Dale C. Farran

Predicting IQ from mother–infant interactions.

Longitudinal observations of maternal and infant characteristics were used to investigate the consequences of early day-care intervention for infants at high risk for intellectual retardation due to sociocultural factors. High-risk infants and their mothers were compared on social and intellectual characteristics with a control group not enrolled in an intervention program and with a random sample of mother-child dyads from the general population. Results from group comparisons indicated that mothers of high-risk infants in a day-care intervention group interacted with their infants in ways quite similar to mother of high-risk infants who were not enrolled in the intervention program. Both high-risk groups differed from the general population of mothers on interaction and attitudinal measures. Changes across time on the measures taken were roughly parallel from all three groups. Multiple regression analyses using maternal variables and mother-infant interactional variables to predict 36-month Stanford-Binet scores for the high-risk samples indicated that childrens intelligence was predictable from previous maternal behaviors and attitudes, particularly for the control group, and that early day-care intervention apparently had altered the predictiveness of some maternal factors.

Executive Function Skills and Academic Achievement Gains in Prekindergarten: Contributions of Learning-Related Behaviors

Although research suggests associations between childrens executive function skills and their academic achievement, the specific mechanisms that may help explain these associations in early childhood are unclear. This study examined whether childrens (N = 1,103; M age = 54.5 months) executive function skills at the beginning of prekindergarten (pre-K) predict their learning-related behaviors in the classroom and whether these behaviors then mediate associations between childrens executive function skills and their pre-K literacy, language, and mathematic gains. Learning-related behaviors were quantified in terms of (a) higher levels of involvement in learning opportunities; (b) greater frequency of participation in activities that require sequential steps; (c) more participation in social-learning interactions; and (d) less instances of being unoccupied, disruptive, or in time out. Results indicated that childrens learning-related behaviors mediated associations between executive function skills and literacy and mathematics gains through childrens level of involvement, sequential learning behaviors, and disengagement from the classroom. The implications of the findings for early childhood education are discussed.

The Effects of Daycare Intervention in the Preschool Years on the Narrative Skills of Poverty Children in Kindergarten.

The following study examined narrative skills in 89 poverty children, half of whom had received an infant daycare intervention (experimental) and half whom had not (control). At school entry these groups were split again with half of each group receiving school-age intervention. For each child in the sample, a child of the same sex in their classroom was chosen to form a local population sample (LPS). Children were read stories of varying thematic cohesiveness and asked both to comprehend and paraphrase the narratives in the fall and spring of the kindergarten year. The results indicated that the preschool experimental group performed better than the preschool control group on the comprehension and paraphrase of the stories in the fall but not in the spring. The LPS group was especially better able to paraphrase stories in comparison to the poverty groups. Discussion is centred on reasons for the convergence of the two poverty groups over kindergarten and the possible cultural differences that led to their poorer performance with respect to the LPS group.

Evaluating Math Recovery Assessing the Causal Impact of a Diagnostic Tutoring Program on Student Achievement

Mathematics Recovery (MR) is designed to identify first graders who are struggling in mathematics and provide them with intensive one-to-one tutoring. We report findings from a 2-year evaluation of MR conducted in 20 elementary schools across five districts in two states. The design allowed for the estimation of the counterfactual growth trajectory based on those students randomly assigned either to a tutoring cohort with a delayed start or to a wait list. Results demonstrate strong end of first grade effects on a diagnostic measure developed by MR and weak to moderate effects (effect size, .15–.30) on measures administered by external evaluators. By the end of second grade, no significant effects were found on any measures. Practical and research implications are discussed.

The relative efficacy of predicting IQ from mother-child interactions using ratings versus behavioral count measures

Abstract The relative efficacy of using ratings versus behavioral count measures to predict intelligence from mother-child interactions was investigated for 45 mother-child dyads who constituted a heterogeneous sample with respect to socioeconomic status. These dyads were observed when the children were 36 months of age; children were tested with standardized IQ tests at 36 and 60 months. Social interactions between mothers and children were coded from video tapes with two different systems by independent observers. The behavioral count system was used to code second-by-second the duration and frequency of behaviors during the session. The rating system was used to judge maternal behaviors on three scales following the session. A series of forced stepwise multiple regression analyses compared the predictive utility of the two systems both concurrently and over time. The ratings of maternal behavior yielded high correlations with child IQ both concurrently and over time and were not contributed to significantly by the behavioral count measures. The authors speculate that ratings proved more efficacious because the raters could make more subjective and intuitive judgments concerning maternal behavior.

