Douglas K. Symons

Theory of mind and mental state discourse during book reading and story-telling tasks

This article presents three studies conducted in Canada and Australia that relate theory of mind (ToM) development to mental state discourse. In Study 1, mental state discourse was examined while parents and their 5-7-year-old children jointly read a storybook which had a surprise ending about the identity of the main character. Comments specific to the mental states of the story characters and discourse after the book had ended were positively related to childrens ToM, and this was due to parent elaborations. Studies 2 and 3 examined childrens mental state discourse during storytelling tasks, and in both, mental state discourse of children during narrative was concurrently related to ToM performance. While research has shown that mental state discourse of parents is related to childrens ToM acquisition, the current research indicates that childrens spontaneous use of mental state language examined outside of the interactional context is also a strong correlate.

A Longitudinal Study of Mother-Child Relationships and Theory of Mind in the Preschool Period

To investigate individual differences in theory of mind acquisition, this study examined whether different aspects of early mother-child relationships contributed to the development of false belief understanding at the close of the preschool period. Forty-six mother and child pairs were seen when children were two and again at five years of age. At age two, home-based Q-sort observations of attachment security and maternal sensitivity were made, and mothers completed a number of self-report measures to create an aggregate of maternal emotional distress. At age five, attachment security and maternal distress were reassessed, and false belief tasks were administered that were based on unexpected identities and locations of objects. In addition, attachment-relevant false belief tasks involving separation from caregivers were also used, which children found significantly more difficult than tasks involving objects. Age five security predicted object location task performance. Maternal sensitivity and emotional distress at age two predicted later caregiver location task performance, even controlling for age five measures. These results support a growing literature on the importance of relationship processes and parenting context to theory of mind acquisition.

Responsiveness and dependency are different aspects of social contingencies: An example from mother and infant smiles☆

Abstract Data from early mother-infant face-to-face interactions are used to demonstrate that a statistical association, widely accepted as the single indicator of sequential dependency between the behavior of two interactants, in fact reflects a combination of responsiveness and dependency comprising two independent aspects of the contingency environment. The derivation of these measures from behavior coded in real-time is illustrated in an analysis of the reciprocal relations between the smiling behavior of mothers and their 2- to 5-month-old infants.

A longitudinal study of Q‐sort attachment security and self‐processes at age 5

Attachment theory predicts that a sense of self emerges from early interactive relationships with significant others. In the current study, concurrent and predictive relations of child–mother Q-sort attachment security to self-concept and self-esteem in 5-year-old children is examined. Concurrent attachment security scores are positively related to a puppet interview measure of self-esteem, and children who are able to admit imperfections in themselves have higher attachment security scores at age 5. Attachment security at age 2 is not positively related to self-processes, however, and security at either age does not predict overall self-concept as measured by the Harter Scales. The results suggest that a secure attachment relationship is important for children to feel comfortable in presenting a realistic perspective of themselves.

Attachment dimensions and young children's response to pain

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: The present study examined the relationship between attachment dimensions and child pain behaviour following both an everyday pain incident (eg, bumps and scrapes) and acute pain incident (eg, immunization) in 66 five-year-old children.

The Bidirectional Relationship Between Achievement and Externalizing Behavior Problems of Students with Learning Disabilities

The current study examined the bidirectional relationship between academic achievement and externalizing behavior problems of adolescents with learning disabilities. Forty-three students attending a residential school were assessed for externalizing behavior problems via parent and teacher reports on the Child Behavior Checklist and the Childrens Attention and Adjustment Survey. The Wide Range Achievement Test-Revised was used to estimate academic achievement in reading, spelling, and arithmetic. Achievement measures did not predict externalizing behavior problems 1 to 2 years later, although verbal IQ predicted parent reports. Teacher reports of externalizing behavior problems predicted reading and spelling achievement scores 1 year later, and parent reports of externalizing behavior problems predicted changes in reading achievement. There was evidence that attentional problems were the component of externalizing behavior accounting for these relations, consistent with the explanation that inattentive students have difficulty achieving in an intensive learning environment.

Relations between young children's responses to the depiction of separation and pain experiences

This study examined relations between young childrens representations of separation and pain experiences in 60, 4- and 5-year-old children. Separation representations were assessed with the Separation Anxiety Test (SAT) and pain representations were assessed by examining responses to pictures of children about to experience pain in the presence of parent figures. Results showed that representations of separation and pain experience were systematically related and the patterns were not accounted for by the childs ability to differentiate emotional states, language ability, or reports of emotional regulation. These findings are consistent with Bowlbys (1982) concept of secure base behaviour in response to a variety of distress, and support the hypothetical construct of an internal working model of attachment which organizes childrens behaviours, thoughts, and feelings in response to both separation experience and painful events.

Maternal, infant, and occupational characteristics that predict postpartum employment patterns☆

Abstract This longitudinal study examined maternal, infant, and occupational characteristics that predicted maternal employment in the postpartum period as a function of plan. Women were assessed at birth, 3, and 6 months postpartum. Comparison groups consisted of 91 women who planned to remain home and did so (home/home), 30 women who planned to remain home and were employed outside the home at 6 months postpartum (home/outside), 56 women who planned to work outside the home and did so (outside/outside), and 10 women who planned to work outside the home and remained home at 6 months (outside/home). Employment-related separation concerns from the Maternal Separation Anxiety Scale were higher in the home/home group than the outside/outside and home/outside groups, and there were no effects of parity, infant sex, or time of measurement on separation anxiety scores. Women in the outside/outside group scored higher on the Autonomy subscale of the Personality Research Form-E than women in the home/outside group. There were no main effects of group on infant temperament as assessed by the Infant Characteristics Questionnaire, but significant interactions showed that ratings of unpredictability by women in the outside/outside group decreased from 3 to 6 months postpartum. Infants were also rated as less dull over time. Stress and coping factors related to maternal employment and parenting may have influenced temperament ratings. Occupational characteristics did not distinguish the groups: Women cited different occupational characteristics that facilitated making their personal decision of whether to work outside the home postpartum.

Estimating the expected probability of an event in continuously recorded social behavior.

Statistical methods have emerged to investigate social interactions in which behavior is represented by continuously recorded data. The basis of any sequential analysis is the comparison of observed conditional probability of events and expected unconditional probability of events within or between persons. Less is known about the calculation of expected probabilities from continuously recorded data than more commonly used interval coding. Monte Carlo data is used to show that the expected probability of an event in continuously recorded data is calculated according to the negative exponential of the rate of the behavior and the length of the interval under consideration. Data are presented to support this relation for various intervals and events rates.

Development of an Attachment-Informed Measure of Sexual Behavior in Late Adolescence.

There is considerable interest in relations between sexual behavior and romantic attachment styles in adolescence as attachment needs are increasingly met through intimate partners rather than parents. The objectives of this research were to organize a measure of sexual behavior within an attachment theory framework, and then show that this new measure uniquely predicted sexual approach styles and invasive sexual experiences. 190 18- and 19-year-old university students in late adolescence completed sexual behavior items that were provided ambivalent (anxious) and avoidant dimensions. These were systematically related to the romantic attachment dimensions of the Experiences in Close Relationships - Revised. However, even after romantic relationship style, gender, and social desirability were controlled, avoidance in sexual relationships predicted lifetime sexual partner number and negatively predicted positive sexual strategies, and ambivalence in sexual relationships predicted invasive and coercive sexual behaviors. A measure specific to sexual relationships informs the attachment and romantic context of sex in late adolescence.