title: Maternal stimulation and infant exploratory competence: cross-sectional, correlational, and experimental analyses.
abstract: Research on maternal influence on infant development is criticized on the basis of its limited ability to make strong causal claims. 2 observational studies are then presented; 1 details, cross-sectionally, developmental changes in strategies of maternal stimulation and infant exploration and the interrelationship of these domains of parent and child behavior; the other tests, experimentally, the hypothesis that maternal stimulation fosters infant exploratory competence. Results of the first study reveal: (1) a linear increase in mother's verbal attention-focusing behavior and a curvilinear trend in physical attention-focusing strategies between 9 and 18 months; (2) linear increases in a variety of measures of infant exploration; and (3) positive associations between naturalistically observed maternal stimulation and infant exploratory competence. The experimental study demonstrates that infant exploratory skill, as measured both naturalistically and during a semistructured, free-play assessment, is positively influenced by the enhancement of maternal stimulation. These latter results are discussed in terms of infant stimulation programs.
mesh_terms: D005106:Exploratory Behavior; D005260:Female; D005556:Form Perception; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007804:Language Development; D008297:Male; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D010988:Play and Playthings; D002666:Psychology, Child