Toy Exploration Research Articles

Can I still trust you, my dear doll? A philosophical and legal exploration of smart toys and trust

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this article is to show how the smartification of children’s toys impacts the concept of trust. We make use of the 4Cs conceptual trust framework – context, construction, curation, codification – to analyse how the technological, commercial and legal developments central to the arrival of the Internet of Toys have an impact on the trust relations of children, parents and the companies behind smart dolls. We found that the introduction of smart dolls brings forth several trust issues. First, important vulnerabilities, such as monitoring practices and data-sharing, take place beyond the awareness of children and parents. Even if they try to read the terms and conditions or look into the technical specifications of the toys, these products remain black boxes because the operating systems are proprietary and not all information is disclosed or understandable. Second, with the arrival of smart dolls, a form of hybrid ownership arises. Because of the networked character of the dolls, they remain under the influence and control of the company. Children and parents have to trust the companies not to abuse this connection. And finally, the regulatory framework that should protect children is not only inadequate, it might actually exacerbate trust issues.

Development of the Hand Assessment for Infants: evidence of internal scale validity.

The aim of this study was to develop a descriptive and evaluative assessment of upper limb function for infants aged 3 to 12 months and to investigate its internal scale validity for use with infants at risk of unilateral cerebral palsy. The concepts of the test items and scoring criteria were developed. Internal scale validity and aspects of reliability were investigated on the basis of 156 assessments of infants at 3 to 12 months corrected age (mean 7.2mo, SD 2.5) with signs of asymmetric hand use. Rasch measurement model analysis and non-parametric statistics were used. The new test, the Hand Assessment for Infants (HAI), consists of 12 unimanual and five bimanual items, each scored on a 3-point rating scale. It demonstrated a unidimensional construct and good fit to the Rasch model requirements. The excellent person reliability enabled person separation to six significant ability strata. The HAI produced an interval-level measure of bilateral hand use as well as unimanual scores of each hand, allowing a quantification of possible asymmetry expressed as an asymmetry index. The HAI can be considered a valid assessment tool for measuring bilateral hand use and quantifying side difference between hands among infants at risk of developing unilateral cerebral palsy. The Hand Assessment for Infants (HAI) measures the use of both hands and quantifies a possible asymmetry of hand use. HAI is valid for infants at 3 to 12 months corrected age at risk of unilateral cerebral palsy.

Neonatal stroke causes poor midline motor behaviors and poor fine and gross motor skills during early infancy

Upper extremity movements, midline behaviors, fine, and gross motor skills are frequently impaired in hemiparesis and cerebral palsy. We investigated midline toy exploration and fine and gross motor skills in infants at risk for hemiplegic cerebral palsy. Eight infants with neonatal stroke (NS) and thirteen infants with typical development (TD) were assessed from 2 to 7 months of age. The following variables were analyzed: percentage of time in midline and fine and gross motor scores on the Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID-III). Infants with neonatal stroke demonstrated poor performance in midline behaviors and fine and gross motor scores on the BSID-III. These results suggest that infants with NS have poor midline behaviors and motor skill development early in infancy.

Prolactin, Oxytocin, and the development of paternal behavior across the first six months of fatherhood

Animal studies have implicated the neuropeptides Prolactin (PRL) and Oxytocin (OT) in processes of maternal bonding and PRL has similarly been shown to play a role in the neurophysiology of fatherhood. Yet, very little is known on the involvement of PRL and OT in human fathering. Forty-three fathers and their firstborn infant were seen twice: in the second and sixth postpartum months. Paternal plasma PRL and OT were sampled at both time-points and analyzed with ELISA methods. At six months fathers were videotaped interacting with their child in social and exploratory play contexts and interactions were micro-analyzed for father–infant Affect Synchrony and father facilitation of child toy exploration. PRL and OT showed high individual stability across time and were correlated at the second observation. PRL was related to father–infant Coordinated Exploratory Play in the toy context whereas OT was associated with father–infant Affect Synchrony in the social context. Results point to the role of PRL and OT in the development of human fathering and underscore their differential relations with patterns of paternal care.

Comportamento exploratório de bebês nascidos pré-termo em situação de brincar

The exploratory behavior within a playing setting of 20 preterm newborn infants, with low weight at birth, corrected chronological age of 10 months, is evalua ted. Infants were organized in groups which were diff erentiated according to their development risks. The sample was divided i nto two groups according to the infants' Denver-II Te st performance, or rather, 8 infants with delayed development risks (VLB W-R) and 12 infants with normal development (VLBW-N). Systematic observation of infants' response latency and explor atory behaviors with standard toys was carried out. R esults showed similarities between the groups with regard to respon se latency time in toy exploration, gazing directio n and vocalization. However, VLBW-N infants looked significantly more at the observer, smiled more and remained more stable in the sitting position than VLBW-R infants. These behaviors facilitated toy exploration.

