The purpose of this study was to investigate whether young infants would differentiate sedative vocal music in their mother tongue versus sedative vocal music in a foreign language. It was hypothesized that if infants did discriminate between the two languages, they would demonstrate a preference for their mother tongue. The responses of ten one- to four-day-old full-term infants were recorded by measuring their sucking rate while presenting lullabies. The infants were randomly and evenly divided into two groups. The first group heard four presentations of the mother tongue version followed by four presentations of the foreign language version. The second group heard the foreign language version of a lullaby followed by the same lullaby sung in the infant's mother tongue. A 5-second interval of silence was spaced between lullabies. The lullaby chose was Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. It was performed by a classically trained soprano, in English, French, and Italian, and Russian. Russian was chosen as the foreign language and English, French, and Italian covered the mother tongues for all infants in the study. / Results revealed that infants were not able to detect a difference between the mother tongue version of the lullaby as opposed to the foreign language version. However, the results of the present study may be attributed to an insufficient sample size and to the ineffectiveness of the methodology employed.

No description available.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2004. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: his review examines the literature on the psychological impact of Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) on the mother, infant, support personnel and other caretakers. The paper summarizes the findings of the KMC research and considers the implications of it in light of high numbers of premature and low birth weight infants in South Africa. The review briefly considers theories of bonding and attachment adopted in the research and theories on why KMC is effective. The psychological impact of one component of KMC, Skin-to-Skin Care (SSC), used primarily in developed countries to supplement traditional care, has been extensively researched. In contrast, much less research has explored the psychological impact of full KMC programmes in developing countries. Our understanding of the psychological impact of KMC therefore relies predominantly on research from a very different context to the one in which KMC is used. As SSC has been utilised very differently to KMC and in first world settings, it cannot offer mothers or their family reliable information on the psychological demands and benefits ofKMC. Findings: Although KMC appears to offer invaluable physiological benefits and assists in 'humanising' neonatal care in important ways, there is currently very little published research on the short or long-term psychological impact of KMC on the mother, infant, support personnel and other caretakers. On the whole, research findings on the psychological impact of KMC were not conclusive but indicate some positive outcomes for increased maternal sensitivity and confidence, developmental benefits for the infant and an improvement in the clarity of infants' cues and communication with caregiver. Findings on the psychological impact of KMC for support personnel and other caretakers such as the family of the infant are also not conclusive and indicate that more research is necessary. Further research is required regarding cross-cultural experiences of KMC; maternal experiences of depression, anxiety and ambivalence; long-term developmental and attachment outcomes for the infant and the possible preventative value of KMC for maternal and infant mental health. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie hersiening ondersoek die literatuur aangaande die sielkundige uitwerking van Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) op die ma, suigeling, ondersteunende personeel en ander opsigters. Die artikel is 'n opsomming van die uitspraak van KMC navorsing en oorweeg die gevolgtrekkings daarvan ten opsigte van die hoe getal vroeggebore en lae ligaamsgewig van suigelinge wat in Suid-Afrika gebore is. Die hersiening kyk kortliks na die teorie verbonde aan die binding en gehegtheid van die navorsing en teorie oor hoekom KMC doeltreffend is. Die sielkundige uitwerking van een onderdeel van KMC, Skin-to-Skin Care (SSC), wat meestal in gevorderde lande gebruik word om tradisionele versorg te verryk, is deeglik ondersoek. Inteendeel is ver minder navorsing op die sielkundige uitwerking van volle KMC programme in ontwikellende lande gedoen. Dus is ons begrip van die sielkundige uitwerking van KMC afhanklik op navorsing vanuit 'n ander konteks as die een waarin die eintlik gebruik is. SSC word baie anders benut as KMC, en in eerstewereldkontekste kan dit dus nie veel betroubare inligting op die sielkundige vereistes en voordele van KMC verskaf nie. Bevindings: Al kom dit voor dat KMC waardevolle sielkundige voordele verskaf en help in geboorte nasorg op belangrike maniere, is daar huidiglik baie min navorsing op druk oor die kort- of die langtermyn sielkundige uitwerking van KMC op die ma, suigeling, ondersteunende personeel en ander oppassers. In die algemeen, is die bevindings van navorsing oor die sielkundige uitwerking van KMC nie volkome nie, maar dui positiewe uitslae aan op verhoogde moederlike gevoelens en selfvertroue. Navorsing dui ook ontwikkelingsvoordele vir die suigeling, asook die bevordering van die duidelikheid van sy kommunikasie met die oppasser. Bevindings op die sielkundige uitwerking van KMC op die ondersteunende personeel en ander oppassers, byvoorbeeld familielede van die suigeling, is ook nie volkome nie, en dui die nodigheid van verdere navorsing aan. Verdere navorsing oor die kruiskulturele ervaring van KMC, moederlike ondervinding van moedeloosheid, angs en dubbelsinnigheid is benodig. Langtermyn ontwikkeling en gehegtigheidsake vir die suigeling en die moontlike voorkomende waarde van KMC vir moederlike en suigeling se geestelike gesondheid is ook wel benodig.

