràfics fan possible que un altre investigador tregui les seves pròpies conclusions sobre les mateixes situacions observades. S'han modificat els noms de tots els personatges que intervenen en els relats.
S'exposen les aportacions que poden fer els infants com a ciutadans. Es dedica una part a la relació dones/infants per haver-se produït sovint una relació entre els dos grups socials per no haver tingut la consideració social que els correspondria.
A la tercera part, s'inclouen les conclusions, propostes i recomanacions i la bibliografía.
This thesis has the aim to identify children's participation in social life and to analyse how they can influence in new ways to participate. It exposes what is it to participate and what is children's interest to participate and what they understand as participation.
Ethnography has been the main research method used as a mean to make children as much visible as possible in the process of the study. Ethnographic methodology has made possible to obtain more the understanding of "meanings" than the description of social events from the places were participation was occurring. It has been obtained as well the adult's vision with their direct contributions. The thesis is based also on research of bibliography, which has given more knowledge on the subject:
Children as a social group and children as participants.
The work is divided in three parts: The first one deals with the theory and the methodology that has been used and is divided in two chapters. Chapter one is dedicated to the theoretical framework. It analyses the meaning of the central subjects related to the study. In chapter two, dedicated to methodology, one can find the methodological pillars in which the study has been based.
The second part exposes all the theories obtained from the data analysis. Chapter three analyses what are the conditions for children's participation. Chapter four is dedicated to analyse the places where children can participate. The spaces exposed are the ones, which have been known and/or observed from the fieldwork. The places treated are the following: family, education and free time. Due to the richness of the ethnographical work that has been done, the ethnography has been exposed in a pretty exhaustive way in order to be able to grasp "directly" the different experiences in where the researcher had the opportunity to participate. The names of all the subjects have been modified. Chapter five deals with what can be the contributions of children as citizens.
The third part of the study includes the conclusions, proposals and recommendations and the bibliography.