Theoretical and Applied Dynamic Systems Research in Developmental Science

Mother-infant co-regulation during infancy: Developmental changes and influencing factors

Dyadic interaction is the ecological niche in which early human development occurs and parent-infant co-regulation - the reciprocal adjustment between partners when interacting - is key for the dyadic functioning. Research showed that co-regulation changes with the advancing age; however how this development unfolds and by which variables would be affected is largely ignored. The present study investigated co-regulation longitudinal progression across seven-time points (4, 6, 9, 12, 15, 21 and 24 months of infants' age) while exploring the moderating effects of three infant variables (object manipulation, alternated gaze and shared meanings). The sample included healthy mother-infant dyads (N = 79) interacting for 5' in a context including objects. The interaction was coded by using the Fogel's Relational Coding System that distinguishes three main co-regulation patterns, i.e., unilateral, asymmetrical and symmetrical. Object manipulation, alternated gaze and shared meanings were also observed in the first, middle and final parts of the observational period, respectively. We used multilevel modeling technique to identify the developmental trajectories of each co-regulation pattern; we also analyzed whether the trends were moderated by specific factors at specific time periods. Results were statistically significant in both cases. We found an acceleration effect of the age on all the three co-regulation patterns. To specify, asymmetrical pattern decreased very soon, unilateral increased sharply from 6 to 9 months and then declined, symmetrical increased in the 12-15 months period and jumping up at the end. We also found a moderating effect of all the three infant's variables: infants who were higher in object manipulation increased unilateral pattern earlier and more than lower infants; infants who were higher in alternating the gaze between mother and object and in sharing meanings showed a higher and steeper trend of symmetrical pattern. This study is the first shaping co-regulation changes in their form and rate, so reliably accounting for the developmental nature of this process. It also showed that co-regulation changes related to different age dependent skills, thus contributing to define this process as a complex phenomenon.

How do maternal emotional regulation difficulties modulate the mother-infant behavioral synchrony?

Mother-infant synchrony is one of the most important processes in the development of socio-affective competencies in children. While maternal abilities and psychopathology are related to maladaptive mother-infant synchrony, it is as yet unclear how maternal emotion regulation difficulties contribute to it. Based on a panel of behavioral indicators (i.e., gaze, vocal, and motor), the present study examined mother-infant synchrony at 6 months of age in a modified version of Ainsworth's Strange Situation (n = 72 dyads). Mother-infant interaction sequences were characterized by indicators of complexity (LZ complexity of joint behavioral sequences) and of synchronization quality (cross-recurrence plot quantification). Results showed that mothers' touch was greater in the reunion condition than in the initial condition. Mothers' motor behaviors were associated with the global levels of infants' behavioral involvement in the reunion condition, unlike the symmetrical influence observed between mothers and infants in the initial condition. Results show that maternal anxiety mediates the relationships between mothers' emotion regulation difficulties and gaze, vocal, and motor synchrony between mothers and infants in the initial and reunion conditions. This study emphasizes the central role of maternal emotion regulation difficulties in the establishment of maladaptive synchrony and in the adjustments of maternal physical contacts with infants.

Microgenetic Analysis of Thought Trajectories: A Mixed Design

This article reports the results of an investigation that used a mixed methodology with microgenetic orientation, to observe the genetic development of small acts of thought and their bodily manifestations. A qualitative design was carried out through a videographic record with 10 participants to explore thought trajectories and their genetic unfolding in gestures. In a second moment, a quantitative sequential analysis was conducted with 50 participants, who were invited to the laboratory to participate in a tachistoscopic presentation. The procedure was videotaped and coded, identifying categories of thought and their respective gestural expressions. An analysis of different trajectories was carried out to observe the transitions that thought takes and its gestural movements. The results show trajectories in the forms of thought that are investigated through a qualitative microgenetic analysis, which shows the anticipation of verbal meaning through gestures and the transitions backwards to then advance into more integrated forms of thought. On the other hand, trajectories between voluntary and involuntary forms of thought, as well as transitions in verbal and imaginative forms of thought are detected in a quantitative sequence analysis. Finally, the results are integrated and the utility of mixed designs to study the microgenesis of the consciousness phenomenon is discussed.

Peek-a-who? Exploring the dynamics of early communication with an interactive partner swap paradigm and state space grid visualization

Effective caregiver-infant communication occurs when interactive partners successfully coordinate multiple modalities (e.g., body movements, affect, eye gaze). The complex interplay of multiple modalities during caregiver-infant interactions is difficult to capture, which has made a comprehensive, evidence-based understanding of caregiver-infant communication difficult to achieve. We present a novel methodological approach to address this challenge by combining an Interactive Partner Swap (IPS) paradigm with a longitudinal design, detailed multimodal coding, and data visualization via state space grids (SSGs). We demonstrate the utility of our approach by presenting three sets of SSGs which reveal both dyadic flexibility and stability in caregiver-infant peek-a-boo interactions across three levels: micro (moment-to-moment), meso (interactive context), and macro (infant development). By using SSGs to explore the patterns that hold and others that differ systematically across interactive partner and infant development, our novel approach promises to offer critical first steps to creating a more detailed understanding of the dynamics of early multimodal communication.

