Motor Contingency Learning and Infants with Spina Bifida

Infants with Spina Bifida (SB) were compared to typically developing infants (TD) using a conjugate reinforcement paradigm at 6 months-of-age (n= 98) to evaluate learning, and retention of a sensory-motor contingency. Analyses evaluated infant arm-waving rates at baseline (wrist not tethered to mobile), during acquisition of the sensory-motor contingency (wrist tethered), and immediately after the acquisition phase and then after a delay (wrist not tethered), controlling for arm reaching ability, gestational age, and socioeconomic status. Although both groups responded to the contingency with increased arm-waving from baseline to acquisition, 15% to 29% fewer infants with SB than TD were found to learn the contingency depending on the criterion used to determine contingency learning. In addition, infants with SB who had learned the contingency had more difficulty retaining the contingency over time when sensory feedback was absent. The findings suggest that infants with SB do not learn motor contingencies as easily or at the same rate as TD infants, and are more likely to decrease motor responses when sensory feedback is absent. Results are discussed with reference to research on contingency learning in infants with and without neurodevelopmental disorders, and with reference to motor learning in school-age children with SB. (JINS, 2013,19, 1–10)

Methodische Herausforderungen in der Kulturvergleichenden Säuglingsforschung

Zusammenfassung. Menschliche Entwicklung vollzieht sich in der Interaktion von Biologie und Kultur. Deshalb müssen die jeweiligen öko-kulturellen Kontextbedingungen bei der Untersuchung von Entwicklung berücksichtigt werden. Untersuchungen in verschiedenen öko-kulturellen Kontexten stellen jedoch große Anforderungen an die verwendeten Untersuchungsmethoden. In dem vorliegenden Überblicksartikel werden diese methodischen Herausforderungen dargestellt und anhand von empirischen Beispielen aus dem Bereich der Kulturvergleichenden Forschung zur Lern- und Gedächtnisentwicklung von Säuglingen verdeutlicht. Die Beispiele beziehen sich auf das Habituationsparadigma, die Mobile-Aufgabe (mobile conjugate reinforcement task) sowie die A-nicht-B-Suchaufgabe. Lösungsmöglichkeiten werden entwickelt und mögliche Forschungsstrategien diskutiert.

Assoziation zwischen der Kompetenz zur Kontingenzerkennung im Alter von drei und sechs Monaten und dem Entwicklungsstand im Alter von ein und zwei Jahren

Zusammenfassung. Berichtet wird über eine Längsschnittstudie mit vier Untersuchungszeitpunkten an 87 Kindern im Alter von 3 bis 24 Monaten. Ziel war es, die Assoziationen zwischen Kompetenzen zur nicht-sozialen Kontingenzwahrnehmung mit drei und sechs Monaten und dem späteren Entwicklungsstand mit einem bzw. zwei Jahren sowie der sprachlichen Entwicklung mit zwei Jahren zu analysieren. Die Kompetenz zur Wahrnehmung nicht-sozialer Kontingenzen wurde mittels Mobile Conjugate Reinforcement Paradigma (Mobiletest) sowie Visual Expectation Paradigma (VEP) erhoben. Der Entwicklungsstand wurde mit dem Entwicklungstest 6 Monate - 6 Jahre (ET 6-6) erhoben, die sprachliche Entwicklung mittels des Sprachtests für zweijährige Kinder (SETK-2). Es zeigte sich, dass die Ergebnisse des Mobiletests mit drei Monaten signifikante Bezüge zur Sprachentwicklung mit zwei Jahren aufwiesen. Das VEP mit sechs Monaten stand ebenfalls mit der Sprachentwicklung mit zwei Jahren, zusätzlich aber auch mit der kognitiven und sozialen Entwicklung mit einem Jahr in Verbindung. Diskutiert werden neben der Notwendigkeit zu einer altersspezifischen Differenzierung zwischen den beiden Paradigmen zur Wahrnehmung nicht-sozialer Kontingenzen auch die möglichen Verbindungslinien zwischen nicht-sozialer Kontingenzwahrnehmung und Entwicklung.

The Performance of Infants Born Preterm and Full-term in the Mobile Paradigm: Learning and Memory

Background and Purpose. By 3 to 4 months of age, infants born full-term and without known disease display associative learning and memory abilities in the mobile paradigm, where an infant's leg is tethered to a mobile such that leg kicks result in proportional mobile movement. The first purpose of this study was to examine the learning and memory abilities of a group of infants born full-term compared with those of a comparison group. Little is known about the learning and memory abilities in infants born preterm, a group at known risk for future impairments in learning and movement. The second purpose of this study was to determine if and when an age-adjusted group of infants born prematurely display associative learning and memory abilities over a 6-week period. Subjects. Ten infants born full-term (38–42 weeks gestational age [GA]) and 10 infants born preterm (<33 weeks GA and <2,500 g) who were tethered and had control over the mobile movement were independently compared with a comparison group of 10 infants born full-term who were tethered and viewed a moving mobile but did not have control over the mobile movement. Infants in all 3 groups were seen at 3 to 4 months of age and were excluded from participation for any known visual or orthopedic diagnoses. Methods. Infants were tested using the mobile conjugate reinforcement paradigm, where one leg is tethered to an overhead mobile such that kicking with that leg results in proportional mobile movement. The kicking rates of the full-term group and the preterm group were compared with their own initial (baseline) kicking rates and with those of the comparison group. Results. After exposure to the conjugate relationship between kicking and mobile movement, the full-term group kicked more frequently compared with their own baseline levels and compared with the comparison group, fulfilling both criteria for learning and memory. In contrast, the preterm group did not increase their kicking rate according to both criteria. Discussion and Conclusion. These results suggest that infants born prematurely differ in their performance in the mobile paradigm as compared with age-matched infants born full-term. The mobile paradigm may provide clinicians with an important early assessment of infants' associative learning and memory abilities. Follow-up studies are needed, however, to further validate this paradigm as a clinical assessment tool.