"A change of pace": an investigation of the salience of maternal temporal style in mother-infant play.
The salience of maternal temporal style of playful stimulation to 3- and 5-month-old infants during free play was investigated. 32 mother-infant dyads were videotaped for 8 min of interaction which consisted of 4 2-min phases of differing maternal temporal styles: natural (usual), slower-than-usual, return-to-usual, and faster-than-usual temporal styles. Multivariate analyses revealed that changes in the pacing of playful stimulation significantly affected several infant, maternal, and interactive variables. For both the 3- and 5-month-olds, the initial phase of natural temporal style emerged as the period of most positive interactions, and the faster play phase included more positive behaviors than the slower play phase. While most maternal behaviors were very similar in the 2 phases of natural temporal style, infant and some interactive variables failed to demonstrate a return-to-baseline effect. Patterns of differential responding suggested the contributions of possible sequencing effects, infant temporal estimation capacities, and expectancies for the appropriateness of pacing in playful exchanges.
D001364:Awareness; D002657:Child Development; D003142:Communication; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D010988:Play and Playthings; D002666:Psychology, Child; D013998:Time Perception