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VISUAL ATTENTION SKILLS OF VERY LOW BIRTH-WEIGHTINFANTS: EFFECTS OF MATERNAL STIMULATION.Susan Landry.

This study investigated two separate atten­tional processes (movement of and sustaining ofattentional focus) for six month old preterm infantsduring toy exploration. Preterms grouped accordingto medical complication into a Low Risk (LR) (n=25)and a High Risk (HR) (n=21) group were compared tofull-term infants (n=25) of comparable maternaleducation and socio-economic levels. Medical fac­tors were hypothesized to relate to measures ofmovement of attentional focus but not to the abil­ity to sustain attention to toys. A second object­ive was to determine whether these separate atten­tional abilities of preterms were facilitated inplay interactions with their mothers to the samedegree as for FT infants. In light of the disrupt­ive effect of early medical complications on motherinfant interactions, the HR preterms were notexpected to be comparable to the LR and FT infantsin their ability to show increased attention andreaching for toys with their mothers. Behaviorswere coded from videotapes of the infant and matherconditions. As predicted HR preterms differed fromboth LR and FT infants on movement of attentionalfocus but not on sustaining attention. However, allgroups showed comparable facilitation of attentionin the mother condition. Infant independent attend­ing behaviors, maternal attention directing strate­gies, and maternal attitutdes of warmth regardingchildrearing were important in a regression modelexplaining the infants' attending behaviors in themother condition.