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

著名的婴儿发展理论是建立在这样一个前提上的，即行动自由是必不可少的（例如，Gibson, 1988），而限制行动对发展是有害的。由于研究人员通过故意限制婴儿来测试限制运动的影响在伦理上是不可接受的，因此许多研究都利用了在贫困条件下长大的儿童案例提供的“自然实验”，例如罗马尼亚孤儿院的儿童，他们大部分时间都被留在婴儿床里（例如，Nelson, Fox, & Zeanah, 2014）。然而，在这些情况下，儿童也被剥夺了与照顾者的社交互动，这使得将限制行动的影响与其他类型的剥夺区分开来变得困难。这项工作利用了一个难得的机会，通过检查中亚塔吉克斯坦的“gahvora”摇篮的使用，研究限制运动对婴儿发育的影响。在塔吉克斯坦，婴儿运动受到限制是常见的，但婴儿得到了大量的社会互动和情感。卡拉西克博士和她的合作者，Adolph和Tamis-LeMonda以及他们的国际研究小组将根据塔吉克婴儿在生命的头两年所经历的限制的持续时间和程度，调查他们的身体、运动和社会发展。这项工作还为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）提供了见解。本研究解决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历和新兴技能的影响。数据将通过databary.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.