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D'Souza D, D'Souza H, Jones EJH, Karmiloff‐Smith A. Attentional abilities constrain language development: A cross‐syndrome infant/toddler study. Dev Sci 2020; 23:e12961. [DOI: 10.1111/desc.12961] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2019] [Revised: 10/21/2019] [Accepted: 03/02/2020] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Dean D'Souza
- Faculty of Science and Engineering Anglia Ruskin University Cambridge UK
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development Birkbeck, University of London London UK
| | - Hana D'Souza
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development Birkbeck, University of London London UK
- Department of Psychology & Newnham College University of Cambridge Cambridge UK
| | - Emily J. H. Jones
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development Birkbeck, University of London London UK
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Yamamoto H, Sato A, Itakura S. Transition From Crawling to Walking Changes Gaze Communication Space in Everyday Infant-Parent Interaction. Front Psychol 2020; 10:2987. [PMID: 32116864 PMCID: PMC7025586 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02987] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2019] [Accepted: 12/17/2019] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Acquisition of walking changes not only infants' locomotion itself but also infants' exploratory behavior and social interaction, such as gaze communication. To understand the ecological context in which gaze communication occurs and how it changes with walking development from the point of view of the spatial arrangement of infants, parents, and objects, we analyzed longitudinal data of daily eye contact scenes recorded from head-mounted eye trackers worn by parents as infants grew from 10 to 15.5 months, focusing on infant-parent distance and the number of objects between the dyad. A Bayesian state-space model revealed that the interpersonal distance at which infants initiated eye contact with their parents increased with the time ratio of walking to crawling. This result could not be explained by the developmental change in the amount of time that the infants were far from the parents, which is not limited to the gaze communication context. Moreover, the interpersonal distance at which the parents initiated eye contact with the infants did not increase with the time ratio of walking to crawling. The number of objects on the floor between infants and parents at the time of eye contact increased with interpersonal distance. Taken together, these results indicate that the transition from crawling to walking changes the ecological context in which infants initiate gaze communication to a visual environment characterized by a larger interpersonal distance and, therefore, more objects cluttered between the dyad. The present study has wider implications for the developmental change of shared attention in conjunction with walking development.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Atsushi Sato
- Faculty of Human Development, University of Toyama, Toyama, Japan
| | - Shoji Itakura
- Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
- Center for Baby Science, Doshisha University, Kizugawa, Japan
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53
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Chen CH, Castellanos I, Yu C, Houston DM. Effects of children's hearing loss on the synchrony between parents' object naming and children's attention. Infant Behav Dev 2019; 57:101322. [PMID: 31102946 PMCID: PMC6856413 DOI: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2019.04.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2018] [Revised: 03/25/2019] [Accepted: 04/16/2019] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Children's attentional state during parent-child interactions is important for word learning. The current study examines the real-time attentional patterns of toddlers with and without hearing loss (N = 15, age range: 12-37 months) in parent-child interactions. High-density gaze data recorded from head-mounted eye-trackers were used to investigate the synchrony between parents' naming of novel objects and children's sustained attention on the named objects in joint play. Results show that the sheer quantities of parents' naming and children's sustained attention episodes were comparable in children with hearing loss and their peers with normal hearing. However, parents' naming and children's sustained attention episodes were less synchronized in the hearing loss group compared to children with normal hearing. Possible implications are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chi-Hsin Chen
- Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, The Ohio State University, 915 Olentangy River Road, Columbus, Ohio 43212, United States.
