已有文獻指出幼兒能夠根據他人的意圖、慾望和信念以解釋對方的行為。本硏究的主要目的為探究幼兒能否理解音樂所傳達的情緒以及能否運用情緒來推測對方的行為，並了解這兩種能力之間的關係。在第一項測試中，我們用了Phillip et al.（2002）的注視時間飾演方範式（looking-time paradigm)來測試幼兒能否透過觀察他人的情緒(包括面部表情及說話)來推斷他的行為。在此項測試中，幼兒會觀看兩種情景（一）實驗人員首先會笑著面向物件甲說話，跟著手抱該物件（一致的情況）；（二）實驗人員首先會笑著面向物件甲說話，但接著手抱另一物件（不一致的情況）。因為在不一致的情況下實驗人員的面部表情與她的行為不協調，假若幼兒能夠理解實驗人員的情緒與行為之間的關係，幼兒將會對這種情況比較感到驚訝，因而注視時間會較長。在另一項測試中，我們運用了跨感官比對飾演方範式（intermodal matching paradigm）來探究幼兒能否理解音樂所表達的情緒。我們在播放開心的音樂之後，幼兒同樣地會觀看兩種情景：（一）螢幕中的實驗人員面露笑容地講話（一致的情況）；（二）螢幕中的實驗人員面帶哀傷地說話（不一致的情況）。由於在不一致的情況下音樂傳達的情緒與實驗人員的面部表情不相符，如果幼兒能夠理解音樂中的情緒，他們對這種情況的注視時間將會較長。此外，鑬於幼兒的語言能力與理解他人的行為及想法有著密切的關連，我們亦要求家長填寫《漢語溝通發展量表》來評估幼兒的語言溝通能力。是次硏究對象為三十五名十八個月大幼兒（平均年齡為十八月及四天）。硏究結果顯示，（一）當實驗人員對一件物件面露笑容時，她便會手握該物件；（二）當實驗人員聽到開心的音樂時，她會面露笑容；相反，當她聽到悲傷的音樂時她便會愁眉苦臉。結果亦顯示幼兒在以上兩項測試中的表現並沒有正向的關聯，即與我們的假設不相符。由於我們認為次序效應（order effect）影響了本硏究的結果，因此我們建議在量度幼兒對音樂中的情緒之理解，以及對情緒與行為之間的關係的理解應作出適當的修改。總括而言，是次硏究把動作及視覺經驗延伸至聽覺經驗，以及由理解意向和信念延伸至理解情緒，因此本硏究對了解自身經驗和理解他人行為及想法之間的關係潛在莫大的貢獻。 / Prior studies demonstrated infants’ precocious mentalistic reasoning of attributing others’ behaviours to intentions, desires and beliefs. However, fewer studies looked at infants’ interpretation of behaviours in terms of agents’ emotional expressions. The present study examined the relationship between infants’ perception of emotions in music and their understanding of behaviours as motivated by emotional states. In Task 1, we adapted Phillips et al.’s (2002) looking-time paradigm to assess infants’ use of emotional information to predict agent’s action. Infants were shown an actress with positive emotional-visual regard directed towards one object and subsequently grasping the same object (consistent event) or the other one (inconsistent event). If infants appreciated the connection between actress’ affect and her action, they should show greater novelty response to inconsistent events in which the actress’ expressed emotion contradicted the expected action. In Task 2, an intermodal matching paradigm was used to test whether infants are sensitive to emotions conveyed in music. We exposed infants to happy or sad music and later showed them an actress portraying either happy or sad dynamic facial expressions on a monitor. If they could discern the emotions embedded in the musical excerpts, they should look longer when the actress’ posed emotion is inconsistent with the emotion represented in the music. Parental report of language skills as measured by the Mac-Arthur Bates Communicative Development Inventories was also obtained to partial out the effect of language ability on psychological reasoning. Results from 35 18-month-olds (M = 18 months 4 days) revealed that as a group (a) they recognized that the actress tended to grasp the object with which she had positively regarded previously, and (b) they appreciated that the actress tended to show happy face upon hearing positive music excerpts whereas sad facial expression was displayed when listening to sad music. Contrary to our hypothesis, we failed to find a positive correlation between these two conceptual understanding. We speculate that the result was obscured by order effects, and suggestions have been proposed to ameliorate the measurement of infants’ looking preferences as reflecting their conceptual understanding. Despite the null result, the current study is potentially significant in corroborating the role of first-person experience in social cognition by extending from motor and visual experience to auditory experience on the one hand, as well as from intention and belief attribution to emotion attribution on the other. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Siu, Tik Sze Carrey. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2012. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 62-84). / Abstracts also in Chinese. / Introduction --- p.11 / Infants’ Early Psychological Reasoning --- p.11 / Self-experience as a Mechanism underlying Infants’ Psychological Reasoning --- p.14 / Infants’ Attribution of Behaviours to Emotions --- p.17 / Music as a Language of Emotions --- p.23 / The Perception of Emotions in Music among Young Children and Infants --- p.25 / The Hypothesis of the Present Study --- p.29 / Method --- p.32 / Participants --- p.32 / Apparatus and Materials --- p.33 / Chapter Task 1 --- : Ability to predict agent’s action based on expressed emotion --- p.33 / Chapter Task 2 --- : Ability to decode emotions in music --- p.33 / Musical stimuli --- p.33 / Facial expressions --- p.34 / The MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories --- p.35 / Procedure --- p.36 / Chapter Task 1 --- : Ability to predict agent’s action based on expressed emotion --- p.36 / Chapter Task 2 --- : Ability to decode emotions in music --- p.38 / Reliability Coding --- p.39 / Results --- p.41 / Chapter Task 1 --- : Ability to Predict Agent’s Action Based upon Expressed Emotion --- p.41 / Familiarization --- p.41 / Test events --- p.41 / Chapter Task 2 --- : Ability to Decode Emotions in Music --- p.42 / 42 / Test events --- p.42 / The Link between Task 1 and Task 2 --- p.43 / Discussion --- p.46 / Limitations and Further Research --- p.53 / Significance and Implications --- p.59 / Conclusion --- p.60 / References --- p.62 / Appendices --- p.85 / Table --- p.85 / Figures --- p.86

Lei, Ka Yan Margaret. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 88-94). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Acknowledgments --- p.i / Abstract --- p.iv / 摘要 --- p.vi / Chapter CHAPTER 1 --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Chapter CHAPTER 2 --- BACKGROUND --- p.8 / Chapter 2.1 --- Infants' perception of speech contrasts --- p.9 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- Discrimination of segmental contrasts --- p.10 / Chapter 2.1.2 --- Discrimination of suprasegmental contrasts --- p.16 / Chapter 2.2 --- The Cantonese tonal system --- p.22 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- Properties and classification of the Cantonese tones --- p.22 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Distributional pattern of the Cantonese tones --- p.24 / Chapter 2.3 --- Tone perception in Cantonese-speaking adults and children --- p.27 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- Tone perception in Cantonese-speaking adults --- p.27 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- Tone perception in Cantonese-speaking children --- p.29 / Chapter 2.3.3 --- Discussion --- p.31 / Chapter 2.4 --- Tone acquisition --- p.32 / Chapter CHAPTER 3 --- METHODOLOGY --- p.34 / Chapter 3.1 --- Operant conditioning --- p.35 / Chapter 3.2 --- Background of the paradigm --- p.35 / Chapter 3.3 --- Subjects --- p.38 / Chapter 3.4 --- Stimuli used in the experiments --- p.39 / Chapter 3.3.1 --- Auditory stimuli --- p.39 / Chapter 3.3.2 --- Visual stimuli --- p.41 / Chapter 3.5 --- Experimental site --- p.43 / Chapter 3.6 --- Procedure --- p.46 / Chapter 3.7 --- Technical control of experiment --- p.49 / Chapter CHAPTER 4 --- RESULTS OF THE STUDY --- p.52 / Chapter 4.1 --- Details of experiment --- p.52 / Chapter 4.2 --- Assessment criteria --- p.55 / Chapter 4.3 --- Results --- p.58 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- Discrimination performance of Group I subjects --- p.61 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- Discrimination performance of Group II subjects --- p.68 / Chapter 4.3.3 --- Discrimination performance of Group III subjects --- p.72 / Chapter 4.4 --- Comparison with previous studies --- p.72 / Chapter 4.5 --- Summary --- p.73 / Chapter CHAPTER 5 --- DISCUSSION & CONCLUSIONS --- p.74 / Chapter 5.1 --- Strengths of the VRISD paradigm --- p.74 / Chapter 5.2 --- The use of operant conditioning --- p.76 / Chapter 5.3 --- Relative nature of tone --- p.77 / Chapter 5.4 --- Acoustic similarity between the tones --- p.78 / Chapter 5.5 --- Interplay between production and perception --- p.79 / Chapter 5.6 --- Association between tone perception and tone acquisition --- p.81 / Chapter 5.7 --- Tonal versus segmental discrimination --- p.82 / Chapter 5.8 --- Tone perception in connected speech --- p.84 / Chapter 5.9 --- Gender identification --- p.85 / Chapter 5.10 --- Conclusions --- p.86 / Bibliography --- p.88

Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Objetivo: Investigar a associação entre ingestão materna de cafeína durante o período gestacional e as medidas antropométricas de crianças aos três e seis meses de vida. Métodos: Estudo observacional longitudinal, utilizando uma amostra de conveniência de duplas mãe-filho divididos em cinco grupos: gestantes diabéticas (DM), hipertensas (HAS), tabagistas (TAB), que tiveram filhos pequenos para idade gestacional (PIG) e um grupo controle (CTL). A amostra foi selecionada em três hospitais de Porto Alegre, capital do Rio Grande do Sul, no período de 2011 a 2015. Avaliou-se a ingestão materna de cafeína na gestação por Questionário de Frequência Alimentar (QFA) realizado no sétimo dia pós-parto. Os recém-nascidos foram avaliados ao nascimento, aos três e seis meses. As medidas antropométricas utilizadas foram peso, comprimento e dobras cutâneas (DC). As análises foram realizadas por regressão linear. Resultados: A amostra foi composta por 272 duplas mãe-filho: 41 DM, 26 HAS, 68 TAB, 25 PIG e 112 CTL. Não houve diferença em peso e comprimento dos filhos de consumidoras e não consumidoras de cafeína (p>0,05). As crianças do grupo DM tiveram a maior média ajustada para DC aos três meses de idade. Houve interação entre o consumo de cafeína na gestação e a soma das DC das crianças aos três meses de idade para os grupos DM e CTL (p<0,05). A diferença da média ajustada das DC e a interação delas com o consumo de cafeína não foram observadas aos seis meses. Conclusões: O consumo materno de cafeína influenciou nos valores de DC aos três meses de idade, diminuindo-as para as crianças do grupo DM e aumentando-as no grupo CTL. / Objective: To investigate the association between maternal caffeine intake during pregnancy and anthropometric measures of infant at three and six months. Methods: A longitudinal observational study using the mother-child pairs in convenience sample divided into five groups of pregnant women: diabetic (DM), hypertensive (HYP), smokers (SMO), who had small children for gestational age (SGA) and a control group (CTL). Researchers selected the sample in three public hospitals in Porto Alegre, South of Brazil, in the period from 2011 to 2015. Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) evaluated the maternal caffeine intake during pregnancy on the seventh day postpartum. Anthropometric measures used were weight, length, and skinfold thickness (SK). They assessed at birth, at three and six months of child. Linear regression was used to analyze the interaction between caffeine intake and SK. Results: We investigated 272 mother-child pairs: 41 DM, 26 HYP, 68 SMO 25 SGA and 112 CTL. There were no differences in children’s anthropometric measures of mothers consuming and not consuming caffeine (P >0.05). Children of DM group had the highest adjusted average for skinfolds at 3 months. There was interaction between caffeine consumption during pregnancy and the sum of SK of children at 3 months for DM and CTL groups (P <0.05). The difference between adjusted means for SKs infant and caffeine consumption by pregnant women were not observed at six months. Conclusions: Maternal caffeine intake influenced values of SKs at 3 months of age, reducing to the children of the DM group and increasing in the CTL group.