In-the-Moment Profiles of Expectancies, Task Values, and Costs

This study focuses on the situational heterogeneity of motivation by investigating in-the-moment profiles of expectancies, task values, and costs within learning situations during a university lecture. In a sample of 155 undergraduate students followed across one semester we examined the occurrence of six hypothesized profiles, situational profile change, and the associations of situational motivation profiles with students’ dispositional motivation. Results of multilevel latent profile analysis revealed three profiles with symmetric levels of expectancies, values, and costs (reflecting high, medium, and low motivation situations), and one profile reflecting motivating but costly situations. Furthermore, situational profiles were associated with students’ motivational dispositions at beginning and end of the semester, and partly related to changes in these dispositions during the semester.

Do mothers enjoy playing sensitively with their infants?

BACKGROUND

Early sensitive caregiver-infant interactions form an important foundation for infant development. Although mutual enjoyment is thought to motivate proximity and continued interactions, there is no empirical evidence that mothers enjoy interacting and behaving sensitively. Research to date has focused on the influence of stable/pathological maternal negative emotions on parenting, with parenting often assessed on one occasion only. Therefore, little is known about what accounts for the variability in sensitivity across interactions.

OBJECTIVES

The objective of the present study was to evaluate what makes sensitivity reinforcing to typical mothers and thus more likely to be repeated. We hypothesised that 15- to 28-week-old infants' positive and active engagement would mediate the relationship between their mothers' sensitivity and change in emotion state from pre- to post-interaction.

METHOD

Using a naturalistic, repeated-measures design, 390 unique interactions from 49 mothers (mean age: M = 29.90 years, SD = 5.41) and their infants (25 female; mean age: M = 22.53 weeks, SD = 3.77) were rated using the Global Rating Scales of Mother-Infant Interaction. Mothers completed measures of their own mood (Profile of Mood States - 15) before and after each interaction.

RESULTS

Mothers reported feeling slightly less negative and more vigorous after interacting with their infants. The more sensitively they behaved, the more engaged their infants were and the more vigorous the mothers felt thereafter. Infant engagement did not mediate the relationship between sensitivity and change in negative emotion or in vigour.

CONCLUSIONS

Results suggest that upon behaving sensitively, mothers feel more vigorous regardless of their infants' engagement.

Parental and Infant Gender Factors in Parent-Infant Interaction: State-Space Dynamic Analysis

This study aimed to investigate the influence of parental gender on their interaction with their infants, considering, as well, the role of the infant's gender. The State Space Grid (SSG) method, a graphical tool based on the non-linear dynamic system (NDS) approach was used to analyze the interaction, in Free-Play setting, of 52 infants, aged 6 to 10 months, divided into two groups: half of the infants interacted with their fathers and half with their mothers. There were 50% boys in each group. MANOVA results showed no differential parenting of boys and girls. Additionally, mothers and fathers showed no differences in the Diversity of behavioral dyadic states nor in Predictability. However, differences associated with parent's gender were found in that the paternal dyads were more "active" than the maternal dyads: they were faster in the rates per second of behavioral events and transitions or change of state. In contrast, maternal dyads were more repetitive because, once they visited a certain dyadic state, they tend to be involved in more events. Results showed a significant discriminant function on the parental groups, fathers and mothers. Specifically, the content analyses carried out for the three NDS variables, that previously showed differences between groups, showed particular dyadic behavioral states associated with the rate of Transitions and the Events per Visit ratio. Thus, the transitions involving 'in-out' of 'Child Social Approach neutral - Sensitive Approach neutral' state and the repetitions of events in the dyadic state 'Child Play-Sensitive Approach neutral' distinguished fathers from mothers. The classification of dyads (with fathers and mothers) based on this discriminant function identified 73.10% (19/26) of the father-infant dyads and 88.5% (23/26) of the mother-infant dyads. The study of father-infant interaction using the SSG approach offers interesting possibilities because it characterizes and quantifies the actual moment-to-moment flow of parent-infant interactive dynamics. Our findings showed how observational methods applied to natural contexts offer new facets in father vs. mother interactive behavior with their infants that can inform further developments in this field.

