The current thesis examined individual differences that can impact on the disambiguation and learning of novel word meanings, focusing on the effects of shyness, defined as an aversion to novelty in social situations (Putnam, Gartstein & Rothbart, 2006). A systematic pattern of attention during labeling is crucial in supporting children's novel word disambiguation (Halberda, 2006), and in determining whether these novel word meanings will be learned (Axelsson, Churchley & Horst, 2012). This thesis hypothesized that shyness affects novel word disambiguation and learning by modulating attention during labeling. This thesis showed that shy children did not reliably select a novel object as the referent of a novel label, while less-shy children did. Crucially, only less-shy children showed evidence of learning the novel label-referent mappings (Paper 1). However, these differences were only apparent in an unfamiliar environment (Paper 2), likely because shy children attended much more to features of the unfamiliar environment than lessshy children, which reduced their attention to the objects during labeling. Examination of children's eye-gaze during novel object labeling supported the conclusion that shyness exerts an effect on word learning via attention. Shy children did not demonstrate robust disengagement from the novel object during labeling (Paper 3), which meant that competitor objects could not be ruled out as referents, a critical process in determining whether a novel word-referent mapping will be formed (Mather & Plunkett, 2009). Furthermore, shy children's bias to attend to faces (Brunet et al., 2009) reduced their attention to potential referents during labeling (Paper 4). This thesis thus argues that shyness impacts on word disambiguation and learning by modulating the attentional processes that support these abilities, clearly demonstrating that shyness affects one of the earliest stages of language development: word learning.

The studies reported in this thesis examined several questions in relation to mind-mindedness and maternal mental health, intervention, emotion processing, and generalization across relationships. Study 1 compared levels of mind-mindedness in mothers with severe mental illness (SMI) to those of psychologically health controls, and evaluated a newly-designed video feedback intervention to facilitate mind-mindedness in a sample of mothers hospitalised for treatment of SMI. Results showed that, on admission to hospital, mothers showed two patterns of mind-related comments with their infants: in high levels of non-attuned mind-related comments relative to a group of psychologically well mothers, and few appropriate mind-related comments compared with psychologically well mothers. The findings suggest that SMI may impact mothers in one of two ways: they may fail to comment on their infants’ internal states, or they may make frequent misattributions about their infants’ internal states. Results from Study 2 also suggested that the mind-mindedness intervention was successful in reducing high levels of non-attuned comments at admission to levels no different from those of psychologically well mothers at discharge. Study 2 investigated whether participation in the mind-mindedness intervention in hospital had an impact on attachment quality in the second year of life. This study also sought to add to the limited data on attachment security in the context of maternal mental illness, and to attempt to delineate factors that may influence attachment security in this context, such as nature, chronicity, and duration of illness. Results showed that mothers who participated in the mind-mindedness video feedback intervention were significantly more likely to have infants classified as secure and as organised than mothers who received the standard care video feedback intervention. Results also showed a high rate of disorganised attachment and a low rate of secure attachment relative to previously published research with both normative and clinical samples. Attachment security and organisation were unrelated to the nature, chronicity, or duration of mothers’ illnesses, or to the majority of demographic variables for which data were available. Study 3 investigated relations between adults’ mind-minded descriptions of friends and partners and performance on (a) a new task to assess internal state interpretations of the behaviour of unknown mothers and infants (Unknown Mother–Infant Interaction Task; UMIIT), and (b) an attentional emotion processing task. Mind-minded descriptions were unrelated to performance on both tasks. Mind-minded descriptions of partners and friends were also unrelated to internal state interpretations on the UMIIT. Parents and non-parents did not differ in their internal state interpretations during the UMIIT. Parents showed more attentional bias to infant faces than to adult faces, but only before controlling for age. Attentional bias to all faces was negatively related to internal state interpretations during the UMIIT. These results are discussed in relation to the proposal that mind-mindedness is a quality of close relationships, rather than a trait-like construct. Findings are discussed in terms of limitations, and theoretical and clinical implications, and directions for future research are suggested.