Vagal tone as a resilience factor in children with prenatal cocaine exposure

Studies have investigated the potential effects of prenatal cocaine exposure (CE) on children's development. However, few studies have examined predictors of resilient outcomes in this population. We examined vagal tone (VT) as a resilience factor in prenatal CE. Utilizing data from the Maternal Lifestyle Study, a cumulative risk index was derived for children with and without prenatal CE. Presence of CE and other prenatal drugs was summed with postnatal risks in infancy to yield a 15-item risk index. Preschool cognitive outcomes, problem behaviors, and adaptive behaviors were measured. VT was assessed during an infant exam at 1 month and toy exploration at 36 months. We included children with complete physiologic data (217 CE, 333 non-CE). Children were classified as having consistently high, consistently low, or fluctuating VT at 1 and 36 months. Children were also classified as high versus low risk. High-risk children had lower IQ scores, more problem behaviors, and lower ratings of adaptive behaviors than low-risk children. A significant risk by VT-stability interaction indicated that for high-risk children, those with stable low VT had higher ratings of adaptive behaviors at 36 months. This is consistent with theory linking reduced VT during tasks to adaptive regulation and indicates that such regulatory functioning may serve as a protective factor in prenatal CE.

EEG theta rhythm in infants and preschool children

Objective To study behavioral correlates of theta oscillations in infants and preschool children. Methods EEG was recorded during baseline (visual attention) and two test conditions—exploration of toys and attention to ‘social’ stimulation. Age specific frequency boundaries of theta and mu rhythms were assessed using narrow bin analysis of EEG spectra. Results Theta spectral power increased whereas mu power decreased under test conditions in both age groups. In preschoolers theta rhythm increased predominantly over anterior regions during exploratory behavior and over posterior regions during attention to social stimulation. Theta frequency range changed with age from 3.6 to 5.6 Hz in infants to 4–8 Hz in children, and mu range from 6.4–8.4 Hz to 8.4–10.4 Hz. Conclusions In early life, theta oscillations are strongly related to behavioral states with substantial attentional and emotional load. The scalp distribution of theta spectral power depends on age and behavioral condition and may reflect engagement of different brain networks in control of behavior. Significance The findings contribute to the scanty knowledge about the developmental course of theta rhythm. Data on behavioral correlates of theta rhythm in early life may improve our understanding of cognitive and mental processes in healthy and neuropsychiatrically diseased children.

Depressão materna e interação mãe-bebê no final do primeiro ano de vida

O objetivo deste estudo foi o de examinar eventuais diferenças na interação mãe-bebê entre mães com e sem depressão no final do primeiro ano de vida do bebê. Participaram 26 díades mãe-bebê, 11 com mães com indicadores de depressão e 15 com mães sem indicadores. A designação aos dois grupos ocorreu com base nos escores do Inventário Beck de Depressão. Análise dos totais de comportamentos maternos e infantis durante sessão de observação do brinquedo livre revelou que mães com indicadores de depressão apresentaram menos comportamentos facilitadores da exploração de brinquedos pelos bebês enquanto seus filhos mostraram mais afeto negativo. Além disso, mães com indicadores de depressão evidenciaram mais apatia, mantiveram menos a atenção de seus filhos nos brinquedos e demonstraram menos ternura e afeição e seus bebês apresentaram mais vocalizações negativas. Esses resultados apóiam as expectativas de que a depressão materna pode ocasionar um impacto negativo na interação mãe-bebê.

Effects of infant and caregiving conditions on an infant's focused exploration of toys.

An infant's exploration of toys, in the context of the mother's regulating actions, is a setting for cognitive and social development. The aim of this study was to examine the contribution of infant and caregiving conditions to the quantity of focused exploration of toys for 8-month-old infants. Infant biological conditions were gender and birth weight, including a range of both prematurely and term-born infants. The infant behavioural condition was responsiveness to care. Caregiving conditions included mother's education, the supportive, stimulating and sustaining quality of the home environment, and the attention-directing and -supporting behaviour of the mother during play. The direct and indirect effects of these conditions on focused toy exploration were modelled using multiple regression. The sample of 79 mother-infant dyads included 43 full-term infants and 36 premature infants. The mother's attention-directing behaviour was a significant negative predictor of focused toy exploration. Infant birth weight did not have a significant direct effect on focused toy exploration. Birth weight did not interact significantly with responsiveness to care or with any of the caregiving environment conditions to affect focused toy exploration. Further study of infant responses to the mother's attention-regulating and emotion-regulating behaviour during play is recommended to better understand how the caregiving environment supports or thwarts focused toy exploration.

