Changing Opportunities for Learning in Everyday Life: Infant Body Position Over the First Year

Developmental theories depend on characterizing the input to potential learning mechanisms—infants’ everyday experiences. The current study employed a novel ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to measure two aspects of the physical context of those experiences: body position and location. Infant body position was selected because it relates to the development of a variety of other skills. Caregivers of 3‐, 6‐, 9‐, and 12‐month‐olds reported infants’ body position—held, supine, reclined, prone, sitting, or upright—in response to text message notifications over a week to capture infants’ experiences across the entire range of their daily activities. Findings revealed a tremendous disparity in the distribution of body position experiences over the first year. Younger infants spend more time held, supine, and reclined, whereas older infants spend more time sitting and upright. Body position experiences differed substantially between same‐age infants who possess a motor skill (e.g., ability to sit or walk) compared with those who did not, suggesting that developing motor skills change infants’ everyday experiences. Finally, the success of the methodology suggests that similar EMAs might be used to study a wide range of infants’ naturalistic experiences.     

Encoding Action Roles in Meaningful Social Interaction in the First Year of Life

Previous research has shown that 6‐ to 9‐month‐old infants detect role reversals in dyadic interaction involving 2‐argument relations. These studies extend this line of research to a 3‐argument structure: An agent gives an object to a recipient. We conducted 4 experiments in a novelty‐preference paradigm. Infants were habituated to videotaped sequences of a puppet giving a flower to another puppet. In the test phase, the puppets' spatial positions were switched, and infants alternately saw role‐reversal and direction‐reversal trials. Results indicate that 10.5‐ and 12‐month‐olds but not 9‐month‐olds selectively encoded the change of action role (agent‐recipient) over a change in the spatiotemporal properties of the interaction and that action role encoding was specific to intentional relations in a 3‐argument structure. Thus, infants at the end of their 1st year seem to be sensitive to movement cues that specify intentional relations between an agent and a recipient.     

Acquisition of Nonadjacent Phonological Dependencies in the Native Language During the First Year of Life

Languages instantiate many different kinds of dependencies, some holding between adjacent elements and others holding between nonadjacent elements. In the domain of phonology–phonotactics, sensitivity to adjacent dependencies has been found to appear between 6 and 10 months. However, no study has directly established the emergence of sensitivity to nonadjacent phonological dependencies in the native language. The present study focuses on the emergence of a perceptual Labial‐Coronal (LC) bias, a dependency involving two nonadjacent consonants. First, Experiment 1 shows that a preference for monosyllabic consonant‐vowel‐consonant LC words over CL (Coronal‐Labial) words emerges between 7 and 10 months in French‐learning infants. Second, two experiments, presenting only the first or last two phonemes of the original stimuli, establish that the LC bias at 10 months cannot be explained by adjacent dependencies or by a preference for more frequent coronal consonants ( Experiment 2a & b ). At 7 months, by contrast, infants appear to react to the higher frequency of coronal consonants ( Experiment 3a & b ). The present study thus demonstrates that infants become sensitive to nonadjacent phonological dependencies between 7 and 10 months. It further establishes a change between these two ages from sensitivity to local properties to nonadjacent dependencies in the phonological domain.     

The Pointing–Vocal Coupling Progression in the First Half of the Second Year of Life

This study investigated the development of the pointing–vocal coupling system. We were interested in the infants’ behavior to attune prosody with pointing intentions. Twenty‐five children were involved at 12, 15, and 18 months of age in an experimental procedure devised to elicit imperative and declarative pointing. Pointing, vocality associated with pointing, and the prosody of that vocality were analyzed. A significant increase in the coupling of pointing and vocality was observed from 12 to 15 months, and in the ability to differentiate prosody with respect to the intention of the gesture from 15 to 18 months. Also, the infants who pointed declaratively at 12 months were likely to couple declarative pointing with vocality at 15 months, and the infants who coupled at 15 months were likely to differentiate prosody by the pointing intention at 18 months. Results suggest that the match between prosody and pointing intentions emerges gradually during the first half of the second year of life. They also show a relationship between earlier and later pointing–vocal coupling, and a role for declarative communication in promoting that progression. Overall, our study supports the view of intentional communication as a time‐based and context‐based developmental process.     

