The Role of Infant Locomotor Onset in Shaping Mother-Infant Communication

This study examines the relation between infant locomotor onset and emotional communication during prohibition scenes. Forty-one infants were videotaped at home with their mothers when the infants were 6 and 8 months of age. At 6 months all infants were pre-locomotor. At 8 months 23 infants were creeping on hands and knees; 18 had no creeping experience. Results indicated that the number of prohibitions infants received increased following creeping onset, particularly in distal contexts. Mothers of crawling infants more frequently used distraction and negative affect to regulate their infants' unacceptable behavior than mothers of non-crawling infants. This difference in maternal behavior corresponded with the tendency for crawling infants to more frequently reference their caregivers and express intense negative affect. Group differences in infant temperament were also noted with higher activity ratings at 6 months relating to earlier locomotor onset. It appears that infant creeping onset may interact with infant temperament to reorganize the relation between the infant and the ecology such that new means of emotional communication appear. It is within a parent-infant-environment system that behavior regulation, emotion regulation, and a sense of self develop.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychology

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2015

Author dc:creator

• Zumbahlen, Marcia Renee

Contributors dc:contributor

• Sarah Mangelsdorf
• Peggy Miller

• Health Sciences, Human Development

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

(MiAaPQ)AAI9812824

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/82234