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Maternal stimulation and infant exploratory competence: cross-sectional, correlational, and experimental analyses.
- Source :
-
Child development [Child Dev] 1980 Dec; Vol. 51 (4), pp. 1168-78. - Publication Year :
- 1980
-
Abstract
- Research on maternal influence on infant development is criticized on the basis of its limited ability to make strong causal claims. 2 observational studies are then presented; 1 details, cross-sectionally, developmental changes in strategies of maternal stimulation and infant exploration and the interrelationship of these domains of parent and child behavior; the other tests, experimentally, the hypothesis that maternal stimulation fosters infant exploratory competence. Results of the first study reveal: (1) a linear increase in mother's verbal attention-focusing behavior and a curvilinear trend in physical attention-focusing strategies between 9 and 18 months; (2) linear increases in a variety of measures of infant exploration; and (3) positive associations between naturalistically observed maternal stimulation and infant exploratory competence. The experimental study demonstrates that infant exploratory skill, as measured both naturalistically and during a semistructured, free-play assessment, is positively influenced by the enhancement of maternal stimulation. These latter results are discussed in terms of infant stimulation programs.
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 0009-3920
- Volume :
- 51
- Issue :
- 4
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Child development
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 7471921