Albert R. Hollenbeck

Children With Serious Illness: Behavioral Correlates of Separation and Isolation.

The deleterious effects of separation have been demonstrated in experimental animal studies and in naturalistic case studies of children. In this study extensive observational and physiological records were obtained on four preschool children who were receiving chemotherapy for childhood cancer. The findings generally parallel those reported in the subhuman primate literature. The childrens behavior followed a sequence of agitation followed by behavioral depression. The findings underscore the seriousness of parent-child separation and the need to develop intervention strategies to ameliorate these deleterious effects.

NEONATAL PREFERENCE FOR VISUAL PATTERNS: MODIFICATION BY PRENATAL ANESTHETIC EXPOSURE?

Exposure to anesthetic drugs during gestation has been shown to cause behavioral changes in rats, and exposure during labor and delivery also affects human neonatal behavior. In this preliminary study, nine neonates who had been exposed to anesthetic agents during gestation were tested for visual‐pattern preference. These nine infants looked at the stimuli for statistically significantly longer periods compared with 30 non‐exposed infants. and had significantly different preferences for some pairs of patters. The results suggest that prenatal exposure to anesthetic agents may contribute to behavioral alterations in human neonates.

Neonates prenatally exposed to anesthetics: four-year follow-up.

This brief report provides the four-year follow-up on infants prenatally exposed to anesthetics. Fourteen of 39 infants examined at birth were available for intelligence testing at age four. Results indicate that Peabody Picture vocabulary IQ scores are correlated with visual preference testing at birth in infants exposed to prenatal anesthetics. The mean IQs of these infants also differed from mean IQs of unexposed infants at four years. These preliminary data are suggestive of prenatal anesthetic effects that are persistent and that early infant visual screening may be prdictive of later IQ.

Labor and delivery medication influences parent-infant interaction in the first post-partum month**

This study investigates the influence of maternal medication received pre-partum, during labor and delivery, and 4 days post-partum on parent and infant behavior in interaction during the first month post-partum. The interactions of 97 full-term, normal, infants and their parents were studied, during the first month of life, following vaginal or scheduled Caesarean-section delivery of these infants. Results indicate that labor-delivery anesthesia and post-partum medication doses do influence behavior in interaction of fathers, mothers, and their infants during the first post-partum month. These findings are particularly interesting as they come from a subject pool for whom the drug doses prescribed were low, relative to the doses reported in the literature. Implications of these findings raise important issues about (1) the potential for drugs to modify subsequent parent and infant behaviors, (2) drug influences on normal developmental progressions in early life, and (3) current medical practice for continued restrained drug use.

Early trimester anesthetic exposure: Incidence rates in an urban hospital population

A common medical belief is that prenatal exposure to local anesthetics is infrequent and of minor concern. This paper documents substantial prenatal dental anesthestic exposure in 229 consecutive births in an urban hospital. Exposure rate is related to potential neonatal behavioral changes reported in animals and humans following prenatal anesthetic exposure.

Influence of a televised model's vocalization pattern on infants☆

Abstract To assess the influence of a televised models vocalizations on the vocal patterns of infant viewers, 32 infants at 6 months of age were presented either a televised adult model repeating a novel phoneme pattern (/ba/ba/ba/ba) or a control televised presentation of adult conversation selected from typical daytime programming. Sequential analyses of infant vocalizations revealed that infants exposed to the televised model altered their vocalization pattern, as indicated by a significant increase over base line levels in their production of a patterned series of discrete vocalizations. Infants exposed to the televised conversation showned no increase in this pattern of vocalization, and none of the infants in the study produced the novel phoneme (/ba/). The results indicate that televised presentation of discrete, repeated vocalizations can have an influence on the vocalization pattern of infants. The potential role of television in infant development is discussed.

A prospective naturalistic study of the impact of an intensive medical treatment on the social behavior of child and adolescent cancer patients

Abstract The impact of intensive chemotherapy and prolonged hospitalization on the social behavior of child and adolescent cancer patients was assessed. Twenty-three patients, aged 18 months to 21 years, were observed while they received chemotherapy in a protected environment or in a regular hospital room. Single-subject analyses were used to examine changes on six behaviors in relation to changes in physiological status. Fourteen patients showed significant change in the frequency of at least one behavior. Play and sleep were the behaviors most likely to change. The changes began to occur as patients experienced the systemic toxic effects of the drugs, although a dissipation of drug toxicity generally was not accompanied by a corresponding behavior change. The findings are discussed in relation to age-developmental and interindividual heterogeneity in response to treatment.

Neonatal Behavioral Effects of Anesthetic Exposure during Pregnancy

In the last several decades, human infant development has increasingly become the focus of interest for a wide range of professionals in medicine, psychology, nursing, and affiliated disciplines. Knowledge from these fields has converged to the extent that we have greatly increased our understanding of early human life events—especially those associated with childbirth. Reflection on the nature of these advances awes us with the complexity of those processes involved with the creation of new life and their influence on subsequent life events. Current interest in the study of intrapartum processes arises not only out of medical necessity for facilitating life itself, but also out of a more fundamental need—the need to understand ourselves. Life does not begin with birth, yet human birth marks a beginning in life. Logic dictates that to understand ourselves, we must begin to understand such critical events. In this chapter, we will explore the current state of knowledge in a more limited way and with a more limited focus, but, at the same time, we will attempt to place current knowledge into the larger context of understanding human development.

Fundamental Research and Research Fundamentals: A Response to Pasnak's Comments

A point by point response is provided to questions raised by Pasnak (this issue) concerning research design and interpretation of our study (Small, Hollenbeck, & Haley, 1982) of the effect of emotional state on student ratings of instructors. Attention is called to design and measurement issues for future research.

Response to Professor McKeachie's Comments:

Elliott, D. N. Characteristics and relationships of various criteria of teaching. PhD Thesis, Purdue University, 1949. Gaffuri, A., Wrench, D., Karr, C., & Kopp, R. Exploring some pitfalls in student evaluation of teaching. Teaching of Psychology, 1982, 4, 229-230. Small, A. C., Hollenbeck, A. R., & Haley, R. L. The effect of emotional state on student ratings of instructors. Teaching of P S Y C ~ O ~ O ~ Y , 1982, 4, 205-208.