| | - Irina Castellanos
- Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, The Ohio State University, 915 Olentangy River Road, Columbus, Ohio 43212, United States; Nationwide Children's Hospital, 700 Children's Dr, Columbus, Ohio 43205, United States
| | - Chen Yu
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, 1101 E. 10th Street, Bloomington, Indiana 47405, United States
| | - Derek M Houston
- Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, The Ohio State University, 915 Olentangy River Road, Columbus, Ohio 43212, United States; Nationwide Children's Hospital, 700 Children's Dr, Columbus, Ohio 43205, United States
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Yamamoto H, Sato A, Itakura S. Eye tracking in an everyday environment reveals the interpersonal distance that affords infant-parent gaze communication. Sci Rep 2019; 9:10352. [PMID: 31316101 PMCID: PMC6637119 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-46650-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2019] [Accepted: 06/29/2019] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
The unique morphology of human eyes enables gaze communication at various ranges of interpersonal distance. Although gaze communication contributes to infants' social development, little is known about how infant-parent distance affects infants' visual experience in daily gaze communication. The present study conducted longitudinal observations of infant-parent face-to-face interactions in the home environment as 5 infants aged from 10 to 15.5 months. Using head-mounted eye trackers worn by parents, we evaluated infants' daily visual experience of 3138 eye contact scenes recorded from the infants' second-person perspective. The results of a hierarchical Bayesian statistical analysis suggest that certain levels of interpersonal distance afforded smooth interaction with eye contact. Eye contacts were not likely to be exchanged when the infant and parent were too close or too far apart. The number of continuing eye contacts showed an inverse U-shaped pattern with interpersonal distance, regardless of whether the eye contact was initiated by the infant or the parent. However, the interpersonal distance was larger when the infant initiated the eye contact than when the parent initiated it, suggesting that interpersonal distance affects the infant's and parent's social look differently. Overall, the present study indicates that interpersonal distance modulates infant-parent gaze communication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hiroki Yamamoto
- Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University, Yoshida Honmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8501, Japan.
| | - Atsushi Sato
- Faculty of Human Development, University of Toyama, 3190 Gofuku, Toyama, 930-8555, Japan
| | - Shoji Itakura
- Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University, Yoshida Honmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8501, Japan.,Center for Baby Science, Doshisha University, 4-1-1 Kizugawadai, Kizugawa, 619-0225, Japan
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55
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Borghi AM, Barca L, Binkofski F, Castelfranchi C, Pezzulo G, Tummolini L. Words as social tools: Language, sociality and inner grounding in abstract concepts. Phys Life Rev 2019; 29:120-153. [DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2018.12.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 73] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2018] [Revised: 12/05/2018] [Accepted: 12/05/2018] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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McQuillan ME, Smith LB, Yu C, Bates JE. Parents Influence the Visual Learning Environment Through Children's Manual Actions. Child Dev 2019; 91:e701-e720. [PMID: 31243763 DOI: 10.1111/cdev.13274] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The present research studied children in the second year of life (N = 29, Mage = 21.14 months, SD = 2.64 months) using experimental manipulations within and between subjects to show that responsive parental influence helps children have more frequent sustained object holds with fewer switches between objects compared to when parents are either not involved or over-involved. Regardless of parental involvement, sustained holds were visually rich, based on the size, centeredness, and dominance of the held object relative to other objects. These findings are important because they suggest not only that the child's body creates visually rich scenes across play contexts but also that a responsive parent can increase the frequency of these visually rich and informative moments.