Depressed mothers' interaction styles influence infants' toy exploration and affect in a teaching situation

Depressed mothers' interaction styles influence infants' toy exploration and affect in a teaching situation

Infants' exploration of scented toys: effects of prior experiences.

To evaluate breastfed infants' responses to scented objects, we videotaped the facial and bodily reactions of sixty-three infants as they explored, in succession, three toys that were identical in appearance but different in their characteristic odor. Two of the toys were scented with odorants previously shown to be transmitted to human milk, one with ethanol and the other with vanilla, whereas the third toy was unscented. Each videotape was subjected to frame-by-frame analysis to measure a variety of behaviors that are considered either to be exploratory in nature in that they lead to perceptual information about the object or to reflect the infants' hedonic reaction. Analyses of these behaviors revealed that the infants looked more and vocalized less in the presence of the vanilla-scented toy and spent less time manipulating the ethanol-scented toy when compared with the unscented toy. Moreover, differential exposure to the odors of ethanol and vanilla, as indicated by differential consumption of alcohol by a parent or use of vanilla-scented product by the mother, was related to differential responses to these odors. These findings suggest that human infants are able to detect and retain information about the chemical features of their environment.

The development of communication in blind and in deaf infants--similarities and differences.

Results from two longitudinal studies of blind infant--sighted mother and of deaf infant-hearing mother/deaf mother interaction, are summarized in this paper. The aim is to shed light on the role of visual and auditory stimulation in the development of communication. Video-recorded interactions taken during infancy were transcribed in a systematic, objective and detailed way. The development of communication is described with a focus on pre-verbal abilities, exploration of toys, social and symbolic play, communicative intent and sharing of experiences. The results show a delay in the development of communication in the blind infants compared with the deaf infants, indicating a more critical role of visual stimulation compared with auditory stimulation during the infancy period to this development.

Why and when do some language-impaired children seem talkative? A study of initiation in conversations of children with semantic-pragmatic disorder

Six language-impaired children fitting the clinical picture of semantic-pragmatic disorder (mean age 11 years) engaged in conversations with adults in four situations varying in terms of familiarity of the interlocutor (familiar or unfamiliar) and type of setting (interview or toy exploration). These children did not produce more utterances or longer utterances than normally developing children of similar age or ability, but they were more likely to produce utterances that served the conversational function of initiating, rather than responding or acknowledging. This tendency was most pronounced in the toy setting. There was a nonsignificant trend for control children to initiate more with a familiar than with an unfamiliar adult, but no such tendency in the semantic-pragmatic group. A high rate of initiations in children with semantic-pragmatic disorder cannot be regarded as an unusual behavior provoked by the demands of the interview setting, as it is even more apparent during toy exploration, where the child is under less pressure to respond to adult questions.

Prenatal Alcohol Exposure and Infant Information Processing Ability

403 black, inner-city infants born to women recruited prenatally on the basis of their alcohol consumption during pregnancy were assessed on a battery focusing on information processing and complexity of play. Prenatal alcohol exposure was not related to visual recognition memory or cross-modal transfer of information but was associated with longer fixation duration, a measure indicative of slower, less efficient information processing; lower scores on elicited play; and longer periods of toy exploration, possibly also due to slower cognitive processing. The effects on processing speed and elicited play were dose-dependent and not attributable to maternal depression, parental intellectual stimulation, other prenatal drug exposure, or postpartum maternal drinking. The processing speed deficit is consistent with deficits in older children prenatally exposed to alcohol; the present study is the first to identify slower cognitive processing in infancy and in tasks not dependent on motoric proficiency.

Individual differences in exploratory behavior in the second year of life

For children in their second year, exploration is an inherently social phenomenon with fundamental implications for learning about the animate and inanimate world. This article examines how 15-month-old children spontaneously involve their mothers in their exploration of a novel task in an unstructured setting. Forty-six 15-month-olds were presented with a novel exploration task with their mothers present but uninvolved. The task consisted of a box with 15 clear plastic drawers each containing a novel toy. Types of bids to mothers, children's affect, and exploratory behaviors were coded. In the absence of active maternal cues, 15-month-old children quickly and frequently involved their mothers in their exploratory efforts, and at least half of the bids were accompanied by positive affect. Active bids to mother (walking or extending a toy) were associated with more manipulation of novel toys, whereas passive bids such as looking were related to less active exploration of toys and more visual inspection of the task stimuli. Furthermore, the earlier any type of bid to mother, the quicker children approached novel toys. Finally, there were notable sex differences both in children's bids to their mothers and in their approach to the task. While exploring, girls made more active bids for physical contact with their mothers. On the other hand, girls spent more time than boys visually examining the box itself without touching, but boys spent more time than girls exploring and touching the box. These results are discussed in terms of how mothers and children mutually contribute to children's interest in novel exploration.