Cooperation and joint actions are often investigated in terms of how individuals explicitly coordinate their plans and intentions to achieve a shared goal. However, goals may also be achieved without prior arrangements, when, for instance, an individual takes part in someone else’s action without an explicit agreement, helping that action to be performed. Participating in social interaction may be considered as a basic form of cooperation that does not always require verbal communication or the ability to predict the other’s intentions. Rather, it is based on daily experiences of interacting and coordinating with others in many, different situations. Framed in this way, cooperative participation can be explored even in those who do not possess high mental abilities, such as infants. Indeed, infants seem to have a natural motive to engage in social interactions (Trevarthen, 1979). How does this participation develop from early forms of social interactions in infancy, to more complex types of interactions later on? Are there early forms of interactive participation in infancy that can be described as supportive for the caregivers’ action? The aim of the present Ph.D. work is to explore the way in which infants participate in daily routines, through the observation of 3-months-old infants’ behaviour in familiar interactions and their response to violations of these routines. Chapter two presents a critical reflection, developed with Hanne de Jaegher, on inferential, representational accounts of cooperation by analytical philosophy and experimental psychology. A theoretical reconceptualization of cooperative interactions as social encounters is proposed, framed within the theoretical tenets of enactivism. Chapter three investigates the structure and function of early social games, considered as early contexts for participation in distributed actions. Through behavioural observations, this study suggested that changes in the multimodal format of the play routines affected the infant’s behaviour and participation in the play interaction. Chapter four extends the exploration of infants’ cooperative participation in joint routines, observing infants’ behaviour when being picked up. Infants showed specific cooperative adjustments of the body to complement the mother’s action when being picked up, as opposed to un-supportive loss of bodily tension and head strength when the pick-up action was delayed. Participation in this joint routine thus appeared to be conditional to aspects of timing and recognition of the mothers’ movements in the sequence, without relying on inferential knowledge. Chapter five focuses on intrusiveness, a maternal behaviour that has been described as strongly affecting the infant’s participation in early interactions. In a joint work with Laura Galbusera, a qualitative microanalysis was applied to explore the sequential organisation of mother-infant exchanges to investigate 1) the consistency of current behavioural descriptions of intrusiveness and 2) their efficacy in analysing the interactional dynamics which may restrict the infant’s participation in interaction. A microanalysis inspired by Conversation Analysis methods revealed that interactional dimensions such as persistency, alignment, sequential structuring and timing appeared to be essential elements for the interactional organisation and the shaping the possibility for the infant’s participation. The sixth and final chapter summarises the findings emerged throughout the thesis and discusses some key features of infants’ cooperative participation. By integrating different approaches investigating intersubjective encounters, such as Enactivism, Conversation Analysis and Infant Research, this dissertation has explored cooperation as an aspect of social participation that evolves within human interactions, but is also already grounded in infants’ interactional competencies. This comprehensive approach has provided much needed insight into the importance of widening the concept of cooperation and its development, considering joint routines as multimodal contexts in everyday life where infants (but also adults) learn to understand, make sense of, and align with the other’s actions and affects, without relying on inferential processes.

This thesis examines motor stereotypies and repetitive actions with objects. These repetitive behaviours are an early diagnostic feature of autism. To date, no studies have systematically examined repetitive behaviours in a community sample of children aged 6 to 36 months, when behavioural signs of autism begin to emerge and the age at which motor and socio-communication skills are achieved. In this thesis, repetitive behaviours were assessed within the context of two studies, the First Friends and the Cardiff Child Development Study. Firstly, the Repetitive Behaviours Coding Scheme was developed; it is the first scheme developed from narrative records of behaviours that accurately represent the range of repetitive behaviours commonly seen in infants and toddlers (Chapter 2). Repetitive behaviours were measured during 6- and 12-month-olds’ object exploration (Chapter 4); they were ubiquitous at 12 months and there was a significant increase in the use of the repetition from early to late infancy. The investigation extended to examining the association between repetition and developmental milestones. Frequent use of motor stereotypies but not repetitive actions with objects characterised infants who were more immature in their locomotor development (Chapter 5). Infants who engaged in more repetition were no worse at nonverbal communication, as measured by joint attention. I examined the decline in repetitive behaviours by conducting longitudinal assessments and found a significant decrease in the frequency of repetition from infancy to toddlerhood (Chapter 6). I found that toddlers who still engage in repetitive behaviours in their third year did not have poorer inhibitory control nor have higher ratings of ADHD symptoms but had better socio-communicative skills (Chapter 7). These findings offer a developmental framework to assess the function of repetitive behaviours; repetitive behaviours characterise children who are less motorically mature but they are not associated with a deficit in communicative abilities or social competence.