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57
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Harbourne RT, Berger SE. Embodied Cognition in Practice: Exploring Effects of a Motor-Based Problem-Solving Intervention. Phys Ther 2019; 99:786-796. [PMID: 30810750 DOI: 10.1093/ptj/pzz031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2018] [Accepted: 02/13/2019] [Indexed: 02/09/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Embodied cognition interests physical therapists because efforts to advance motor skills in young infants can affect learning. However, we do not know if simply advancing motor skill is enough to support advances in cognition. OBJECTIVE The objective was to examine the effect of 2 interventions on the developing motor skill of sitting and problem solving and to describe the feasibility of using eye-tracking technology to explore visual and motor interaction. DESIGN This was a longitudinal, randomized comparison of interventions. METHODS Twenty infants with developmental delay and/or cerebral palsy, ranging in age from 8 to 34 months (mean [SD] = 15 [6.9] months), participated in an intervention emphasizing motor-based problem solving, and an intervention focused on advancing motor skill through assistance for attaining optimal movement patterns. Outcome measures were the Gross Motor Function Measure sitting subsection and the Early Problem Solving for Infants test. Active touch and looks were measured with eye-tracking technology. RESULTS Participants in both groups made significant motor gains from baseline, with no difference between intervention groups on Gross Motor Function Measure change scores. Participants in the problem-solving group showed significant gains in Early Problem Solving for Infants scores over the participants in the optimal movement patterns group. Overall, participants increased active touch of toys and increased concurrent looking with active touching. LIMITATIONS This exploratory study was small, with variation in participants' skills. The sampled behaviors for analysis were a small portion of the overall function of the participant. CONCLUSIONS An intervention using motor-based problem solving could improve infants' problem-solving skill. The use of eye-tracking could help to understand embodied cognition as infants develop, but the challenges of embedding the method in natural settings require further work. Listen to the author interview at https://academic.oup.com/ptj/pages/podcasts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Regina T Harbourne
- Department of Physical Therapy, Rangos School of Health Sciences, Duquesne University, 600 Forbes Ave, 104 Rangos School, Pittsburgh, PA 15282 (USA)
| | - Sarah E Berger
- The College of Staten Island and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, New York, New York
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58
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Fu X, Pérez-Edgar K. Threat-related Attention Bias in Socioemotional Development: A Critical Review and Methodological Considerations. DEVELOPMENTAL REVIEW 2019; 51:31-57. [PMID: 32205901 PMCID: PMC7088448 DOI: 10.1016/j.dr.2018.11.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
Cross-sectional evidence suggests that attention bias to threat is linked to anxiety disorders and anxiety vulnerability in both children and adults. However, there is a lack of developmental evidence regarding the causal mechanisms through which attention bias to threat might convey risks for socioemotional problems, such as anxiety. Gaining insights into this question demands longitudinal research to track the complex interplay between threat-related attention and socioemotional functioning. Developing and implementing reliable and valid assessments tools is essential to this line of work. This review presents theoretical accounts and empirical evidence from behavioral, eye-tracking, and neural assessments of attention to discuss our current understanding of the development of normative threat-related attention in infancy, as well as maladaptive threat-related attention patterns that may be associated with the development of anxiety. This review highlights the importance of measuring threat-related attention using multiple attention paradigms at multiple levels of analysis. In order to understand if and how threat-related attention bias in real-life, social interactive contexts can predict socioemotional development outcomes, this review proposes that future research cannot solely rely on screen-based paradigms but needs to extend the assessment of threat-related attention to naturalistic settings. Mobile eye-tracking technology provides an effective tool for capturing threat-related attention processes in vivo as children navigate fear-eliciting environments and may help us uncover more proximal bio-psycho-behavioral markers of anxiety.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoxue Fu
- Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, United States
- Center for Biobehavioral Health, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, United States
- Department of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University, United States
| | - Koraly Pérez-Edgar
- Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, United States
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59
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Infant motor skill predicts later expressive language and autism spectrum disorder diagnosis. Infant Behav Dev 2019; 54:37-47. [DOI: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2018.11.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 71] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2018] [Revised: 11/18/2018] [Accepted: 11/18/2018] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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60
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Yu C, Suanda SH, Smith LB. Infant sustained attention but not joint attention to objects at 9 months predicts vocabulary at 12 and 15 months. Dev Sci 2019; 22:e12735. [PMID: 30255968 PMCID: PMC6918481 DOI: 10.1111/desc.12735] [Citation(s) in RCA: 77] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2017] [Accepted: 12/13/2017] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
