The purpose of the project was to develop an objective instrument for assessing infant-parent interaction. The Infant Parent Social Interaction Code (IPSIC) provides a means for measuring four parent variables (contingent responsivity, directiveness, intrusiveness, and facilitation), four infant variables (initiation, participation, signal clarity, and intentional communicative acts), and one dyadic variable (theme continuity). One hundred fifty-nine infants ranging from birth to 31 months of age adjusted for prematurity and their mothers served as subjects for the preliminary study. Infants were experiencing normal development, environmental risk, biological risk, and established risk. Seventy-three infants with developmental ages between 18 and 36 months participated in a replication study (Cielinski, 1992). Expert opinion was solicited and assisted in the development of operational definitions of infant, parent, and dyadic interactive @@@behaviors. Preliminary and replication reliability and validity data suggest the IPSIC has potential for providing a reliable and useful profile of the infant-parent interactive process. The richness of information revealed by the IPSIC lies not in the frequency of each individual interactional construct, but in the dynamic and dyadic display of interrelated and co-occuring interactive patterns revealed by the assessment process.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Abramson, L.Y., Seligman, M.E.P., & Teasdale, J.D. (1978). Learned helplessness in humans: Critique and reformulation. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 87, 49–74.
2.
Bakeman, R., & Adamson, L.B. (1984). Coordinating attention to people and objects in mother-infant and peer-infant interaction. Child Development, 55, 1278–1289.
3.
Bakeman, R., & Gottman, J.M. (1986). Observing interaction: An introduction to sequential analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
4.
Barnard, K.E., & Kelly, J.F. (1990). Assessment of parent-child interaction. In S.J. Meisels & J.P. Shonkoff (Eds.), Handbook of early childhood intervention (pp. 278–302). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
5.
Bates, E., Camaioni, L., & Volterra, V. (1975). The acquisition of performatives prior to speech. Merrill Palmer Quarterly, 21, 205–226.
6.
Beckman, P.J., & Bristol, M.M. (1991). Issues in developing the IFSP: A framework for establishing family outcomes. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 11(3), 19–31.
7.
Beckwith, L. (1990). Adaptive and maladaptive parenting---Implications for intervention. In S.J. Meisels & J.P. Shonkoff (Eds.), Handbook of early childhood intervention (pp. 53–77). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Borg, W.R., & Gall, M.D. (1983). Educational research: An introduction. Longman: New York.
10.
Brown, J.V., Bakeman, R., Snyder, P.A., Fredrickson, W.T., Morgan, S.T., & Helper, R. (1975). Interactions of black inner-city mothers with their newborn infants. Child Development, 46, 677–686.
11.
Carlile, K.S., & Holstrum, W.J. (1989). Parental involvement behaviors: A comparison of Chamorro and Caucasian parents. Infant Behavior and Development, 12, 479–494.
12.
Carpenter, R.L., Mastergeorge, A.M., & Coggins, T.E. (1983). The acquisition of communicative intentions in infants eight to fifteen months of age. Language and Speech, 26, 101–116.
13.
Chan, S. (1990). Early intervention with culturally diverse families of infants and toddlers with disabilities. Infants and Young Children, 3, 78–87.
14.
Chappell, P.F., & Sander, L.W. (1979). Mutual regulation of the neonatal-maternal interactive process: Context for the origins of communication. In M. Bullowa (Ed.), Before speech: The beginning of interpersonal communication (pp. 89–109). New York: Cambridge University Press.
15.
Cielinski, K. (1992). Down syndrome children's play and mother-child interaction. Unpublished master's thesis, Auburn University, Auburn, AL.
16.
Coggins, T.E., & Carpenter, R.L. (1981). The Communicative Intent Inventory: A system for observing and coding children's early intentional communication. Allied Psycholinguistics, 2, 235–251.
17.
Coggins, T.E., Olswang, L.B., & Guthrie, J. (1987). Assessing communicative intentions in young children: Low structured observation or elicitation tasks?Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, 52, 44–49.
18.
Crittenden, P.M., & Bonvillian, J.D. (1984). The relationship between maternal risk status and maternal sensitivity. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 54, 250–262.
19.
Dixon, S.D., LeVine, R.A., Richman, A., & Brazelton, T.B. (1984). Mother-child interaction around a teaching task: An African-American comparison. Child Development, 55, 1252–1264.
20.
Farran, D.C., Clark, K.A., & Ray, A.R. (1990). Measures of parent-child interaction. In E.D. Gibbs & D.M. Teti (Eds.), Interdisciplinary assessment of infants: A guide for early intervention professionals (pp. 227–247). Baltimore: Brookes.
21.
Field, T. (1981). Infant arousal attention and affect during early interactions. Advances in Infancy Research, 1, 57–100.
22.
Fleiss, J.L. (1981). Statistical methods for rates and proportions. New York: Wiley.
23.
Goldberg, S. (1977). Social competency in infancy: A model of parent-infant interaction. Merrill Palmer Quarterly, 23, 163–177.
24.
Green, L. (1970). Manual for scoring socioeconomic status for research on health behavior. Public Health Reports, 85, 815–827.
25.
Greenberg, M.T. (1980). Social interaction between deaf preschoolers and their mothers: The effects of communication method and communication competence. Developmental Psychology, 16, 465–474.
26.
Greenglass, E.R. (1971). A cross-cultural comparison of maternal communication. Child Development, 42, 685–692.
27.
Harding, C. (1984). Acting with intention: A framework for examining the development of the intent to communicate. In L. Feagans, C. Garvey, & R. Golinkoff (Eds.), The origins and growth of communication (pp. 123–135). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
28.
