Enhancing the Observer
Saturday, 2:30 PM - 4:15 PM
Hynes CC 210

Chair: Emily Bushnell, Tufts University

Abstract
Historically, seminal work in developmental psychology has often relied on astute and painstaking observations of children’s behavior. Recent advances in technology have dramatically altered our observational capacities. These new tools make observation more convenient, efficient, and precise. More importantly, they make it possible to address questions which could not be examined previously and thus open up whole new approaches and areas of inquiry within our field. This symposium is designed to showcase several new technologies available to enhance observation on a broad range of issues in developmental psychology. Individual presentations will focus on eye-tracking, motion analysis, computer-aided video analysis, and cartographic modeling with geographical information systems. The speakers will characterize these state-of-the-art technologies and illustrate how they may contribute to developmental science through examples from their own research.

Presentation 1
Eye Tracking Investigations of Infant Perception and Cognition
Speaker: Scott Johnson, New York University

Biographical Sketch
Scott Johnson received his PhD from Arizona State University in 1992, and received postdoctoral training in the Center for Visual Science at the University of Rochester. He is currently an Associate Professor of Psychology and Neural Science at New York University. His research interests center on mechanisms of perceptual, cognitive, and cortical development, and relations among different developmental processes. Current research topics include object perception, face perception, intermodal perception, visual attention, early language development, and learning mechanisms, using a combination of methods, including preferential looking, eye movements, electroencephalography, functional MRI, and connectionist modeling.

Abstract
A principal dependent measure in investigations of infant perceptual and cognitive development is looking time: the proportion of gaze, judged by an observer, that infants direct at one stimulus vs. another. Looking time paradigms have served the field well, yet the simple metric of “looking” or “not looking” misses out on a rich source of information that can be provided by detailed measurements of oculomotor behavior. This talk will provide a brief tutorial in eye tracking. I will describe how it works in general, and how it can be made to work with infants and young children in particular. I will then discuss some of the many applications of eye movement data. Eye movements can serve as a dependent variable, as in studies that analyze reaction times and oculomotor anticipations. Eye movements can serve as an independent variable, as in studies that classify infants as “efficient” or “inefficient” in their scanning patterns, and that analyze other experimental outcomes in light of this grouping variable. Finally, eye movements can serve as an interesting subject of investigation in their own right: Little is known about how infants go about the task of looking at the world, and how developments in scanning patterns are related to other developmental processes.

Presentation 2
Zooming in on Infant Movement Through the Use of Motion Systems
Speaker: Linda Fetters, University of Southern California

Biographical Sketch
Linda Fetters received her education as a physical therapist at the University of Wisconsin (BS, 1971) and Boston University (MS, 1976) and her PhD in psychology from Brandeis University in 1986. She was on the faculty of the Department of Physical Therapy at Boston University for 20 years and most recently joined the faculty of the Division of Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy at the University of Southern California as Professor of Physical Therapy (Clinical Scholar). Her research interests are in the motor coordination and rehabilitation of infants at risk for neurodevelopmental disorders including prematurely born infants and infants exposed to polydrugs.

Abstract
Infant movement can be described and analyzed at many levels. Motion analysis systems provide us with the opportunity to zoom in on infant movement similar to zooming in with a microscope on the organisms that constitute the tissues of the body. Motion systems can assist us in defining coordination and control of movement through the analysis of joint and body segment motion, as well as describing the forces that are generated through these motions. A kicking or reaching movement can be described for example in terms of the relation of the different joints to each other throughout the movement, or in relation to another part of the body, or in relation to an object in the infant’s environment. Motion systems provide precise, quantitative data in the form for example of joint angles, velocities and accelerations of joints or segments of the body. Active versus passive motion systems will be compared in relation to questions that can be addressed and the time necessary for data collection and analysis for each type of system. A study of infants born prematurely with white matter disorder will be used as an example of the type of data obtained from a motion system. The data from this study provides first time evidence that infants with these brain lesions demonstrate atypical motor coordination as early as 1 month of (corrected) age.

Presentation 3
Informing the Dimensional Structure of Neighborhoods Using City Administrative Data
Speaker: Dennis Culhane, University of Pennsylvania

Abstract
A growing body of research has explored the impact of the neighborhood residence on child and adolescent health and well-being. With this research has come a methodological inquiry into valid and reliable measures of neighborhood conditions. The majority of previous studies have used U.S. Census variables as the measure of neighborhood ecology. This research study explores the use of administrative data, geographical information systems and exploratory factor analysis to develop more robust measures of neighborhood ecology. The administrative data factor scores and census data factor scores were compared using canonical analysis. These measures were then used to predict block group variation in 5th and 8th grade reading and math standardized test scores. Factor analysis identified 3 distinct neighborhood structures, Social Stress, Structural Decline and Neighborhood Crime. Comparing these factors to census derived factors revealed that these administrative factors contributed new information beyond what census factors measure. Multilevel regression analysis revealed that a combination of census and administrative factors explained more 5th and 8th grade reading and math test scores than each explained individually.

Presentation 4
Examining Opportunities for Positive Emotion Interaction in Daily Family Life Using Computer-Aided Video Analysis
Speaker: Belinda Campos, University of California, Los Angeles

Biographical Sketch
Belinda Campos is a social-personality psychologist who uses observational and experimental methods to study relationship and emotion processes that generate high quality relationships. Her work in this area emphasizes the role of other-focused positive emotion and cultural values in promoting 1) relationship closeness and satisfaction among romantic partners, family members, and friends, 2) pro-social behavior toward close others and collectives, and 3) positive health outcomes. Belinda Campos received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in 2003 and completed a NIMH Postdoctoral Fellowship in Health Psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles Department of Psychology from 2003-2005. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Los Angeles Sloan Center for the Everyday Lives of Families (CELF), which is generously funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation program on the Workplace, Workforce, and Working Families.

Abstract
The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation program on Working Families funded an interdisciplinary collaborative research study conducted by members of the UCLA Sloan Center on the Everyday Lives of Families (CELF). Drawing on the methodologies of anthropology, education, linguistics and psychology, CELF researchers created a detailed, ethnographic video archive of everyday middle-class dual-career family life from a sample of 32 families living in the greater Los Angeles area. To capitalize on the naturalistic observation methodology, the researchers developed a software system for managing the video data library that allowed for simultaneous behavioral coding by multiple judges working on different projects. These features are illustrated in a study of the transition from the workday to family life. Popular perception and research suggest that dual-career family life can be stressful and, specifically, that work-stress spillover can adversely impact the emotional quality of family life. It was hypothesized that opportunities for positive interaction would be most pronounced when families reunited at the end of the workday, during dinner, and at bedtime. Using daily interval methodology, fluctuations of positive and negative affect during the course of the evening were tracked in 10 minute intervals and 30-second slices of video were coded for each parent’s display of positive and negative emotion behaviors. Results largely confirmed predictions. By using technologies that enhance the ability to directly observe spontaneous social behavior, researchers can better understand how processes that are typically studied in the laboratory unfold in the course of everyday life.