In the adult brain, localized increases in neural activity almost always result in increases in local blood flow, a relationship essential for normal brain function. This coupling between neural activity and blood flow provides the basis for many neuroimaging techniques including functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). However, functional brain imaging studies in newborns and children have detected a range of responses, including some entirely inverted with respect to those of the adult. Confusion over the properties of functional hemodynamics in the developing brain has made it challenging to interpret functional imaging data in infants and children. Additionally, developmental differences in functional hemodynamics would suggest postnatal neurovascular maturation and a unique metabolic environment in the developing brain. This thesis begins with a series of studies in which I tracked and characterized postnatal changes in functional hemodynamics in rodent models utilizing high-speed, high-resolution multi-spectral optical intrinsic and fluorescent signal imaging. I demonstrated that in early postnatal development increases in cortical blood flow do not occur in response to somatosensory stimulation. In fact, I observed stimulus-linked global vasoconstrictions in the brain. In slightly older age groups, I observed biphasic hemodynamic responses, with initial local hyperemia followed by global vasoconstriction, eventually progressing with age to recognizable adult-like hemodynamic responses. In these studies, I also found that the postnatal development of autoregulation is a potential confound in the study of early functional activation, and may account for some of the variability seen in prior human studies. Charting this progression led to the hypothesis that anomalous functional responses observed in human subjects are due to the postnatal development of neurovascular coupling itself. To directly assess neurovascular development, I performed a further set of studies in Thy1-GCaMP3 mice, permitting simultaneous observation of the development of neural function and connectivity along with functional hemodynamics. My results demonstrate that the spatiotemporal properties of neural development do not predict observed changes in the hemodynamic response, consistent with the parallel development of neural networks and neurovascular coupling. Confirming the presence of vascularly-uncoupled neural activity in the newborn brain led me to question how the brain supports its energy needs in the absence of evoked hyperemia, prompting the exploration of the potential metabolic bases and consequences of developmental changes in neurovascular coupling. Finally, I explore the cellular and vascular morphological and functional correlates of functional neurovascular development. My results confirm that neurovascular development occurs postnatally, which has critical implications for the interpretation of functional imaging studies in infants and children. My work also provides new insights into postnatal neural, metabolic, and vascular maturation and could have important implications for the care of infants and children, and for understanding the role of neurovascular development in the pathophysiology of developmental disorders.

Orientador: Cleide Enoir Petean Trindade / Resumo: A incidência de displasia broncopulmonar (DBP) é alta em prematuros de muito baixo peso. Dentre os vários fatores implicados em sua patogênese tem-se destacado a deficiência de vitamina A como um importante fator contributivo. O presente estudo teve como objetivo determinar a condição de vitamina A em prematuros de muito baixo peso e avaliar a relação entre os níveis plasmáticos de retinol e a DBP. Após a obtenção do consentimento materno, foram coletadas amostras de sangue materno, do cordão umbilical e do recém-nascido com 3, 14 e 28 dias de vida, para as dosagens do retinol plasmático, que foram efetuadas por cromatografia líquida de alta resolução (HPLC). Foram estudados 34 recém-nascidos com peso de nascimento médio de 1156 g (± 248 g) e idade gestacional mediana de 30 semanas, os quais foram divididos em dois grupos: Sem DBP (n = 24) e Com DBP (n = 10). Nestes grupos analisou-se as características demográficas maternas e dos recém-nascidos, as condições de nascimento, a evolução clínica no período neonatal, os níveis plasmáticos de retinol e a oferta de vitamina A por via enteral e parenteral. Os resultados das variáveis clínicas foram analisados pelos testes t de Student e Mann-Whitney e comparados entre e dentro dos grupos pelo teste de associação de Goodman. Para a análise dos dados da vitamina A utilizou-se os testes de Wilcoxon (para 2 grupos e 2 momentos) e Freedman (para 2 grupos e 4 momentos). A correlação entre as variáveis foi feita pelo coeficiente de correlação de Pearson. O nível de significância foi de 5%. As características maternas e as condições... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The incidence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is high in preterm very low birthweight infants. Multiple factors have been implicated in its pathogenesis, and the deficiency of vitamin A has been described as an important contributing cause. Several studies have shown that premature infants have low vitamin A status at birth and this has been associated with increased risk of developing chronic lung disease, however many trails showed inconsistent effects of vitamin A supplementation on prevention of bronchopulmonary dysplasia. The purpose of this study was to determine vitamin A status in the very low birthweight infants and to evaluate the relationship between plasma retinol levels and BPD. After parental informed consent, the maternal and cord blood samples were obtained at delivery, and peripheral blood of the infants were drawn at day 3, 14 and 28 of life. Plasma retinol content was determined by high performance liquid chromatography. Thirty four infants (1156 g ± 248 mean birthweight and 30weeks median gestation age) were enrolled, and assigned to 2 groups as follows: BPD (n=10), No-BPD (n=24). The maternal and neonatal demographic data, birth condition... (Complete abstract, click electronic access below) / Doutor

Childhood overweight and obesity have experienced epidemic growth in recent years. Excessive adiposity presents challenges to orthopedic, neurological, pulmonary, gastroenterological, endocrinal, and social development. Thus, the time course of weight development in early childhood is of special public health concern. A major goal of childhood obesity research is to identify mechanisms contributing to excess weight gain. In infancy, executive function has been identified as one possible contributor. Unfortunately, no studies have yet examined infant obesity risk with respect to executive function development. In this study, we present the first evidence that executive function may be linked to obesity risk in infancy. Thirty middle-class, primarily White infants visited the lab of the ETSU Program for the Study of Infancy at 18 and 21 months of age. Measures of infant weight and recumbent length were taken at both ages. Weightfor-length BMI z-scores were derived from international growth curves published by the World Health Organization. Executive function was measured at the 21-month visit, using the Multilocation Search Task. In this task, infants are shown the location of a cracker in one of five drawers. Once infants select the correct drawer on three successive trials, the cracker is moved to a new drawer in plain view of the child, and the child is asked to find the cracker again. The location of the cracker is changed on two more trials. Children’s perseverating responses to the old cracker location is viewed as an inverse measure of executive function. Results showed that from 18 to 21 months of age, BMI z-scores decreased significantly [t(30) = 2.63, p = .013]. This finding suggests that on average, infant BMI scores decreased across the three-month period. To explore whether executive function performance varied as a function of infant BMI, we divided our sample into two BMI groups via median split. A mixed-design ANOVA revealed that infants with the greatest decreases in BMI from 18 to 21 months (i.e., the “Hi Decrease” group), showed the greatest gains in performance across the three trials of the executive function task [F(2, 25) = 5.29, p = .012]. Specifically, by Trial 3 of the multilocation search task, Hi Decreasers were making an average of 0.57 perseverative errors, whereas the Lo Decreasers were making an average of 2.231 perseverative errors. These results are consistent with expectations. To the extent that executive function capacity helps regulate weight gain, it stands to reason that infants with greater executive function capacity would be advantaged in regulating their eating behaviors. Although we recognize that there are likely multiple contributors to infant and child obesity, findings from the present study supports the possibility that one of these contributors may be executive function. To our knowledge, this is the first study documenting a link between executive function and infant BMI.