Vocabulary differences early in development are highly predictive of later language learning as well as achievement in school. Early word learning emerges in the context of tightly coupled social interactions between the early learner and a mature partner. In the present study, we develop and apply a novel paradigm-dual head-mounted eye tracking-to record momentary gaze data from both parents and infants during free-flowing toy-play contexts. With fine-grained sequential patterns extracted from continuous gaze streams, we objectively measure both joint attention and sustained attention as parents and 9-month-old infants played with objects and as parents named objects during play. We show that both joint attention and infant sustained attention predicted vocabulary sizes at 12 and 15 months, but infant sustained attention in the context of joint attention, not joint attention itself, is the stronger unique predictor of later vocabulary size. Joint attention may predict word learning because joint attention supports infant attention to the named object.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chen Yu
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Program in Cognitive Science, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana
| | - Sumarga H. Suanda
- Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut
| | - Linda B. Smith
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Program in Cognitive Science, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana
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61
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Yuan L, Xu TL, Yu C, Smith LB. Sustained visual attention is more than seeing. J Exp Child Psychol 2018; 179:324-336. [PMID: 30579246 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2018.11.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2017] [Revised: 11/23/2018] [Accepted: 11/25/2018] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
Sustained visual attention is a well-studied cognitive capacity that is relevant to many developmental outcomes. The development of visual attention is often construed as an increased capacity to exert top-down internal control. We demonstrate that sustained visual attention, measured in terms of momentary eye gaze, emerges from and is tightly tied to sensory-motor coordination. Specifically, we examined whether and how changes in manual behavior alter toddlers' eye gaze during toy play. We manipulated manual behavior by giving one group of children heavy toys that were hard to pick up and giving another group of children perceptually identical toys that were lighter and easy to pick up and hold. We found a tight temporal coupling of visual attention with the duration of manual activities on the objects, a relation that cannot be explained by interest alone. Toddlers in the heavy-object condition looked at objects as much as toddlers in the light-object condition but did so through many brief glances, whereas looks to the same objects were longer and sustained in the light-object condition. We explain the results based on the mechanism of hand-eye coordination and discuss its implications for the development of visual attention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lei Yuan
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA.
| | - Tian Linger Xu
- Department of Computer Science and Cognitive Science Program, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
| | - Chen Yu
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA; Cognitive Science Program, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
| | - Linda B Smith
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA; Cognitive Science Program, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA; School of Psychology, University of East Anglia, Norwich, Norfolk, UK
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62
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Slone LK, Abney DH, Borjon JI, Chen CH, Franchak JM, Pearcy D, Suarez-Rivera C, Xu TL, Zhang Y, Smith LB, Yu C. Gaze in Action: Head-mounted Eye Tracking of Children's Dynamic Visual Attention During Naturalistic Behavior. J Vis Exp 2018. [PMID: 30507907 DOI: 10.3791/58496] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Young children's visual environments are dynamic, changing moment-by-moment as children physically and visually explore spaces and objects and interact with people around them. Head-mounted eye tracking offers a unique opportunity to capture children's dynamic egocentric views and how they allocate visual attention within those views. This protocol provides guiding principles and practical recommendations for researchers using head-mounted eye trackers in both laboratory and more naturalistic settings. Head-mounted eye tracking complements other experimental methods by enhancing opportunities for data collection in more ecologically valid contexts through increased portability and freedom of head and body movements compared to screen-based eye tracking. This protocol can also be integrated with other technologies, such as motion tracking and heart-rate monitoring, to provide a high-density multimodal dataset for examining natural behavior, learning, and development than previously possible. This paper illustrates the types of data generated from head-mounted eye tracking in a study designed to investigate visual attention in one natural context for toddlers: free-flowing toy play with a parent. Successful use of this protocol will allow researchers to collect data that can be used to answer questions not only about visual attention, but also about a broad range of other perceptual, cognitive, and social skills and their development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lauren K Slone
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University;
| | - Drew H Abney
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University
| | - Jeremy I Borjon
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University
| | - Chi-Hsin Chen
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, The Ohio State University
| | - John M Franchak
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside
| | - Daniel Pearcy
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University
| | | | - Tian Linger Xu
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University
| | - Yayun Zhang
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University
| | - Linda B Smith
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University
| | - Chen Yu
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University
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63