. Differences in Exploration of Toys By One-Year-Old Children: a Korean and American Comparison

This study compared the play of Korean and American one-year-olds, to determine differences in behaviors reflective of mastery motivation. The two groups of children exhibited similar levels of mastery behavior (goal-directed exploration); however, the American children used general exploration significantly more than did the Korean children. There were significant differences as well in parental behavior during the play sessions. The two groups of parents also differed with respect both to their percep tions of their children's play and to their child-rearing attitudes.

Regulation of negative reactivity during the strange situation: Temperament and attachment in 12-month-old infants

The purpose of the present study was to examine 12-month-olds' regulatory behaviors displayed during the Strange Situation and the extent to which those behaviors were related to infants' negative reactivity and attachment classification. Subjects included 80 healthy firstborn infants and their mothers. Negative affect and four regulatory categories (people orientation, object orientation, self-comforting behaviors, and toy exploration) were measured during the Strange Situation. Correlational analyses revealed that infants who were overtly upset oriented less toward people, more toward objects, and engaged in less toy exploration. Analyses of variance yielded significant differences for attachment groups (A, B1–B2, B3–B4, and C) in reactivity and regulation. The B1–B2 secure subgroup showed low levels of distress and low levels of regulation. Conversely, the B3–B4 secure subgroup displayed high levels of negative affect and high levels of regulatory behaviors during separation and reunion episodes (e.g., people and object orientation). Infants classified as insecure-avoidant displayed moderate amounts of distress, contrary to expectations, and exhibited self-directed types of regulation (e.g., self-comforting and toy exploration). Finally, insecure-resistant infants expressed intense levels of negative reactivity, exhibited some regulatory behaviors during separation, but little regulation during reunion.

When Infants Look to Their Parents: II. Twelve‐Month‐Olds' Response to Conflicting Parental Emotional Signals.

12-months-olds were seen in a laboratory procedure in which they were given happy, fearful, and conflicting emotional signals by their mothers and fathers with reference to 5 unusual toy stimuli. Measures included: positive and negative affect, affect lability, and approach and proximity behavior toward the toy. Infants did not "select" a signal on the basis of a maternal or paternal primacy in emotional referencing, but responded to both signals and experienced conflict. They showed increased negative affect and decreased positive affect and toy exploration with conflicting signals compared with both happy and with fearful signals alone. Greater levels of lability were not found with conflicting signals. Marked differences among infants in capacity and style of coping with conflict were observed, as were a variety of specific conflict responses, such as agitated sucking, rocking, avoidance, extreme motor inhibition, aimless or disoriented behavior, and transient, unintegrated affect expressions.

Joint Attention and Infant Toy Exploration: Effects of Down Syndrome and Prematurity

12-month-old infants with Down syndrome (n = 14) and mental and motor age-matched high-risk preterm infants (n = 14) were studied with respect to their ability to attend to and explore their environment in interactions with their mothers. The effectiveness of particular maternal attention-directing techniques in modifying infant responses to toys was expected to vary across the 2 infant groups. In general, higher-level responses to toys were expected to be associated with mother's attempts to maintain rather than redirect the child's attention and the mother's use of structured verbal and nonverbal attention-directing techniques. Results indicated that mothers of the 2 groups of infants used different attention-directing strategies, and their use of particular strategies was differentially related to the attentional capacity of the 2 groups. Differences in the infants' responses to particular maternal strategies were related to the amount of structure provided and to the demands placed on their capacity to shift attention between objects. Fewer specific maternal techniques for directing attention elicited higher-level play behavior from the Down syndrome infants, compared to the preterm group.

Joint Attention and Infant Toy Exploration: Effects of down Syndrome and Prematurity

12-month-old infants with Down syndrome (n = 14) and mental and motor age-matched high-risk preterm infants (n = 14) were studied with respect to their ability to attend to and explore their environment in interactions with their mothers. The effectiveness of particular maternal attention-directing techniques in modifying infant responses to toys was expected to vary across the 2 infant groups. In general, higher-level responses to toys were expected to be associated with mother's attempts to maintain rather than redirect the child's attention and the mother's use of structured verbal and nonverbal attention-directing techniques. Results indicated that mothers of the 2 groups of infants used different attention-directing strategies, and their use of particular strategies was differentially related to the attentional capacity of the 2 groups. Differences in the infants' responses to particular maternal strategies were related to the amount of structure provided and to the demands placed on their capacity to shift attention between objects. Fewer specific maternal techniques for directing attention elicited higher-level play behavior from the Down syndrome infants, compared to the preterm group.