The current study examined whether female and male newborns could be differentiated using physical and behavioural characteristics. Sixteen female and fifteen male newborns were videotaped interacting briefly with a female and male experimenter. Raters coded neonatal physical characteristics, and both neonatal and adult behaviours. Results showed that raters could discriminate the sex of the newborns based upon the degree of cuddliness and activity level. It was also found that adults responded differently with female and male newborns. Finally, the male and female experimenter were found to differ in their behaviours with the newborns. Discussion focuses on the importance of methodological considerations in assessing sex differences in neonatal behaviours, and on the implications of neonatal behavioural sex differences on subsequent parent-child interaction.

No description available.

The objective of this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was to determine whether glucose enhanced memory for a repeated auditory stimulus in human newborns. Infants consumed water or glucose (2-g/kg) solution. Memory test phases were: Orientation (turning towards the stimulus); Habituation (not turning towards), indicating familiarity; Delay (100 seconds); Spontaneous Recovery (stimulus representation: not turning towards indicates remembering, while turning towards indicates forgetting), and Novelty (turning towards a different word confirms wakefulness). Decreased head-turning towards during Spontaneous Recovery indicates enhanced memory. Blood glucose levels were measured after testing. / "Glucose" infants had higher blood glucose levels than "water" infants (p < 0.001). "Glucose" infants had significantly decreased turns towards during Spontaneous Recovery compared to "water" infants (p = 0.008), indicating memory enhancement. / Therefore, glucose specifically enhances memory for a repeated auditory stimulus in newborn humans. Elevating blood glucose levels by approximately 2 mmol/L appears to be sufficient for memory enhancement in healthy newborns.

Doctorat en sciences psychologiques / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

No description available.

While a variety of researchers have identified periodic recurrences in infant behavioral state with various time-series techniques, the appropriateness of techniques which identify periodic recurrences in all infants at all ages have been questioned. The purpose of this study was to compare the utility of four time-series techniques used in the analysis of periodic recurrences in the behavioral state of 21 newborns during a 2 hour observation period. For quiet sleep, active sleep and awake states the period length of the major rhythm was estimated by 1) binary spectrum analysis, 2) binary autocorrelation, 3) renewal time analysis, and 4) kappa analysis. Repeated measures analysis of variance showed that the period lengths identified by renewal time analysis were significantly shorter than those identified by the other three techniques for quiet and active sleep. Further, the kappa analysis and binary autocorrelation showed that awake states were significantly shorter than both active sleep and quiet sleep. Pearson product-moment correlations showed that the relation between the periods for a given state identified by each analysis ranged from .01 to .83. The results indicate that 1) renewal time analysis is more sensitive to state interruptions than the other techniques, 2) awake states may have a different period length than either quiet sleep or active sleep, and 3) although the four techniques identified state recurrences in almost all of the neonates, only a smaller subgroup of neonates displayed a pattern of technique agreement that would indicate a clearly rhythmic pattern of states. / M.S.

This study explored infants' immediate and residual responses to holding and rocking, and how these responses relate to previously proposed mechanisms to explain long term benefits found when infants are repeatedly exposed to tactile and vestibular stimulation. This form of stimulation has been proposed to increase infants' ability to control and organize l) their behavioral state, 2) their arousal and autonomic functioning, or 3) that there is no clear relationship between immediate responses and long term benefits. Behavioral state and heart rate were collected on 40 infants who were randomly assigned to either a control group where infants were briefly repositioned twice but otherwise lay undisturbed for 90 minutes or an experimental group where infants were held and rocked for 30 minutes during the middle of a 90-minute observation. Results of analyses showed that, when infants were held and rocked they 1) displayed a lower Heart Rate Mean and Standard Deviation, 2) displayed a lower Mean Heart Rate During Active Sleep, 3) spent less time in a FussCry State, 3) were less likely to cry continuously, and 4) displayed nominally Smoother State Transitions and greater Stability Within States. Following the cessation of the rocking stimulus infants in the Experimental Group l) displayed a lower Mean Heart Rate, 2) displayed a lower Mean Heart Rate while in a Quiet Alert State, 3) were more likely to spend some time in a Quiet Sleep State, and 4) were less likely to cry continuously. In addition, all infants displayed Smoother State Transitions and greater Stability Within States during the first 30 minutes than during the final 30 minutes of the observation. Finally, across the 90-minute observation, the infants who were not rocked spent progressively more time in a Quiet Alert State, whereas infants who were rocked spent less time in a Quiet Alert State. The results were the most consistent with the hypothesis that the mechanism leading to both the immediate and residual effects of the stimulation was an increase in control and organization of infants’ arousal and autonomic functioning. / Ph. D.