The thesis consists of two volumes which illustrate research (Volume I) and clinical work (Volume II). Volume 1: The first chapter is a review of the literature studying the relationship between maternal-foetal attachment and postnatal infant outcomes. The second chapter is a qualitative study exploring first-time parents' experiences of becoming a parent and the relationship with their baby. The final chapter is a public domain briefing document, providing an accessible summary of the literature review and empirical paper. Volume II: This volume contains four clinical practice reports (CPRs) and the abstract of a fifth which was presented orally. CPR 1 details the case of a 30-year-old woman presenting with generalised anxiety formulated from cognitive behavioural and psychodynamic perspectives. CPR2 is a service evaluation of multi-disciplinary team members' referrals to psychological services in a community mental health team. CPR3 presents a single-case experimental design that assessed the effectiveness of supporting a 19-year-old male with a learning disability with anxiety and the removal of his arm splints. CPR4 outlines an example of using psychological consultation on an inpatient ward for older adults. The final report is the abstract of an oral presentation of a case study of an 11-year-old boy presenting with anger.

In a study of the effects of obstetric medication on the neonate, 145 mothers and their offspring were studied from 36 weeks of pregnancy to six weeks after the birth. Fifty-one mothers requested intramuscular pethidine, 59 chose epidural bupivacaine and 35 decided not to have drugs. Data were collected during the antenatal period on health, psychological state, and expectations of the coming birth and baby. In the delivery room, observations were made of the infant and his parents, and selected assessments from the Brazelton Neonatal Behavioural Assessment Scale (BNBAS) were performed. The full BNBAS was carried out on days 1, 3, 7, 21, and 42. The Prechtl Neurological Examination (PNE) was done by a paediatrician on day 6. Records were kept by the mother over the first week of her infant's feeding and sleeping pattern, and for 24 hours after the 21 and 42 day visits. A series of questionnaires were also given to the mother during these first six weeks, covering the experience of labour, her mood, and perceptions of the baby. A multiple regression analysis using "dummy variables" for pethidine and bupivacaine indicated that the mere presence or absence of pain-relief during labour generally had no effect on the neonatal measures used. However, when biochemical indices of drug metabolism in the infant (maternal dose, cord blood concentration in the infant, half-life, and pre- and post-delivery "exposure") were entered into the equation then maternal analgesia and anaesthesia were shown to have consistent and long-lasting effects on the infant. Higher cord levels of pethidine were associated with babies who were more prone to respiratory difficulties, and drowsy and unresponsive immediately after delivery. In the following six weeks depressed attention and social responsiveness were found in connection with high drug levels, as were difficulties in state control at 3 and 6 weeks. After greater exposure to bupivacaine in utero infants were more likely to be cyanotic and unresponsive to their surroundings in the delivery room. Visual skills and alertness decreased significantly with increases in the cord blood concentration of bupivacaine, particularly on the first day but also throughout the next six weeks. Adverse effects of bupivacaine levels were seen on motor organisation, state control and physiological response to stress. However, the changes involved were relatively subtle, and the failure to find "between-groups" differences suggests that many mothers who received either bupivacaine or pethidine had babies who performed as well, and sometimes better, than those who had not been given drugs. Sleep and feed patterns and the neurological status of the infant were relatively unaffected by obstetric or medication variables. There were some modest associations between maternal psychological variables and neonatal and parental behaviour in the delivery room, but not over the next six weeks. Neither jaundice nor sex of the baby determined performance on the BNBAS. Discussion focuses on the interpretation of drug effects and the interdependence of psychosocial, obstetric and ecological variables in the management of childbirth.

The main aim of this thesis was to improve our understanding of the development of early inhibitory emotions and emotion regulation from infancy, and the role of these emotions in early risk pathways. More specifically, this thesis investigated (1) the development of fearful temperament, its stability over the first 3 years of life, and its associations with later developing effortful control (EC) and guilt; (2) risk factors in infancy that predict later externalising psychopathology; and (3) the development of EC, and its associations with fear and guilt. Psychophysiological and observational measures were used, when available, to examine these emotional systems as well as their role in predicting later psychopathology. The thesis consists of 3 empirical chapters, investigating a sample of 70 typically developing children in a longitudinal, prospective manner. Behavioural fear was stable over time, but physiological fear peaked in year 2. Fearful infants continued to be fearful toddlers, and fear in infancy predicted fearfulness 2 years later. Fear and guilt were associated, and we showed for the first time that infant fear is a predictor of later developing guilt. EC increased from year 2 to year 3, showed inter-individual stability across time, and girls’ ability for EC surpassed the ability in boys. EC and guilt were not associated; however, EC and fear were associated in year 3, suggesting that early fear does not regulate later EC. This thesis identified two biomarkers in infancy for later psychopathology. A subgroup of toddlers with internalising problems displayed higher heart rate in infancy, whereas skin conductance arousal in infancy predicted aggressive behaviour in toddlers.