The obesity problem in the U.S. is of epidemic proportions and affects even the youngest members of society. For instance, 10% percent of U.S. infants have excess weight for length, and early onset of obesity incites later risk. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Council on Communications and Media has linked media exposure to obesity as well as sleep, behavior issues, inattention, and decreased parent-child interaction in young children. Further, the AAP concludes that no known health benefits exist for media exposure in children under 2 and discourage use in this age range. Reading has been shown to increase secure attachment in infants and to increase the quality of parent-child interaction in addition to positive gains in child literacy. Additionally, two existing studies found that reading reduces screen time, thus serving as a healthy alternative to media exposure. Despite these findings, and the importance of anticipatory guidance in pediatric primary care for discussing shared reading, only 15% of pediatricians talk to families about media exposure. ReadNPlay for a Bright Future is a multi-disciplinary, multicomponent pilot study and healthy weight promotion initiative for families with infants aged birth to 24 months to create health-promoting home environments, set goals, and monitor progress regarding reading and active play. The setting for this study is an academic pediatric primary care practice serving a primarily Caucasian, socio-economically disadvantaged population in Southern Appalachia, with involvement from pediatricians, nurses, and a behavioral health consultant. A novel communicative tool, the ReadNPlay Baby Book, along with provider training in brief motivational interviewing, posters, social media, and participation incentives (e.g., free children’s books) are being used to improve counseling on healthy active living behaviors during infant well child visits. The current research endeavor is focused on the Play More: Shut Off the Screens aspect of the ReadNPlay initiative and utilizes data from a baseline survey completed by 40 mothers with infants aged 9-12 months and 40 mothers with infants aged 13-24 months to assess trends in one form of media exposure, television watching, and reading in this population. While the AAP recommends that children under 2 years do not watch TV, mothers in this study reported that 80% of infants 9-12 months and 87% of infants 13-24 months watched at least 30 minutes on a typical day. Sixty percent of mothers of infants 9-12 months and 82.5% of mothers of infants 13-24 months reported reading 2013 Appalachian Student Research Forum Page 71 or looking at books with their child on most days of a typical week, perhaps as a result of an existing Reach Out and Read Initiative in the practice. The current study adds to the dearth of research regarding risk factors during infancy for future development of obesity. Future research may examine whether increases in reading time may decrease time spent in media exposure.

Enabling-relation action sequences (ERASs) have long provided researchers an index of infants’ short- and long-term memories. Reproduction of these sequences demonstrates that infants are capable of attending to, encoding, retaining, and retrieving modeled actions in the sequence. Bauer and colleagues (e.g., 2000) have established considerable literature on infants’ memorial capacities using this paradigm. There is little research, however, on the extent to which infants produce primacy- versus recency-type effects in reproducing specific target actions in the sequence.Researchers have also not considered whethe exogenous and endogenous factors contribute to infants’ reproduction of target actions, or their focus on early versus late actions in the sequence. Our investigation explored whether an exogenous distracter, alone or combined with endogenous (temperament) factors, accounts for infants’ reproduction of individual steps in an ERAS. Twenty-seven 21-month olds (15 girls) observed an experimenter in our lab model a version of the “make-a-gong” action sequence, comprising five steps: 1) extend the rod, 2) lay the rod across two hooks, 3) hang the gong on the rod, 4) assemble the drumstick, and 5) strike the gong with the drumstick. Half observed the model while distracted by a peripheral “Mister Monkey” toy. Each was administered the Early Childhood Behavior Questionnaire, assessing three temperament dimensions: Negative Affectivity, Surgency, and Effortful Control. When distracted, infants were significantly more likely to first attempt Target Action #4 (TA4) than any other target action [c2(1) = 4.14, p = .042], suggesting that when attentional resources are compromised, as when attending to an exogenous distracter, infants are likely to attempt recently observed steps in a modeled sequence. Success at TA4 did not differ between distracted and undistracted infants; however, we found that temperament was a significant predictor of success on TA4, but not on any other target action. Specifically, Negative Affectivity (r = -.48, p = .011) and Surgency (r = .40, p = .039) were associated with successful reproduction of TA4; however, distraction condition moderated neither effect. These results show that exogenous and endogenous factors can impact infants’ reproduction of ERASs, and perhaps infants’ memory-based performance more generally. Though this conclusion awaits replications in other settings, that the presence of an exogenous distraction produced a recency effect implies that infants may allocate their attention differently according to how distracting their surroundings are. Also, that surgency and negative affectivity correlated with infants’ success on one of the steps suggests that recall may be subject to the influence of infants’ temperamental reactivity. Future research should attempt to discern whether effects linked to TA4 are unique to that specific target action, or are instead a reflection of a recency effect.

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