Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Dept. of Psychology, June 2002. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Dept. of Psychology, August 2002. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

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. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

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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.

Extensive research and literature exists emphasising that the quality of the early infant attachment style and psychic structure developments are dependent on the quality of maternal care received by an infant. Infants’ who experience consistent, sensitive, and reliable care are more likely to develop secure attachments and healthy psychic structures which will positively influence their future abilities to function healthily in their environments and to experience healthy interpersonal relationships. The importance, therefore, for the development and assessment of parent-infant interventions focused on improving the quality of maternal care available to infants, is clear. The Ububele Baby Mat Project, implemented at the Alexandra Health Care Clinic in Johannesburg, is one such intervention and no evaluation of this intervention has been conducted. It was deemed necessary by the team providing the service for them to gain some idea of the way in which their service is being received in the community it is serving as well as to assist them in developing their intervention further. The current research aimed to get insight into the mothers’ experiences and perceptions of the Baby mat. The form of data included 8 semi-structured in-depth interviews of women who had accessed the Baby mat and thematic content analysis was used to interpret the results. The findings indicated that overall the mothers received the Baby mat very positively and spoke of the service being invaluable to them, especially in the face of the adverse conditions in which they live. Suggestions for the Ububele Baby Mat Project team are also provided.

Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

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