Understanding Interest in the Second Year of Life

Infants (n = 24, mean age 13 months and n = 24, mean age 19 months) were tested on an extension of the method introduced by Tomasello and Haberl (2003) to examine the understanding of another person’s interest in a novel object. Four objects were presented serially. For two objects, infants played with an experimenter. The infant played with one object alone, and the experimenter played with one object alone. Finally, all four objects were presented together, and the experimenter excitedly asked for one without indicating which. Results showed that younger infants tended to chose the object that they had not yet played with, whereas older infants were significantly more likely to choose the object that the experimenter had not yet played with. These results are discussed in the context of research on the development of understanding diversity of simple object‐directed attitudes in the second year of life.     

Expectations About Single Event Probabilities in the First Year of Life: The Influence of Perceptual and Statistical Information

Recent evidence suggests that infants can generate expectations about future events from a sample of probabilistic data. However, little is known about the conditions that support the development of this ability. Three experiments tested the prediction that 8‐ and 12‐month‐olds respond to base rates as well as perceptual cues when they generate expectations from a sample of probabilistic data. Results revealed that 12‐month‐olds were sensitive to the statistical and perceptual properties of the evidence depending on the distribution of high‐to‐low base rate items in the sample. Specifically, 12‐month‐olds focused on perceptual features of the evidence when a sample was large and more skewed (e.g., 6:1), whereas they attended to statistical properties when the sample was smaller and less skewed (e.g., 4:1). In contrast, eight‐month‐olds always focused on the perceptual features of the evidence. Neither group generated expectations from a small, less skewed sample (e.g., 2:1). These results suggest that the ability to generate expectations about future events is mediated by specific features of the available evidence and undergoes significant change during the first year of life.     

Increased Focus on the Mouth Among Infants in the First Year of Life: A Longitudinal Eye‐Tracking Study

This study examines face‐scanning behaviors of infants at 6, 9, and 12 months as they watched videos of a woman describing an object in front of her. The videos were created to vary information in the mouth (speaking vs. smiling) and the eyes (gazing into the camera vs. cueing the infant with head turn or gaze direction to an object being described). Infants tended to divide their attention between the eyes and the mouth, looking less at the eyes with age and more at the mouth than the eyes at 9 and 12 months. Attention to the mouth was greater on speaking trials than on smiling trials at all three ages, and this difference increased between 6 and 9 months. Despite consistent results within subjects, there was considerable variation between subjects. This raises the question of whether a developmental “norm” of face scanning in infancy ought to be pursued. Rather, these data add to emerging evidence suggesting that individual differences in face scanning might reliably predict aspects of later development.     

The Fatal Flaw in the Disability Adjusted Life Year

This disability adjusted life year (DALY) was developed to measure the global burden of disease and the effectiveness of health interventions. The measure is incapable of accomplishing either task, however, because the system of disability severity weightings employed in its construction embodies the false assumption that any given disabling condition always results in a disability of certain severity, regardless of the context in which it occurs. This is a fatal flaw, which renders the DALY inappropriate for use by scholars or policy makers requiring accurate disability statistics.     

Mother‐ Versus Infant‐Centered Correlates of Maternal Mind‐Mindedness in the First Year of Life

We investigated whether maternal mind‐mindedness in infant–mother interaction related to aspects of obstetric history and infant temperament. Study 1, conducted with a socially diverse sample of 206 eight‐month‐old infants and their mothers, focused on links between maternal mind‐mindedness and (i) planned conception, (ii) perception of pregnancy, and (iii) recollections of first contact with the child. The two indices of mind‐mindedness (appropriate and nonattuned mind‐related comments) related to different aspects of obstetric history, but no strong associations were seen with socioeconomic status, maternal depression, or perceived social support. In Study 2, we found good temporal stability in both indices of mind‐mindedness in a sample of 41 infant–mother dyads between 3 and 7 months. Neither index of mind‐mindedness related to infant temperament. We conclude that mind‐mindedness is best characterized as a facet of the specific caregiver–child relationship, while also being influenced by stable cognitive–behavioral traits in the mother.     

First Year Impacts of Casino Gambling in a Community

Gambling has become both a major pastime for Canadians and a multibillion dollar industry providing provincial governments with an increasing proportion of their annual revenues. The continuing trend toward the legalization of gambling has made research on the public health impacts of gambling increasingly important to citizens and decision-makers. This article presents first year results of a multi-year project to measure the impact of the opening of Casino Windsor on gambling behaviour in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. A random telephone survey of gambling behaviour was conducted with 2,682 adult residents of metropolitan Windsor prior to the opening of Casino Windsor, and was repeated with 2,581 residents one year later. There were no statistically significant changes in the rates of problem and pathological gambling among men, women, or the general population one year following the opening of the casino. Although there was some evidence of higher-spending gamblers within the post-casino sample, no statistically significant differences were found between pre- and post-casino per capita gambling expenditures. Implications of these results for the future measurement and treatment of problem and pathological gambling are discussed.     

