Infant Sociability Research Articles

Groupness in Preverbal Infants: Proof of Concept.

Infant sociability is generally conceived in terms of dyadic capacities and behaviors. Recently, quantitative evidence has been published to support arguments that infants achieve a criterion for groupness: the capacity to interact simultaneously with two others. Such studies equate this capacity with alternating dyadic acts to the two other members of an interacting trio. Here we propose a stricter threefold criterion for infant groupness, of which the crux is whether the social behavior of an infant at time B is shown to be influenced by what two or more group-members were previously doing at time A. We test the viability of this conceptualization: (a) through its justification of the novel laboratory procedure of studying infant sociability in infant–peer quartets (rather than trios); and, (b) in an analysis of a pilot study of gaze-behavior recorded in 5-min interactions among two quartets of infants aged 6–9 months. We call this a ‘proof of concept’ because our aim is to show that infants are capable of groupness, when groupness is conceptualized in a supra-dyadic way—not that all infants will manifest it, nor that all conditions will produce it, nor that it is commonplace in infants’ everyday lives. We found that both quartets did achieve the minimum criterion of groupness that we propose: mutual gaze predicting coordinated gaze (where two babies, A and B, are looking at each other, and B is then looked at by C, and sometimes D) more strongly than the reverse. There was a significant absence of ‘parallel mutual gaze,’ where the four babies pair off. We conclude that, under specific conditions, preverbal infants can manifest supra-dyadic groupness. Infants’ capacities to exhibit groupness by 9 months of age, and the paucity of parallel mutual gaze in our data, run counter to the assumption that infant sociability, when in groups, is always generated by a dyadic program. Our conceptualization and demonstration of groupness in 8-month-olds thus opens a host of empirical, theoretical, and practical questions about the sociability and care of young babies.

Paternal involvement in child caregiving and infant sociability

AbstractIn this study, the influence of paternal involvement in caregiving on infant sociability was assessed using a “strange situation” paradigm adapted from the work of Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, and Wall (1978). Thirty‐seven families participated with their firstborn child (aged 12–14 months). According to the questionnaire, 20 “nontraditional” fathers were very involved in caretaking, and 17 fathers were less or not at all involved. Infant sociability was assessed using three of Ainsworth et al.'s rating scales: proximity or contact‐seeking, avoidance, and distance interaction. Results indicated that infants of nontraditional fathers were globally more sociable with all their partners (father, mother, and stranger) than infants of traditional fathers. Furthermore, results suggested that it was not only the father–infant relationship or infant development which were affected by the amount of paternal involvement in daily caretaking but the family system as a whole. Indeed, infants from nontraditional families appeared to interact equally with their fathers and mothers in direct interaction. In addition, these infants interacted at a distance with a “stranger” as much in the presence of their fathers as in the presence of their mothers, thereby suggesting that both parents represented an equally secure base.

Observing infants in groups: The clan revisited

We illustrate the potential for dialogue between the study of infant sociability and psychoanalytic theories of the young child. In particular we examine Freud (1922) and Bion's (1961) proposal that the psychology of the group is the oldest human psychology, using our observations to test its empirical plausibility when describing free-form interactions between trios of babies recorded on video. We find that babies relate to more than one other at a time. This challenges the comprehensiveness of attachment theory as a description of infant sociability. We also find that babies generate context-specific meanings in group-communication. This renders unworkable a priori descriptive techniques that assume one behaviour = one meaning. We conclude that the basic unit of psychological analysis is the clan, a conclusion that has both scientific and ethico-practical repercussions for handling infants.

Infants in Groups: A Paradigm for the Study of Early Social Experience

This paper reports on a two-stage, case-based analysis of infant sociability in infant-only trios to illustrate how findings made using this approach extend our theoretical understanding of early intersubjectivity. Studying infant groups allows us to address three kinds of emerging theoretical argument: (1) that babies are born with a ‘general relational capacity’ which complements or even founds the more specific ‘dyadic program’ that generates attachments; (2) that infants’ communication with peers is the best route to understanding the shared meanings that inform language acquisition, and (3) that the reconceptualisation of ‘nonbasic’ emotions requires we discover whether babies are communicatively competent to elaborate context-specific meanings over time. The materials we use to illustrate this two-stage approach show infants manifest core characteristics of group-communication in the second six months of life, in particular the capacity to be involved with more than one person at a time and for relational encounters to shift behavioral significances for the infants as a product of group interactions.

Are infants with autism socially engaged? A study of recent retrospective parental reports.

The purpose of this study was to identify the specific aspects of social engagement that distinguish infants with autism from infants of similar age and developmental level who do not have autism. Ten parents of preschoolers with autism and 10 parents of matched children without autism were given a semistructured interview, the Detection of Autism by Infant Sociability Interview (DAISI), which elicits reports on whether 19 aspects of social engagement characteristic of typically developing infants were present at some time during the child's first 24 months. The reports of infants with autism differed from those of the control group on 16 items. Findings suggest that infants with autism have marked limitation in both person-to-person and person-person-object social engagement, in keeping with the theory that autism involves impairments in primary as well as secondary intersubjectivity (Hobson, 1993a).

