Fabia Franco

Dynamic aspects of visual event perception and the production of pointing by human infants

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between pointing production in infants and two types of event perception factors: spatial localization (e.g. eccentricity of visual events with respect to an initial fixation point) and salience of targets (addition to visual events of sound or object translation through space). Three experiments revealed that target characteristics, such as internal movement, sound, vanishing and translation through space (including disappearance) significantly influenced the incidence and latency of pointing, whereas the main effect of target localization was to determine which hand does the gesture. In particular, there was an advantage to the right side of the visual field in eliciting pointing when there is competition between targets. Finally, for events involving auditory-visual stimulation females made more right-handed points than males. The general advantage of the right hand for pointing may offer further evidence for a specific link between pointing, cerebral dominance and the transition to speech.

The role of belief veracity in understanding intentions-in-action: Preschool children's performance on the transparent intentions task

It is possible to have either true or false beliefs about what one is currently doing (an ‘intention-in-action’; [Searle, J. R. (1983). Intentionality: an essay in the philosophy of mind. New York: Cambridge University Press.]). The theory-theory account of the development of ‘mentalising’ skills between 3 and 4 years of age predicts that younger children should find false intentions-in-action more difficult to report than true intentions-in-action. In contrast, an executive theory of development at 3 and 4 years of age would predict that the perceived outcome of the action at the time of questioning should determine the younger childs answer, with the truth-value of the past belief playing no role. We presented 3- and 4-year-old children with a novel drawing task—the transparent intentions task—in order to pit these two accounts against each other. The truth-value of the childs (or a puppets) intention-in-action played no role in performance. Incorrect answers referred to the unexpected final outcome of the drawing. This result supports the executive theory.

Differences in Manner of Phonation of Infant Cries: Relationship to Communicative Context:

In this work all cry vocalizations produced by four subjects observed from four to 10 months of age were analyzed. By means of videorecordings, cries were classified according to three categories, functionally distinguishable from a communicative point of view. Spectrographic analysis showed that the three functional categories differed with respect to different manners of phonation, although the relation between each category and the specific type of phonation was determined by individual preference. Moreover, data showed a relation between duration of vocalization and manner of phonation. On the basis of these results, the author discusses the hypothesis that differences in the functional meaning of cries are marked by some non-segmental regularities.

A Follow-Up Study on Italian Late Talkers: Development of Language, Short-Term Memory, Phonological Awareness, Impulsiveness, and Attention.

This follow-up study compares cognitive and language aspects of a group of Italian children ages 4–6 years, who had shown delayed expressive language abilities at 24 months of age (late talkers), with those of a group of children with a history of normal expressive language development (average talkers). Children were given a battery of cognitive–neuropsychological tests to assess grammatical comprehension, vocabulary development, verbal short-term memory, phonological awareness, planning and visuomotor coordination, and attention and impulsiveness. No differences were found in the results between the two groups in the domains of attention, impulsiveness, and visuomotor planning, but in the domain of syntactic competence late talkers developed particular difficulties in the comprehension of passive negative sentences compared to average talkers. Late talkers also performed significantly worse on the nonword repetition task, which measures abilities closely connected with verbal short-term memory and phonological awareness.

Toddlers' reactions to negative emotion displays: Forming models of relationships

Twenty-four children between 18 and 24 months were exposed to two people interacting in a neutral way and two people having a negative emotional interchange. In the emotion condition, they saw either anger or sadness at equal levels of intensity. Anger was enacted with an argumentative and hostile voice which was raised but short of yelling. For sadness, actresses spoke in loud voices, sobbed, whined, and wailed. The childrens vocalizations, constructive play, looks to mother, gaze to experimenters, and proximity to mother were coded. In response to the negative emotion, children stopped activities and attended to the interchange. They stopped exploring, vocalizing, and playing constructively. No differences in childrens behavior were noted for anger versus sadness. Childrens behavior was affected by the order in which they saw the neutral or emotional interchange. When they saw the negative emotion interchange first, they reacted to the neutral condition as if they were being exposed to a negative interchange. Results are discussed in terms of the development of models of relationships, organized around emotional interchanges.

Temporal Characteristics in Infant Cry and Non-Cry Vocalizations

Cry and non-cry vocalizations in four infants, videorecorded between 4 and 8 months of age, were analyzed by spectrograph in order to extract their temporal features. The vocalizations were classified with respect to their communicative value on the basis of situational context. Temporal parameters considered were: sequence length, pause duration, and vocalization duration. In order to analyze the influence of communicative value and non-segmental characteristics - voicing, melodic pattern, manner of phonation — five ANOVAs were performed. Results showed that duration of vocalizations is influenced by communicative value and non-segmental features, but in most cases not independently one factor from the other. A hypothesis of a prevalently indirect influence of communicative value on duration and temporal patterning is discussed.