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Iverson JM. Early Motor and Communicative Development in Infants With an Older Sibling With Autism Spectrum Disorder. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2018; 61:2673-2684. [PMID: 30418495 PMCID: PMC6693573 DOI: 10.1044/2018_jslhr-l-rsaut-18-0035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2018] [Revised: 05/14/2018] [Accepted: 06/12/2018] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
Purpose A recent approach to identifying early markers of risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been to study infants who have an older sibling with ASD. These infants are at heightened risk (HR) for ASD and for other developmental difficulties, and even those who do not receive an eventual ASD diagnosis manifest a high degree of variability in trajectories of development. The primary goal of this review is to summarize findings from research on early motor and communicative development in these HR infants. Method This review focuses on 2 lines of inquiry. The first assesses whether delays and atypicalities in early motor abilities and in the development of early communication provide an index of eventual ASD diagnosis. The second asks whether such delays also influence infants' interactions with objects and people in ways that exert far-reaching, cascading effects on development. Results HR infants who do and who do not receive a diagnosis of ASD vary widely in motor and communicative development. In addition, variation in infant motor and communicative development appears to have cascading effects on development, both on the emergence of behavior in other domains and on the broader learning environment. Conclusions Advances in communicative and language development are supported by advances in motor skill. When these advances are slowed and/or when new skills are not consolidated and remain challenging for the infant, the enhanced potential for exploration afforded by new abilities and the concomitant increase in opportunities for learning are reduced. Improving our understanding of communicative delays of the sort observed in ASD and developing effective intervention methods requires going beyond the individual to consider the constant, complex interplay between developing communicators and their environments. Presentation Video https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.7299308.
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64
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Stephens RL, Langworthy B, Short SJ, Goldman BD, Girault JB, Fine JP, Reznick JS, Gilmore JH. Verbal and nonverbal predictors of executive function in early childhood. JOURNAL OF COGNITION AND DEVELOPMENT 2018; 19:182-200. [PMID: 30333714 PMCID: PMC6186452 DOI: 10.1080/15248372.2018.1439493] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
The study of executive function (EF) has become increasingly popular in multiple areas of research. A wealth of evidence has supported the value of EF in shaping notable outcomes across typical and atypical development; however, little evidence has supported the cognitive contributors to early EF development. The current study used data from a large longitudinal sample of healthy children to investigate the differential influence of verbal and nonverbal cognition on later EF. Participants were assessed at 2 years of age using the Mullen Scales of Early Learning, and Mullen scores were used to calculate nonverbal and verbal developmental quotients. Executive function was measured at 6 years using assessments from the Stanford-Binet, Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery, and the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function. Results suggested that early nonverbal cognition was a better predictor of 6-year EF as measured by task-based laboratory assessments, whereas verbal cognition was a better predictor of parent-reported EF. Findings are discussed in regard to EF development and characteristics of EF measurement.
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65
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Koch B, Stapel J. The role of head and hand movements for infants' predictions of others' actions. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2017; 83:1269-1280. [PMID: 29270673 PMCID: PMC6647114 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-017-0939-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2016] [Accepted: 10/24/2017] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
In everyday life, both the head and the hand movements of another person reveal the other’s action target. However, studies on the development of action prediction have primarily included displays in which only hand and no head movements were visible. Given that infants acquire in their first year both the ability to follow other’s gaze and the ability to predict other’s reaching actions, the question is whether they rely mostly on the hand or the head when predicting other’s manual actions. The current study aimed to provide an answer to this question using a screen-based eye tracking setup. Thirteen-month-old infants observed a model transporting plastic rings from one side of the screen to the other side and place them on a pole. In randomized trials the model’s head was either visible or occluded. The dependent variable was gaze-arrival time, which indicated whether participants predicted the model’s action targets. Gaze-arrival times were not found to be different when the head was visible or rendered invisible. Furthermore, target looks that occurred after looks at the hand were found to be predictive, whereas target looks that occurred after looks at the head were reactive. In sum, the study shows that 13-month-olds are capable of predicting an individual’s action target based on the observed hand movements but not the head movements. The data suggest that earlier findings on infants’ action prediction in screen-based tasks in which often only the hands were visible may well generalize to real-life settings in which infants have visual access to the actor’s head.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin Koch
- Uppsala Child and Baby Lab, Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Box 1225, 751 42, Uppsala, Sweden.
| | - Janny Stapel
- Uppsala Child and Baby Lab, Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Box 1225, 751 42, Uppsala, Sweden
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