Sensitivity to Confidence Cues Increases during the Second Year of Life

We investigated the emergence in infancy of a preference to imitate individuals who display confidence over lack of confidence. Eighteen‐ and 24‐month‐olds (N = 70) were presented with an experimenter who demonstrated the use of several objects accompanied by either nonverbal expressions of confidence or lack of confidence. At 24 months, infants were more likely to imitate the actions when demonstrated by a confident experimenter than by an unconfident experimenter; 18‐month‐olds showed no such preference. The experimenter then presented an additional imitation trial and a word‐learning trial while displaying a neutral expression. Twenty‐four‐month‐olds persisted in preferentially imitating a previously confident experimenter, but prior confidence had no effect on their word learning. These findings demonstrate a developmental increase in infants’ use of confidence cues toward the end of the second year of life.     

The UK National Telephone Gambling Helpline-Results on the First Year of Operation

This study outlines the results of the UK's national gambling helpline run by GamCare. The results outlined here cover the period of the first 12 months of operation (November 1997 to October 1998). The helpline received a total of 1729 calls. Of these, 51% were from problem gamblers themselves (90% male; 10% female) and a further 26% of calls were from relatives of problem gamblers. The remaining calls came from other professionals handling problem gambling cases (13%), attempted calls, e.g., people calling and then putting the phone down due to being scared of talking (4%), information requests (3%) and the media (3%). Fruit machine gambling appeared to be most problematic for the callers as a whole and for particular sub-groups such as adolescents (82%) and women (52%).     

The First (and Only) Year of the May 3 Constitution

Isaak Babel’ is the author of two stories, “Iisusov grekh” [The Sin of Jesus], 1921, and “Pan Apolek,” 1923, that are written in the tradition of menippean satire. These stories are filled with the kind of blasphemy, profanation, and desacrilization Mikhail Bakhtin describes as salient characteristics of menippean satire. “Sin” is a graphic example of the menippean sub-genre of “fantasticheskii rasskaz” [the fantastic tale], and “Apolek” has clear affinities with the ancient genre of “Cyprian’s Supper.”

“Sin” and “Apolek” highlight prominent menippean features that pervade Babel’’s fiction. His Odessa stories are filled with carnivalistic, scandalous, and grotesque motifs that are very much in the menippean spirit. Babel’’s contribution to the menippea is his creation of a multiplicity of different, even conflicting plausible texts within the body of a single story. For Babel’, heretic and blasphemer, menippean satire is the perfect vehicle for expressing his contradictory relationship with the culture he lived in.     

Developmental Trajectories for Mother–Infant Coregulation in the Second Year of Life

Ten dyads were observed biweekly from 10 to 24 months of infant age while playing together at home with a set of toys. The aim was to examine whether mother–infant coregulation changes over the second year of the infant’s life and whether there are individual differences in that process. Normative trends as well as variability between and within dyads were tested using a multilevel modeling technique. We found that unilateral coregulation, in which only the mother was actively involved in play, largely prevailed at the beginning of the year and then decreased linearly, while symmetrical patterns, implying that the infant was also involved, were for the most part absent at the beginning but then increased rapidly, overtaking unilateral from the middle of the year on and becoming predominant by the end. In particular, symmetrical episodes of shared affect and shared action increased first and then decreased, being replaced by shared language. Variability in data was significant between the dyads, with some dyads advancing toward symmetrical coregulation at an earlier age and more rapidly than the others. It was also significant within the dyads, as the increase in symmetrical coregulation unfolded in a quite irregular manner across the sessions, unlike the decrease in unilateral. Results are discussed with reference to a view of joint attention development as a gradual and complex process.     

Transforming Teaching and Learning in South Africa: First Year in the Bachelor of Social Work

The South African qualification for social work was transformed in 2003, along with other transforming post-apartheid policies and practices since the first democratic government was elected in 1994. The educational collective was committed to outcomes-based approaches which were legislated by statutory bodies emphasising redress of previous inequities. The new Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) is accordingly criterion-based and measured by 27 exit level outcomes, giving direct guidance which assists historically disadvantaged students and facilitates entry to qualifications as intended by the current South African reform. The BSW replaces the previous Bachelor of Arts in Social Work [BA (SW)] which was norm-based and relied on good students educated in historically advantaged institutions. The political history and context for the new qualification is presented and typical difficulties experienced during the first year are referenced. With the BSW being due for revision in 2012, a research project on its teaching and learning in the first year was commissioned in 2010 by the Association of South African Social Work Education Institutions. A section of this project is presented here. Consistent with the international literature, human and material resources emerge as very important in providing academic support. Tension between policies and practice should provide a good basis for revising the BSW.     

