Thesis (M.S.)--Villanova University, 2006. / Psychology Dept. Includes bibliographical references.

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Investigations of caregiver-infant interaction have increasingly suggested a three pronged thesis about its structure, development and function: a) that such interactions conform to a hierarchically organized, rule governed exchange of message carrying displays (e.g., Stern et al., 1977; Tronick et al., 1979); b) that such exchanges evolve over time "shifting from a prominently biosocial to a more clearly psychosocial level" (Sander, 1977); and c) that it is within the ontogeny of this exchange that the precursors of adult communication are found (Kaye, 1977, 1979; Sander, 1977; Tronick et al., 1979). A central hypothesis of the first prong of this thesis is that caregiver displays which convey contradictory messages violate the rules governing the exchange and that such violations produce negative affect and disturbance in the infant. The goal of this project is to test this hypothesis and alternative hypotheses by evaluating the infants 1 response to simulated maternal depression using appropriate sequential analyses- This display presents the infant with powerful contradictory messages, and sequential analyses produce powerful descriptions of the quality of the infant's response to it

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Previous research indicates that for adults and children the perception of speech can be significantly influenced by watching a speaker's mouth movements. For example, hearing the syllable /bi/ while watching a speaker mouth the syllable /vi/ results in reports of a 'heard' /vi/. Some evidence suggests young infants also may be able to integrate heard and seen speech. One theory suggests that an innate link between perception and production (Liberman & Mattingly, 1985) accounts for this phenomenon while another theory suggests that experience (e.g., producing speech sounds) may be necessary into order to develop fully the underlying representation of visible speech (Desjardins, Rogers & Werker, in press; Meltzoff & Kuhl, 1994). My dissertation addresses the above controversy by examining whether the integration of heard and seen speech is obligatory for young infants as it is for adults. In Experiment 1, 4-month-old female infants habituated to audiovisual /bi/ showed renewed visual interest to an auditory /bi/-visual NM suggesting that they may have perceived the auditory /bi/-visual /vi/ as /vi/, as do adults. In Experiment 2, neither male nor female infants showed renewed visual interest to a dishabituation stimulus which represents only a change in mouth movements. In Experiment 3, male infants looked longer to an audiovisual /bi/ than to an audiovisual /vi/ following habituation to an audio /bi/-visual /vi/, while female infants tended to look only slightly longer to an audiovisual /vi/ than to an audiovisual /bi/. Taken together these experiments suggest that at least some infants are able to integrate heard and seen speech, but that they do not do so consistently. Although an innate mechanism may be responsible for integration, a role for experience is suggested as integration does not appear to be obligatory for young infants as it is for adults.

The purpose of this study was to determine if teaching low income prenatal women about infant feeding cues instead or in addition to the standard WIC education about the benefits of breastfeeding would serve to increase breastfeeding duration. One hundred ninety seven prenatal women who qualified for the federal Women Infants and Children Special Supplemental Feeding Program were divided into an experimental (E, n=51) or a control (C, n=139) group. The C group was given the WIC standard education of the benefits of breastfeeding by a nutritionist or nurse (CPA), the E group was given information about hunger cues that an infant exhibits by a lactation consultant during their WIC nutrition appointments. Data were analyzed by means of survival analyses, Kaplan Meier and Cox Regression. Data for 52 weeks indicate no statistically significant difference between the groups (chi square= 1.548, df=l, p=0.213). However data for 26 weeks indicated a stronger probability of continuing breastfeeding. Breastfeeding duration for C and E groups was 14.3±17.4 weeks and 18.5±17.1 weeks respectively (chi square=2.907,df=l,p=0.088), representing a 28% better duration. Findings suggest that prenatal women need information about infant behavior to help determine if they are adequately feeding their babies in order to maintain breastfeeding for longer duration. / Department of Family and Consumer Sciences

Dissertation (Ph.D.) - Simon Fraser University, 2005. / Dissertation (Dept. of Psychology) / Simon Fraser University.

Dissertation (Ph.D.) - Simon Fraser University, 2005. / Dissertation (Dept. of Psychology) / Simon Fraser University.

Thesis--University of Florida. / Description based on print version record. Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 69-75).