Helm, J.M. (1989). Assessment of behavioral state organization. In D.B. Bailey & M. Wolery (Eds.), Assessing infants and preschoolers with handicaps (pp. 202–224). Columbus, OH: Merrill.
29.
Hopkins, B. (1983). The development of early non-verbal communication: An evaluation of its meaning. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 24, 131–144.
30.
Isabella, R.A., Belsky, J., & von Eye, A. (1989). Origins of infant-mother attachment: An examination of interactional synchrony during the infant's first year. Developmental Psychology, 25, 12–21.
31.
Landry, S.H., & Chapieski, M.L. (1989). Joint attention and infant toy exploration: Effects of Down syndrome and prematurity. Child Development, 60, 103–118.
32.
Landry, S.H., & Chapieski, M.L. (1990). Joint attention of six-month-old Down syndrome and preterm infants: I. Attention to toys. American Journal on Mental Retardation, 94, 488–498.
33.
Landry, S.H., Chapieski, M.L., & Schmidt, M. (1986). Effects of maternal attention-directing strategies on preterms' response to toys. Infant Behavior and Development, 9, 269–357.
34.
Lewis, M. (1978). The infant and its caregiver: The role of contingency. Allied Health and Behavioral Sciences, 1, 469–492.
35.
Mahoney, G. (1985). Mother-child interaction: Research and intervention with young handicapped children. Paper presented at the 63rd Annual Convention of the Council for Exceptional Children, Anaheim, CA.
36.
Mahoney, G., Fors, S., & Wood, S. (1990). Maternal directive behavior revisited. American Journal on Mental Retardation, 94, 398–406.
37.
Maurer, H., & Sherrod, K.B. (1987). Context of directives given to young children with Down syndrome and nonretarded children: Development over two years. American Association on Mental Deficiency, 91, 579–590.
38.
McCloskey, G. (1990). Selecting and using early childhood rating scales. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 10(3), 39–64.
39.
Odom, S. (1983). The development of social interchanges in infancy. In S.G. Garwood & R.R. Fewell (Eds.), Educating handicapped infants: Issues in development and intervention (pp. 215–254). Rockville, MD: Aspen.
40.
Parrinello, R.M., & Ruff, H.A. (1988). The influence of adult intervention of infants' level of attention. Child Development, 59, 1125–1135.
41.
Rosenberg, S.A., & Robinson, C.C. (1988). Interactions of parents with their young handicapped children. In S.L. Odom & M.B. Karnes (Eds.), Early intervention for infants and children with handicaps: An empirical base (pp. 159–177). Baltimore: Brookes.
42.
Roth, P.L. (1987). Temporal characteristics of maternal verbal styles. In K.E. Nelson & A. van Kleeck (Eds.), Children's language: Vol. 6 (pp. 132–158). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
43.
Ruddy, M.G., & Bornstein, M.H. (1982). Cognitive correlates of infant attention and maternal stimulation over the first year of life. Child Development, 53, 183–188.
44.
Sackett, G.P., Gluck, J., & Ruppenthal, G.C. (1978). Introduction: An overview of methodological and statistical problems in observational research. In G.P. Sackett (Ed.), Observing behavior, Vol. II: Data collection and analysis methods (pp. 1–14). Baltimore: University Park Press.
45.
Salisbury, C.L., Britzman, D., & Kang, J. (1989). Using qualitative methods to assess the social-communicative competence of young handicapped children. Journal of Early Intervention, 13, 153–164.
46.
Scoville, R. (1984). Development of the intent to communicate: The eye of the beholder. In L. Feagans, C. Garvey, & R. Golinkoff (Eds.), The origins and growth of communication (pp. 109–122). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
47.
Spumi, S.J. (1981). The perception of contingency and social development. In M.E. Lamb & L.R. Sherrod (Eds.), Infant social cognition; Empirical and theoretical considerations (pp. 177–203). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
48.
Stern, D. (1977). The first relationship. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
49.
Sugarman-Bell, S. (1978). Some organizational aspects of per-verbal communication. In I. Markova (Ed.), The social context of language (pp. 49–66). New York: Wiley.
50.
Tamis-LeMonda, C.S., & Bornstein, M.H. (1989). Habituation and maternal encouragement of attention in infancy as predictors of toddler language, play, and representational competence. Child Development, 60, 738–751.
51.
Tannock, R. (1988). Mothers' directiveness in their interactions with their children with and without Down syndrome. American Journal on Mental Retardation, 93, 154–165.
52.
Vibbert, M., & Bornstein, M.H. (1989). Specific associations between domains of mother-child interaction and toddler referential language and pretense play. Infant Behavior and Development, 12, 163–184.
53.
Watson, J.S. (1979). Perception of contingency as a determinant of social responsiveness. In E.B. Thoman (Ed.), Origins of the infant's social responsiveness (pp. 33–64). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
54.
Wetherby, A.M., Cain, D.H., Yonclas, D.G., & Walker, V.G. (1988). Analysis of intentional communication on normal children from the prelinguistic to the multiword stage. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 31, 240–252.
55.
Wetherby, A.M., Yonclas, D.G., & Bryan, A.A. (1989). Communicative profiles of preschool children with handicaps: Implications for early identification. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, 54, 148–158.
56.
Yarrow, L.J., MacTurk, P.M., Vietze, P.M., McCarthy, M.E., Klein, R.P., & McQuiston, S. (1984). Developmental course of parental stimulation and its relationship to mastery motivation during infancy. Developmental Psychology, 20, 492–503.
57.
Yoder, P. (1987). Relationship between degree of infant handicap and clarity of infant cues. American Journal of Mental Deficiency, 91, 639–641.
58.
Yoder, P., & Davies, B. (1990). Do parental questions and topic continuations elicit replies from developmentally delayed children?Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 33, 563–573.
