Investigating the effects of prenatal testosterone exposure (via 2D:4D) and socio-relational factors on 3-6-year-old preschoolers' prosocial choices.

Background And Aims: Prosocial behavior such as helping and sharing develops early in childhood. Yet very few studies have investigated physiological and relational factors shaping prosociality among children. Here, we systematically examined the role of prenatal androgen exposure alongside prestige, dominance, and friendship in 3-6-year-old preschoolers' prosocial sharing with familiar peers.

An automated, data-driven approach to children's social dynamics in space and time.

Most children first enter social groups of peers in preschool. In this context, children use movement as a social tool, resulting in distinctive proximity patterns in space and synchrony with others over time. However, the social implications of children's movements with peers in space and time are difficult to determine due to the difficulty of acquiring reliable data during natural interactions.

Sing to me, baby: Infants show neural tracking and rhythmic movements to live and dynamic maternal singing.

Infant-directed singing has unique acoustic characteristics that may allow even very young infants to respond to the rhythms carried through the caregiver's voice. The goal of this study was to examine neural and movement responses to live and dynamic maternal singing in 7-month-old infants and their relation to linguistic development. In total, 60 mother-infant dyads were observed during two singing conditions (playsong and lullaby).

Comparing Online Webcam- and Laboratory-Based Eye-Tracking for the Assessment of Infants' Audio-Visual Synchrony Perception.

Online data collection with infants raises special opportunities and challenges for developmental research. One of the most prevalent methods in infancy research is eye-tracking, which has been widely applied in laboratory settings to assess cognitive development. Technological advances now allow conducting eye-tracking online with various populations, including infants.

To the Operating Room! Positive Effects of a Healthcare Clown Intervention on Children Undergoing Surgery.

In the present study we examined the positive effects of a healthcare clown intervention on children undergoing surgeries, and the role parent-child relationships may play in their effectiveness. Children between 5 and 12 years, who were scheduled to undergo elective surgical procedures in a large university hospital, were randomly assigned to an intervention group (IG; = 35) that was visited by a healthcare clown, and a control group (CG; = 27) that received treatment as usual (i.e.

Studying parent-child interaction with hyperscanning.

Recent research suggests that parent-child interactions influence children's brain development, both in terms of structure and function. However, the neurobiological processes underlying this association have yet to be explored. In the present chapter, we will introduce "hyperscanning" as an upcoming approach to study social interactions between parent and child.

Neurobehavioral Interpersonal Synchrony in Early Development: The Role of Interactional Rhythms.

Social interactions are essential for understanding others' actions and their mental and affective states. Specifically, interpersonal coordination - also referred to as synchrony - allows actors to adjust their behaviors to one another and thus demonstrate their connectedness to each other. Much behavioral research has demonstrated the primacy of mutually synchronized social exchanges in early development.

The role of oxytocin in early mother-infant interactions: Variations in maternal affect attunement.

The aim of the present research was to investigate the relationship between oxytocin and maternal affect attunement, as well as the role of affect attunement in the relationship between oxytocin and infant social engagement during early mother-infant interactions. Forty-three mother-infant dyads participated in the present study when infants were 4 months. They were observed during (1) a situation where no communication took place and (2) a natural interaction between mother and infant.

Moving developmental social neuroscience toward a second-person approach.

Infants' cognitive development and learning rely profoundly on their interactions with other people. In the first year, infants become increasingly sensitive to others' gaze and use it to focus their own attention on relevant visual input. However, infants are not passive observers in early social interactions, and these exchanges are characterized by high levels of contingency and reciprocity.

The Games Infants Play: Social Games During Early Mother-Infant Interactions and Their Relationship With Oxytocin.

The present study examined early social game routines during natural face-to-face mother-infant interactions and their relationship with oxytocin. Forty-three mother-infant dyads were observed, when infants were 4 months old, during a procedure involving a baseline and a natural interaction, where mothers were instructed to interact with their infants as they would at home. During this procedure four saliva samples from mothers and infants were collected to determine levels of oxytocin at different time points.

Not Just Being Lifted: Infants are Sensitive to Delay During a Pick-Up Routine.

In the present study we observed whether infants show online adjustments to the mother's incipient action by looking at their sensitivity to changes as the pick-up unfolded. Twenty-three 3-month-old infants and their mothers were observed in the lab, where mothers were instructed (1) to pick-up their infants as they usually did (normal pick-up), and then (2) to delay the pick-up for 6 s after placing their hands on the infants' waist (delayed pick-up). In both Normal and Delayed conditions infant's body tension, affective displays and gaze shifts were coded during three phases: Approach, Contact, and Lift.

Anticipatory adjustments to being picked up in infancy.

Anticipation of the actions of others is often used as a measure of action understanding in infancy. In contrast to studies of action understanding which set infants up as observers of actions directed elsewhere, in the present study we explored anticipatory postural adjustments made by infants to one of the most common adult actions directed to them - picking them up. We observed infant behavioural changes and recorded their postural shifts on a pressure mat in three phases: (i) a prior Chat phase, (ii) from the onset of Approach of the mother's arms, and (iii) from the onset of Contact.

Variations in 10-month-old infant imitation of people and things.

To explore 10-month-old infants' abilities to engage in intentional imitation, they were shown a human agent, a non-human agent (stuffed animal), and a surrogate object (mechanical pincers) model actions on objects. The tendency of infants to perform the target act was compared in several situations: (a) after test items were manipulated but the target action was not shown, (b) after the target act was demonstrated successfully, and (c) after the target act was demonstrated unsuccessfully. Although infants imitated the successful actions of human and non-human agents, they completed the unsuccessful actions of humans only.

The role of maternal affect attunement in dyadic and triadic communication.

The influence of maternal affect attunement on the relationship between gaze monitoring during dyadic communication at 3 months and coordinated attention during triadic communication at 5, 7 and 10 months was examined in a longitudinal study. Although most infants engaged in gaze monitoring at 3 months and in coordinated attention at 5, 7 and 10 months, a regression analysis revealed that gaze monitoring at 3 months significantly predicted coordinated attention at 10 months only when maternal affect attunement was high. These findings are discussed in terms of theories that emphasize the role of social interaction in the development of meaningful communication and continuity in mental state awareness during the first year of life.

Intentions make a difference: infant responses to still-face and modified still-face conditions.

In two studies, 3-, 6- and 9-month-old infants interacted with their mothers during natural, still-face, and modified still-face (i.e., mothers wearing a mask, or drinking from bottle) conditions.

Contingency, imitation, and affect sharing: Foundations of infants' social awareness.

Predictions about the role of contingency, imitation, and affect sharing in the development of social awareness were tested in infants during natural, imitative, and yoked conditions with their mothers at 5 and 13 weeks of age. Results showed that at both ages, infants of highly attuned mothers gazed, smiled, and vocalized positively more during the natural than during the imitative and yoked conditions, whereas they increased negative vocalizations during the yoked conditions. In contrast, infants of less attuned mothers did not differentiate between the conditions, except at 13 weeks when these infants increased their gazes during the imitative condition.