Managing Contextual Complexity in an Experiential Learning Course: A Dynamic Systems Approach through the Identification of Turning Points in Students' Emotional Trajectories

This study adopts a dynamic systems approach to investigate how individuals successfully manage contextual complexity. To that end, we tracked individuals' emotional trajectories during a challenging training course, seeking qualitative changes–turning points—and we tested their relationship with the perceived complexity of the training. The research context was a 5-day higher education course based on process-oriented experiential learning, and the sample consisted of 17 students. The students used a five-point Likert scale to rate the intensity of 16 emotions and the complexity of the training on 8 measurement points. Monte Carlo permutation tests enabled to identify 30 turning points in the 272 emotional trajectories analyzed (17 students ^* 16 emotions each). 83% of the turning points indicated a change of pattern in the emotional trajectories that consisted of: (a) increasingly intense positive emotions or (b) decreasingly intense negative emotions. These turning points also coincided with particularly complex periods in the training as perceived by the participants (p = 0.003, and p = 0.001 respectively). The relationship between positively-trended turning points in the students' emotional trajectories and the complexity of the training may be interpreted as evidence of a successful management of the cognitive conflict arising from the clash between the students' prior ways of meaning-making and the challenging demands of the training. One of the strengths of this study is that it provides a relatively simple procedure for identifying turning points in developmental trajectories, which can be applied to various longitudinal experiences that are very common in educational and developmental contexts. Additionally, the findings contribute to sustaining that the assumption that complex contextual demands lead unfailingly to individuals' learning is incomplete. Instead, it is how individuals manage complexity which may or may not lead to learning. Finally, this study can also be considered a first step in research on the developmental potential of process-oriented experiential learning training.

Applications of Dynamic Systems Theory to Cognition and Development: New Frontiers

A central goal in developmental science is to explain the emergence of new behavioral forms. Researchers consider potential sources of behavioral change depending partly on their theoretical perspective. This chapter reviews one perspective, dynamic systems theory, which emphasizes the interactions among multiple components to drive behavior and developmental change. To illustrate the central concepts of dynamic systems theory, we describe empirical and computational studies from a range of domains, including motor development, the Piagetian A-not-B task, infant visual recognition, visual working memory capacity, and language learning. We conclude by advocating for a broader application of dynamic systems approaches to understanding cognitive and behavioral development, laying out the remaining barriers we see and suggested ways to overcome them.

Do We Really Want a Future as Qualitative Psychologists?

In this article I pick up some threads from the contributions in the previous special issue of IPSB dedicated to the future of qualitative psychology, and elaborate on them around two main points. The first is the status of qualitative psychology as a social and institutional category; the second is what we mean by experience. As concerns the first point, I argue that using the label of qualitative psychology may separate us from the rest of psychology, also creating a false impression of homogeneity among qualitative approaches and a false opposition with quantitative methods. Implications for teaching as well as research are discussed. The second issue has to do with experience as the object of qualitative psychology investigations. I propose three ways of formulating experience in research which would prevent naïve assumptions about accessing it directly through language. These are 1) experience as experience of the researcher, 2) experience as situated intersubjectivity, and 3) experience as expression. I discuss how being clearer about definitions of experience and going towards engaged forms of research could safeguard the integrity of both researcher and participants.

An Examination of Changes in Emotion Co-Regulation Among Mother and Child Dyads During the Strange Situation

The present study applied State Space Grid analysis to describe how preschooler-mother dyads co-regulate emotion in the Strange Situation. Second-to-second mother and child affect during pre-separation play (baseline) and the final reunion (post perturbation) episodes of the Strange Situation were coded for 80 dyads. Change in emotion co-regulation across the two Strange Situation episodes was examined with linear mixed models for groups with secure and insecure classifications. The groups did not differ at baseline. Change in content-specific emotion co-regulation but not content-free emotion co-regulation was found to be significantly different within and between groups. Both secure and insecure dyads reduced the time spent in positive interaction but increased the time in negative interaction across two episodes; the change in secure dyads was less pronounced than in the insecure dyads. After the separation, secure dyads had more positive interactions and fewer negative interactions compared to insecure dyads. Results highlight how secure dyads adapted to the stressful change, whereas insecure dyads were more reactive and less resilient to the stress of the study's brief imposed separation.

The Development of Referential Communication and Autism Symptomatology in High-Risk Infants

Non-verbal referential communication is impaired in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). However, the development of difficulties with referential communication in the younger siblings of children with ASD (High-Risk Siblings)-and the degree to which early referential communication predicts later autism symptomatology-is not clear. We modeled the early developmental trajectories of three types of referential communication: responding to joint attention (RJA), initiating joint attention (IJA), and initiating behavioral requests (IBR) across 8, 10, 12, 15, and18 months of age in High-Risk Siblings (n = 40) and the infant siblings of children without ASD (Low-Risk Siblings; n = 21). Hierarchical Linear Modeling indicated that High-Risk Siblings exhibited lower levels of baseline RJA and IJA and a lower rate of linear change in IBR than Low-Risk Siblings. When the 10 High-Risk Siblings who received an ASD diagnosis were excluded from analyses, group differences in the development of referential communication remained significant only for RJA. Baseline levels of IJA were associated with later ASD symptomatology among High-Risk Siblings, suggesting that individual differences in referential communication development at 8 months may index early manifestations of ASD.