The effect of planned social interaction on institutionalized infants.

Note:The purpose of this research was to determine what changes could be effected in institutionalized infants by daily 20-minute social interactions. In Study I, the independent variable was the responsiveness of the interaction to the infant's initiative (a contingency-non contingency dimension). In Study 11, the independent variable was the number of interactors (single versus multiple interactors). Both studies showed that some changes could be brought about in locomotor development, eye-hand coordination, and certain problem solving abilities. The second study also showed that this stimulation was more effective when performed by one person as opposed to many persons. Two groups of crèche infants, one with an average age of 27.25 weeks, the other with an average age of 33.17 weeks, were also compared, and an attempt was made to delineate the environmental variables underlying the functioning of each group as well as the differences between them