Children, 12 to 24 months of age, were presented with three tasks: two detour problems and a spatial task. The aim of the study was to assess the performance on each task and to consider the relationship between performance on the two detour problems and the relationship between spatial knowledge and detour ability. The two detour tasks (the lever task and the bent wire task) shared a common feature in that the object rather than the subject had to be moved in the detour. The results of the lever task indicated that age, experimental group (three lever designs were used) and the sex of subjects were influential variables. Analysis of the bent-wire data showed that as hypothesised age was the most important variable, accounting for qualitative and quantitative differences in performance. The results from the detour tasks were discussed with reference to the attainment of skilled behaviour and the relationship between cognitive development and detour ability. Spatial task results indicated that performance was related to age and that the type of error recorded was also related to the age of the subject. The hypothesised relationship between the two detour tasks was not supported by the data. Furthermore, the anticipated relationship between detour ability and spatial knowledge failed to emerge. These results were discussed in relation to the issue of developmental synchrony and the structuralist's view of development.

This study investigates a single retrospective case of psychoanalytic infant observation. Two principal aims emerged from the evolving investigation. The first concerned the methodology involved in examining observational data using psychoanalytic methods, the second being the exploration of what can be learned from the systematic study of a single recorded case of infant observation using Grounded Theory. The focus for the study concerned the infant’s first year and considered the structuring of the infant’s psychic life, which takes place in the initial relationship(s). From the phenomenological description of behaviours in the observed context, combined with the emotional field described in the observation reports,emotional meaning was inferred. The systematic use of line-by-line coding, abductive reasoning and the formation of categories led to discussion of the following detail:The first month of life; Exploration of the period when mother was traumatically absent, followed by her return; Selected observations that reveal parent/infant recovery. Several conclusions are reached regarding the observed infant. The first concerns the identification of synchronous rhythms or patterns in the mother/infant relationship where they were found to form a backdrop to aesthetic reciprocity. Rupture in aesthetic attunement was instrumental in activating a cascade of early proto-defensive organisation into later development. This took the form of oral preoccupation; namely regurgitation, rumination and choking. Whilst this defensive organisation may be specific to the observed infant, the study draws attention to developmental processes that may be relevant to infants in general. There is evidence to support how babies are more integrated than first thought by Bick (1968) and are ‘open’ to triangular relating in the first weeks. Proto-defensive structures may be evidenced from the start of post-natal life. This study makes a contribution to the body of knowledge concerning rumination in infancy.

The focus of this thesis is on the early caregiving environment and social interactions of preterm infants. Chapter one introduces the topic of premature delivery, including infant outcomes, parent’s caregiving role, infant’s role in their own development, and dyadic interactions between parents and their premature infants. Chapter two introduces methodological difficulties in the study of preterm infants. The chapter also provides an overview of the longitudinal study of preterm infants’ development that provided the majority of the data for this thesis. Chapter three introduces a new measure of parenting principles and practices, the Baby Care Questionnaire (BCQ). The BCQ measures how parents approach caring for their infant in three contexts – sleeping, feeding and soothing. The chapter documents the development and psychometric properties of the BCQ. Chapter four studies the impact of premature birth on maternal cognitions and principles about caregiving. The chapter presents data on the consistency of maternal cognitions about child development and caregiving at an individual and group level. Chapter five studies the impact of premature birth on infant attention, in particular social attention. The chapter reports data on the style of preterm infants’ looking to a novel stimulus, how these infants followed an experimenter’s attention to a target and their regulation abilities (as reported by their mother). Chapter six studies the impact of premature birth on interactions between mothers and their infants. The chapter uses statistical techniques to represent streams of behaviour to examine different responding to person- and object-directed behaviours by mothers and their premature infants. Chapter seven brings together these findings and discusses future work.