Dynamic Family System Trajectories From Pregnancy to Child's First Year

Family systems reorganize during transitional periods, such as the birth of a new child. Longitudinal research, however, on family dynamics during the transition to parenthood is lacking. Accordingly, the authors aimed to identify family system trajectories from pregnancy to the child's first birthday and to examine their contextual predictors. Both parents (N = 702) reported autonomy and intimacy in marital (wife‐to‐husband, husband‐to‐wife) and parenting (mother‐to‐child, father‐to‐child) relations during pregnancy and at child's ages of 2 months and 12 months. Finite mixture modeling revealed 7 unique family system trajectories: (a) Cohesive (35%), (b) Disengaged (5%), (c) Enmeshed Declining (6%), (d) Enmeshed Quadratic (5%), (e) Authoritarian (14%), (f) Escalating Crisis (4%), and (g) Discrepant (15%) families. Parental education in interaction with duration of partnership and parity predicted family trajectory membership. The study demonstrates how different family types reorganize during the transition to parenthood; this includes decline, growth, and stability in autonomy and intimacy.     

Changes in the Friend Network During the First Year of Single Parenthood for Mexican American and Anglo Women

This study explores ethnic differences in the restructuring of the friendship network during the first year after a woman becomes a single parent. Research on a sample of 232 Mexican American and white ("Anglo") women in San Jose, California, indicates that they had different "networking styles" at the beginning of this transition period, but over time the similarities became more pronounced. The Anglos had fewer relatives available and they were more focused on the friend network as a source of support. Although they experienced disruption of relationships due to geographic relocation, the Anglos reported larger numbers of close friends and greater desire for further expansion of the network. The second and third generation Mexican American (the "Chicanas") remained geographically closer to their networks, but they are experienced greater social complications and personal reactions that affected these relationships. Although there were intitial differences by ethnicity in styles of networking, the friend network became more important over time. The women shared a general tendency for reliance on family to be replaced by increasing involvement with friends. Differences within the close support network were eroded due to the common life circumstances experienced by single mothers. The first generation Mexican American women were somewhat of an exception in that they remained more kin-oriented. despite their geographic removal from relatives throughout the Southwest and in Mexico. Consequently, they were the most socially isolated in the sample. Implications are discussed for social programs serving single parent populations.     

Curtain Down on Act One: Practice Learning in the First Year of the New Social Work Award

The curtain has come down on the first year of the new social work degree in England. This paper presents the findings of a survey of social work educators in academic and practice settings to find out how practice learning in this year has been experienced and the shape of plans for the rest of the new degree. The paper reflects on the enormous diversity of arrangements for practice learning, in terms of patterns of delivery, assessment, funding, and service user and carer involvement. One pattern that is emerging strongly is a more experimental flavour to this first year, with new practice learning sites being developed, and the use of group arrangements to supervise and support students. However, there is also the potential for inconsistency in standards, especially in the ways that students are judged as ‘fit for practice learning’. There are concerns that the new partnerships are increasingly driven by universities and colleges, with some agency partners unclear about what is happening and why. There are also indications that the postgraduate programmes will have less room for experimentation than the three‐year undergraduate courses and this may become a source of divergence between the two routes.     

Pitch and Communicative Intent in Mother's Speech: Adjustments for Age and Sex in the First Year

This study investigated pitch and communicative intent in mothers' infant‐directed speech spoken to their infants at birth, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months. Audio recordings of mothers (6 with female, and 6 with male infants) talking to another adult and to their infant at 5 ages were low‐pass filtered and rated by 60 adults on 5 scales (Positive or Negative Affect, Express Affection, Encourage Attention, Comfort or Soothe, and Direct Behavior). Mean fundamental frequency (F₀) and pitch range of utterances were also measured. Utterances associated with positive affect tend to peak at 6 and 12 months, whereas more directive utterances peaked at 9 months. Mean F₀ followed the age trend for affective utterances, and pitch range followed the trend for directive utterances. The results suggest mother speech patterns reflect, complement, and perhaps facilitate infant development.