Infant predictors of cognitive development in an undernourished Kenyan population.

Assessments of infant sociability, motoric capacities, and nutritional factors were performed to elucidate early influences on infant development in an undernourished Kenya population. In this longitudinal study, infant social skills were assessed using both the Bayley Behavior Record and home observations during the first 6 months of the infants' lives. Abilities were measured using an adapted version of the Bayley scales of infant development at 6 and 30 months, and a short battery of cognitive measures at 5 years. Infant size measurements were used as indicators of infant nutritional status. Shorter and lighter infants, and those infants showing growth faltering in weight attainment, were significantly less sociable at 6 months than infants who were taller and maintained heavier weights. Infants with smaller arm circumferences displayed lower motor scores at 6 months and lower Bayley mental scores at 30 months than infants with greater arm circumference. Furthermore, infants who were more motorically able and socially adept at 6 months had higher Bayley scores at 30 months and higher verbal comprehension scores at 5 years.

Parental stress, social support and infant temperament: Stability, continuity and effects on infant sociability

Parental stress, social support and infant temperament: Stability, continuity and effects on infant sociability

What Chimpanzee Mothers Have More Sociable Infants?

In a captive group of 29 chimpanzees, eight mothers with their infants were studied. Data are presented on the associations between (1) individual characteristics of the mother and measures of her social position in the group, (2) mother-infant behaviour and (3) infant sociability. Possible effects of the age of the infants were eliminated throughout the analysis by means of a partial correlation test. Results show that mothers with more offspring spent more time in social positive interactions with their older offspring and were more rejecting to their youngest infant. Mothers that received less aggression broke contact with their infants relatively more often. Infants of such mothers spent more time in social play with others and were less time in contact with their mother. Counter intuitively, we also found that more sociable mothers had infants that spent less time in social play. It is suggested that the correlation between sociability of mother and infant depends on the group size and/or the amount of social crowding.

Early receptive and productive language skills in preterm and full-term 8-month-old infants.

Early receptive and productive language skills were examined for preterm low birthweight infants and full-term normal birthweight infants from middle-class homes. Nineteen preterm infants and 19 full-term infants were observed in a laboratory setting at the gestationally corrected age of 8 months. To avoid the frequent confound between prematurity and low socioeconomic status, mothers of the two groups of infants were matched on educational levels. Regression analyses were used to assess the relative influence of infant cognitive skills, infant sociability, infant birth status, and the mothers' language input as possible predictors of infant receptive language and vocal behavior. Receptive language skills were associated with higher cognitive performance, greater sociability, and preterm birth. Productive language skills were associated with higher cognitive performance. On the basis of this research, the prognosis for language development in preterm infants raised in middle-class homes appears to be excellent.

Effects of Infant Sociability and the Caretakiing Environment on Infant Cognitive Performance

40 middle-class mothers and their 12-month-old infants participated in an examination of the extent to which infant sociability and infant home experiences were correlated with cognitive capacity. Results indicated that the measures of the home environment (including Caldwell's Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment [HOME] inventory) were not correlated with the measures of cognitive competence (Bayley Mental Development Index [MDI], Ordinal Scales of Psychological Development) except among firstborns. Measures of the home environment were, however, correlated with measures of infant sociability (assessed inside and outside the test situation): sociable infants had sociable mothers. The infants' reactions to strange adults clearly influenced their performance in testing situations. Strong relationships were found between both measures of sociability and both measures of cognitive competence. The sociable friendly infants received higher scores on both cognitive tests than the less sociable babies did.

Effects of Infant Sociability and the Caretaking Environment on Infant Cognitive Performance

Effects of Infant Sociability and the Caretaking Environment on Infant Cognitive Performance

THE STABILITY OF BEHAVIORAL ASSESSMENT IN THE FIRST DAYS OF LIFE

As part of a research program designed to assess the Brazelton Neonatal Assessment Scale as a predictor of styles of later infant sociability, we examined 12 normal infants daily to determine the stability of the scale over the first 4 days of life. Each day, every infant was assigned a “typology score” of 1, 2 or 3 (high, average, low) for each of 3 dimensions (Interactive, Motor and State Control) according to Brazelton's criteria. Scores for State Control and Motor processes were remarkably stable across the 4 days; most infants scored 2. The interactive process (response to social stimuli including items of visual and auditory orientation, cuddliness and consolability) was less stable across the first 4 days as a result of significantly (p<.025) increased variability on Day 2. Variability was further assessed by comparing mean scores across 4 days for behaviors comprising the Interactive cluster. Scores on Days 1, 3 and 4 were highly correlated (p<.05) while scores on Day 2 did not correlate with other days. These data suggest that as yet unidentified factors related to the infant's second day alter his pattern of interaction with his environment. Perhaps the interactive process is more sensitive than other dimensions to any form of disruption. For predictive purposes, it may be inadvisable to perform behavioral exams on infants on the second day of life, particularly if one includes assessment of interactions with the social (e.g., maternal) environment.