Unemployment and Children

The involuntary or unexpected loss of work represents a stress of major proportions for adults [1-4]. The decline in income, disruption in roles, and change in status exact costs from the unemployed worker, but it is important to realize that the loss of work has detrimental consequences for family members as well. Although growing numbers of studies have examined both the consequences of unemployment for adults and the programs designed to alleviate those consequences, the effects of parental job loss on children remain relatively unexplored. The purpose of this article is threefold. First, we estimate the number of children who experienced some period of parental joblessness during 1982, the peak year of the current recession. Second, we review the consequences of this experience for children, focusing on an ongoing study of 121 families. Finally, we examine the effectiveness for children of selected current unemployment policies.

A longitudinal analysis of the development of synchrony in mutual gaze in mother-child dyads

Abstract In order to examine longitudinal changes in the roles mothers and infants play in mutual gaze, the looking behaviors of 42 dyads were coded during free play interactions when the infants were 6, 20, and 36 months. Half had been randomly assigned to a day-care program that began in infancy. Three hypotheses developed from an earlier cross-sectional study were explored along with one additional hypothesis. Children increased both duration and frequency of looking at mothers and engaged in more independent looking, supporting the hypothesis that looking as a distal interactive behavior should increase. Mothers dramatically decreased their looking over time and were more likely to break off a mutual gaze; they appeared to be preparing the infants for a more independent interactive role. Group differences in a few looking behaviors suggest that gaze may also be related to the development of attachment. Finally, there is some support from the data on average length of a gaze that looking may vary with other competencies of the developing child. The changes in looking parallel changes in other interactive behaviors occuring during this same developmental period.

Toward Interactive Synchrony: The Gaze Patterns of Mothers and Children in Three Age Groups

The gaze patterns of 81 mother-child dyads (6, 20 and 36 months) were investigated during 20 minutes of free play in a laboratory setting. The results indicated that children at the three ages studied were not different in the total amount of time they looked at their mothers. The groups of mothers were significantly different with the difference primarily resulting from the looking patterns of the mothers of 6 month olds: these mothers looked for a longer total amount of time and longer too for each individual look when compared to mothers of older children. Mutual regard at each age was most often initiated by the mother and terminated by the child though mothers terminated more gazes at the older ages. At the two older ages there were more simultaneous initiations and terminations of mutual regard than at 6 months. Although adult synchrony was not observed in looking interactions of the oldest children, the increase in the simultaneity of mutual looks foreshadows the adult pattern.

Responses to a Learning Task at 6 Months and I.Q. Test Performance During the Preschool Years

This research focused on 45 6-month-olds who were at risk for developmental delay due to poor socioeconomic circumstances, their responses to a learning task, and the subsequent prediction to performance on standardised tests during the preschool years. A rank classification for qualitative differences in learning proved preferable to a more complex behavioural count system. Task Rank was used to predict subsequent test performance on the Stanford Binet at 24, 36, and 48 months. Half the infants had been randomly assigned at birth to a day care intervention programme. Both Task Rank and the Bayley MDI at 6 months were good predictors of later test scores for the control group but not the day care intervention group. Responses to the learning task added significantly to the predictions obtained from the Bayley. These results suggest that tasks measured in infancy involving information processing in a novel situation are related to later functioning on standard assessment tests for children reared in less than optimal circumstances.

The functional concern of mothers for their infants

The Functional Maternal Concern of mothers for their infants was assessed (with an Index derived from Caldwells Home Observation for the Measurement of the Environment.) when 36 children, heterogeneous with respect to social status, were 6- and 18-months-old. Scores on this Index were related to the mothers IQ and education, as well as to certain temperamental characteristics of the children: cooperativeness and happiness. The Index proved stable over the time period of 6 to 18 months and yielded better predictability of Stanford Binet scores at 48 months than the Bayley Infant test scores. Moreover, there appears to be a minimal level of maternal concern needed to facilitate the childs development which seems to be especially important for the second year of life.