The link between maternal interaction style and infant action understanding

2008-01-01
Hofer, Tanja
Hohenberger, Annette Edeltraud
Hauf, Petra
Aschersleben, Gisa
The present study investigates whether the maternal interaction style is related to 6-month-old infants' action interpretation. We tested 6-month-olds ability to interpret an unfamiliar human action as goal-directed using a modified version of the paradigm used by Woodward, A. L. (1999). Infant's ability to distinguish between purposeful and non-purposeful behaviours. Infant Behavior & Development, 22, 145-160 and Kiraly, I., Jovanovic, B., Prinz, W., Aschersleben, G., & Gergely, G. (2003). The early origins of goal attribution in infancy. Consciousness & Cognition, 12, 732-751. Additionally, all infants and their mothers participated in a free play situation to assess maternal interaction styles as measured by the CARE-Index. According to mothers' distinct interaction styles, infants were divided into three groups. Results suggest that at 6 months of age infants of mothers with a modestly controlling interaction style are better at interpreting a human action as goal-directed than infants of sensitive and relative unresponsive mothers. The ability to understand human action as goal-directed might be a corollary of an adaptive strategy in infancy.
INFANT BEHAVIOR & DEVELOPMENT

Suggestions

A multilevel analysis of home and classroom literacy environments in relation to preschoolers' early literacy development
Altun, Dilek; Erden, Feyza; Snow, Catherine E (Wiley, 2018-11-01)
This study aimed to investigate the characteristics of preschoolers' home and classroom literacy environments and the relationships between receptive and expressive vocabulary, phonological awareness, and concepts about print (CAP) development. The participants were 168 parents and their children from five private preschools in a large suburban area. Two waves of data were collected. Multilevel linear modeling was used to analyze the two-level data set. The findings of the study revealed that children have ...
The Role of Gender, Attachment Dimensions, and Family Environment on Loneliness Among Turkish University Students
Demirli, Aylin; Demir, Ayhan Gürbüz (Cambridge University Press (CUP), 2014-06-01)
The purpose of the present study was to investigate the predictive value of gender, attachment dimensions and family environment in explaining loneliness among students. The study included 473 students (281 females, 192 males) from Ankara University. The UCLA Loneliness Scale, Family Environment Assessment Scale and Experiences in Close Relationships - Revised Questionnaire were administered to all participants. The results of the regression analyses demonstrated that the avoidance dimension of attachment a...
The role of institution and home contexts in theory of mind development
Yagmurlu, B; Kazak Berument, Sibel; Celimli, S (Elsevier BV, 2005-09-01)
To investigate the role of early context in theory of mind development, institutionalized children living in a boarding home (n = 34) in Turkey were compared to home-reared children coming from low (n = 32) and middle socioeconomic backgrounds (n = 44). Theory of mind was assessed with one deception and three false belief tasks; Peabody PVT and Raven CPM were administered to control for language and nonverbal intelligence. Results indicated a context effect whereby home-reared children performed better than...
The Effect of background media on early childhood language development
Karakaya, Seçil; Kazak Berument, Sibel; Department of Psychology (2018)
The current study aimed to investigate the background media effect on toddlers’ language development and also the moderator role of child temperamental characteristics namely inhibitory control, attention shifting, attention focusing and perceptual sensitivity. In total, 100 mothers of children between the ages of 16-26 months (Mage = 20.18 months) participated. Two home visits were made. In the first visit, mothers filled out the Early Childhood Behavior Questionnaire (ECBQ) to assess the child temperament...
Understanding the Gaps Between Turkish Teachers' Beliefs and Practices for Dealing With Preschoolers' Peer Relationship Problems
Sendil, Cagla Oneren; Erden, Feyza (Informa UK Limited, 2019-07-04)
Research Findings: This study explores the beliefs, self-reported practices, and observed practices of Turkish preschool teachers toward children's peer relationship problems as well as the gap between their beliefs and practices. Five female teachers of 5-year-old children were selected as participants for this multiple case study. Approximately 79 hr of observation was conducted on the children's daily routines and activities in a natural classroom environment, which specifically included the teachers' pr...
Citation Formats
T. Hofer, A. E. Hohenberger, P. Hauf, and G. Aschersleben, “The link between maternal interaction style and infant action understanding,” INFANT BEHAVIOR & DEVELOPMENT, pp. 115–126, 2008, Accessed: 00, 2020. [Online]. Available: https://hdl.handle.net/11511/57464.