Affect-matching music improves cognitive performance in adults and young children for both positive and negative emotions

Three experiments assessed the hypothesis that cognitive benefits associated with exposure to music only occur when the perceived emotion expression of the music and the participant’s affective state match. Experiment 1 revealed an affect-matching pattern modulated by gender when assessing high-arousal states of opposite valence (happy/angry) in an adult sample (n = 94) in which mood classification was based on self-report, and affective valence in music was differentiated by mode and other expressive cues whilst keeping tempo constant (139 BPM). The affect-matching hypothesis was then tested in two experiments with children using a mood-induction procedure: Experiment 2 tested happy/angry emotions with, respectively, 3–5-year-old (n = 40) and 6–9-year-old (n = 40) children, and Experiment 3 compared happy/sad emotions (i.e., states differing both for valence and arousal profiles) with 3–5-year-old children (n = 40), using music pieces differentiated also by fast vs. slow tempo. While young children failed to discriminate systematically between fast tempo music conveying different emotions, they did display cognitive benefits from exposure to affect-matching music when both valence (e.g., mode) and arousal level (e.g. tempo) differentiated the musical excerpts, with no gender effects.

Aspects of mating behaviour in two harpacticoid copepods: tigriopus fulvus and tisbe holothuriae

The results reported here demonstrate that, inTigriopus fulvus: 1) males discriminate among females belonging to different developmental stages; 2) males paired with copepodid females react to the presence of other males, making pairing more stable. It also appears that, inTisbe holothuriae, both males and females release a compound which promotes the attraction of specimens belonging to the opposite sex. The significance of the differences in mating behaviour betweenTigriopus andTisbe are discussed.RiassuntoI risultati riportati in questaNota dimostrano che inTigriopus fulvus: 1 ) i maschi riescono a distinguere femmine appartenenti a stadi larvali diversi; 2) i maschi accoppiati con un copepodite femmina reagiscono alla presenza di altri maschi rendendo più stabile l’accoppiamento. Risulta inoltre che inTisbe holothuriae, maschi e femmine rilasciano un segnale chimico che stimola l’attrazione degli individui appartenenti al sesso opposto. Viene discusso il significato delle differenze rilevate traTignopus eTisbe nel comportamento di accoppiamento.

Facilitating support groups for siblings of children with neurodevelopmental disorders using audio-conferencing: a longitudinal feasibility study

BackgroundSiblings of children with chronic illness and disabilities are at increased risk of negative psychological effects. Support groups enable them to access psycho-education and social support. Barriers to this can include the distance they have to travel to meet face-to-face. Audio-conferencing, whereby three or more people can connect by telephone in different locations, is an efficient means of groups meeting and warrants exploration in this healthcare context. This study explored the feasibility of audio-conferencing as a method of facilitating sibling support groupsMethodsA longitudinal design was adopted. Participants were six siblings (aged eight to thirteen years) and parents of children with complex neurodevelopmental disorders attending the Centre for Interventional Paediatric Psychopharmacology (CIPP). Four of the eight one-hour weekly sessions were held face-to-face and the other four using audio-conferencing. Pre- and post-intervention questionnaires and interviews were completed and three to six month follow-up interviews were carried out. The sessions were audio-recorded, transcribed and thematic analysis was undertaken.ResultsAudio-conferencing as a form of telemedicine was acceptable to all six participants and was effective in facilitating sibling support groups. Audio-conferencing can overcome geographical barriers to children being able to receive group therapeutic healthcare interventions such as social support and psycho-education. Psychopathology ratings increased post-intervention in some participants. Siblings reported that communication between siblings and their family members increased and siblings’ social network widened.ConclusionsAudio-conferencing is an acceptable, feasible and effective method of facilitating sibling support groups. Siblings’ clear accounts of neuropsychiatric symptoms render them reliable informants. Systematic assessment of siblings’ needs and strengthened links between Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, school counsellors and young carers groups are warranted.

Cross-Linguistic Developmental Evidence of Implicit Causality In Visual Perception and Cognition Verbs

The general background of this investigation is the study of the development of language as related to mental or psychological activities. Research in “theory of mind” has shown interesting relationships between the development of children’s understanding of mental life and the development of language in the early years (e.g.Bretherton & Beeghley, 1982; Bartsch & Wellman, 1995). Moreover, it has been suggested that children’s knowledge about mental verbs may be linked specifically to later developments of “theory of mind” in children (Moore & Furrow, 1991; Schwanenflugel et al., 1996).