Effects Of Traditional Cradling Practices On Infants' Physical, Motor, And Social Development

关于婴儿发育的著名理论都建立在这样的前提之上：行动自由是必不可少的(例如，Gibson，1988)，限制行动对发展有害。由于研究人员通过故意限制婴儿来测试限制活动的效果在伦理上是不可接受的，许多研究利用了在贫困条件下长大的儿童提供的“自然实验”，例如罗马尼亚孤儿院的儿童大部分时间被留在婴儿床上(例如，Nelson，Fox和Amp；Zeanah，2014)。然而，在这些情况下，儿童也被剥夺了与照顾者的社会互动，这使得区分限制活动和其他类型的剥夺的影响变得困难。这项工作利用了一个难得的机会，通过研究中亚塔吉克斯坦的一个“Gahvora”摇篮来研究限制活动对婴儿发育的影响。在那里，婴儿活动受限很常见，但婴儿得到了大量的社交互动和关爱。Karasik博士、她的合作者Adolph博士和Tamis-Lemonda博士以及他们的国际研究团队将根据塔吉克婴儿在生命的头两年经历的限制的持续时间和程度来调查他们的身体、运动和社会发育。这项研究还对运动技能的发展是否以及如何影响其他领域的发展，如与物体和人的互动等提供了见解。本研究探讨了发展心理学的核心问题，包括儿童发展中的跨文化一致性问题，以及环境对早期经验和新兴技能的影响。数据将通过Databrary.org视频数据共享库与更广泛的科学界共享。该项目将通过提供研究方法和发展科学方面的培训，吸引美国和国外的本科生和研究人员。

Prominent theories of infant development have been built on the premise that freedom to move is essential (e.g., Gibson, 1988), and that restricted movement is harmful for development. Since it is ethically unacceptable for researchers to test effects of restricted movement by intentionally restraining infants, many studies have taken advantage of 'natural experiments' provided by cases of children reared in impoverished conditions, such as children in Romanian orphanages who were left in their cribs most of the time (e.g., Nelson, Fox, & Zeanah, 2014). However, in these situations, children were also deprived of social interaction with caregivers, which makes separating the effects of restricted movement versus other types of deprivation difficult.This work capitalizes on a rare chance to study effects of restricted movement on infant development by examining the use of a 'gahvora' cradle in Tajikistan in Central Asia where restriction of infant movement is common, but infants receive plenty of social interaction and affection. Dr. Karasik, her collaborators, Drs. Adolph and Tamis-LeMonda, and their international research team will investigate the physical, motor, and social development of Tajik infants based on the duration and degree of restriction they experience during the first two years of life. This work also provides insights into whether and how development of motor skills influences development in other domains such as interactions with objects and people.This study addresses issues that are core to developmental psychology, including questions about cross-cultural consistency in children's development and the effects of context on early experiences and emerging skills. Data will be shared with the broader scientific community through the Databrary.org video data-sharing library. This project will engage undergraduate students and researchers in the U.S. and abroad by offering training in research methods and developmental science.