Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Relationship Between Focused Attention And Object Permanence In Infants With Motor Delays, Amber Delprince, Melanie Tommer, Claire Boe, Jessica Spirnak, Karl Jancart, Regina Harbourne Ph.D

Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium

Background: Focused attention (uninterrupted attention to task) and understanding of object permanence (knowledge that objects exist when not seen) are two constructs in infancy that build future cognitive skills. The relationship between the two in infants with delays is poorly understood.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of early focused attention at the point of early sitting independence to object permanence skill one year later in infants with motor delays.

Methods: 15 infants (aged 8-16 months) with motor delays were scored on an analog scale of 1-5 (5 = greatest focus) to indicate their level …

Long-Term Object Permanence And Sitting In Infants With Motor Delays, Karl Jancart, Amber Delprince, Melanie Tommer, Jessica Spirnak, Claire Boe, Regina Harbourne

Graduate Student Research Symposium

This study investigated the development of Object Permanence (OP) in infants with varying levels of motor delays and the relationship between sitting skill development and OP skill over time. Infants (n = 37; baseline mean age = 12mos, 14dys), stratified into groups of mild, moderate, and significant motor delay, participated in a randomized controlled trial (Harbourne et al, 2018). Children were assessed at baseline, 1.5-mos, 3-mos, 6-mos and 12-mos. OP behaviors were coded on a 20-point ordinal scale using Datavyu software. Sitting skill was measured using the Gross Motor Function Measure-88, sitting dimension (GMFM-SD). A Kruskal-Wallis test with Bonferroni correction …