Takahide Omori

Development of infants’ intuitions about support relations: sensitivity to stability

Can infants perceive stability when a supported box is put on a supporting box in a balanced position? In Experiment 1, 41 infants saw three events. In a stable event, the supported box was put on a wide supporting box in a balanced position. In an unstable event, the supported box was put on a narrow supporting box in a balanced position. In an impossible event, the supported box was put on the extreme end of a wide supporting box. Infants 4 to 6.5 months old looked equally at all three events. Infants 6.5 to 10 months old looked slightly longer at the impossible event than at the other events. Infants 10 to 13 months old looked reliably longer at the unstable and impossible events than at the stable event. The results of Experiment 2 indicate that these differences in looking times did not come from differences in stimulus configurations between the events. These results suggest that infants above 10 months old are sensitive to stability of support relations.

Differences and Similarities between Father-Infant Interaction and Mother-Infant Interaction

The aim of this study was to compare father-infant interaction with mother-infant interaction, and explore differences and similarities between parents. Related factors for quality of father-infant interaction were also examined. Sixteen pairs of parents with infants aged 0 to 36 months were observed for play interaction between parents and their children. Results suggested no significant differences between parents, but childrens interactions were significantly more contingent with fathers than mothers (p =.045). Significant correlations between parents were found in socialemotional growth fostering encouragement for children during interaction (ρ =.73, p =.001). Paternal depressive symptoms were significantly correlated to paternal sensitivity to childs cues (ρ =-.59, p =.017).

Preliminary early intervention study using Nursing Child Assessment Teaching Scale in Japan

Background: Mother–infant interactions have been acknowledged as one of the most important elements in measuring outcomes of parent support and infant mental health interventions. The present study was conducted to measure early intervention outcomes using the Nursing Child Assessment Teaching Scale (NCATS), and to identify factors that affected Japanese mother–infant interactions.

Parenting stress related to raising infants receiving treatment for retinoblastoma

Michie Nagayoshi*, Taiko Hirose, Kyoko Toju, Shigenobu Suzuki, Motoko Okamitsu, Takahide Omori, Aki Kawamura and Naoko Takeo Graduate School of Health Care Sciences, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, Japan Department of Nursing, National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo, Japan Department of Ophthalmic Oncology, National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo, Japan Department of Psychology, Keio University, Tokyo, Japan Faculty of Nursing and Nutrition, Department of Nursing, Shukutoku University, Chiba, Japan

Gender, age, and cultural differences in the Japanese version of the Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment

This study aimed to clarify the characteristics of the Japanese version of the Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment (J-ITSEA), a parentreport questionnaire concerning social-emotional/behavioral problems and delays in competence in 1- to 3-year-old children. The differences in score between genders, ages, and between the J-ITSEA and the original Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment were examined. The data of 617 participants recruited from Saitama prefecture through stratified two-stage sampling were analyzed. The Cronbachs alpha ranged from 0.76 to 0.93. Gender differences emerged for some problems and all competence scales, with boys rated higher in the Externalizing problem domain and Activity/Impulsivity subscale and girls rated higher in the Internalizing problem domain, Inhibition to Novelty subscale, and all Competence scales. The Competence domain score increased across age groups. Compared with a normative sample in the US, participants in this study rated higher in Aggression/Defiance and Separation Distress, and rated lower in Peer Aggression and most of the Competence scales. The results indicate that the J-ITSEA scores should be interpreted in comparison with standard scores assigned for gender and 6-month age groups, and that specific criteria for the cut-off points for the J-ITSEA are required instead of those in the original questionnaire.

Social interaction facilitates word learning in preverbal infants: Word–object mapping and word segmentation

In natural settings, infants learn spoken language with the aid of a caregiver who explicitly provides social signals. Although previous studies have demonstrated that young infants are sensitive to these signals that facilitate language development, the impact of real-life interactions on early word segmentation and word-object mapping remains elusive. We tested whether infants aged 5-6 months and 9-10 months could segment a word from continuous speech and acquire a word-object relation in an ecologically valid setting. In Experiment 1, infants were exposed to a live tutor, while in Experiment 2, another group of infants were exposed to a televised tutor. Results indicate that both younger and older infants were capable of segmenting a word and learning a word-object association only when the stimuli were derived from a live tutor in a natural manner, suggesting that real-life interaction enhances the learning of spoken words in preverbal infants.