Research that Benefits Babies

While this is not a published research article, but the "Still Face" experiment I think is fascinating involves the use of children to prove a research theory.  I am embedding the link to the ZERO TO THREE website so if you have not watched the experiment previously you will have the opportunity to watch and I look forward to hearing your responses about the experiment. 

 

This video clip is excerpted from ZERO TO THREE's Helping Babies From the Bench: Using the Science of Early Childhood Development in Court.  The video was developed by ZERO TO THREE for judges working in family court to use as a basis in helping them make decisions about the best interest of young children.  The entire video can be obtained from ZERO TO THREE for free.  The entire video is great and I think a must have for any early childhood professional.  The link to view the excerpted video clip is as follows:  http://main.zerotothree.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ter_stillface.

 

The Still Face paradigm, designed by Edward Tronick, is an experimental procedure for studying infant social and emotional development. During the experiment, an infant and a parent interact playfully before the parent suddenly stops responding and looks away. After a short period, the parent reengages with the infant. The infant’s reaction to a suddenly unresponsive parent and his or her behavior when the parent resumes interaction, have been used to study many aspects of early social and emotional development (ZERO TO THREE, 2010).

 

The risk/benefit around the "Still Face" experiment is minimal because of the duration of the experiment.  While the child does experience distress it is only for a short amount of time and the child recovers because the mom begins to provide love and attention.  The benefit of this experiment is that we get to see the effects of children not getting the attention they seek and if that continues over time the lasting impact it has on their brain development.  This is a very powerful experiment and we have integrated this into our Infant, Toddler and Two's Early Learning Guidelines training so that teachers of children in this age group can see the importance of meeting the babies needs and providing them appropriate attention.

 

 

 

 

Reference

ZERO TO THREE. (2010).  Still Face Experiment.  Retrieved from http://main.zerotothree.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ter_stillface.

 

 

 

My Personal Research Journey

 
The topic I have chosen for my research simulation is what level of professional development is necessary to reach optimal quality for young children?  I chose this research because I have committed my professional career to supporting quality child care and believing that if children attend high quality programs that it benefits their learning.  I personally believe that there are many layers of criteria that make up a high quality program and they include the teacher qualifications and continued professional development, the supports for the child care system, the environment, the leadership and management practices of the facility and the commitment to family partnerships.  However, I believe the one of the single most important factors is finding the right fit for the classroom with children.  I personally think it is a combination of education and passion, which is what makes answering this question so difficult.  There have been many researchers that have tackled this topic and as a field we still don't have the magic answer.  I just hope that through this process I can add the existing body of knowledge.
 
The Understanding Research Chart is helping us break it down to more manageable steps.  I am looking forward to any advice you all have on my topic or the process.  This research simulation feels like I am attempting to learn a new language and I feel completely lost.  Even though in my job I am a consumer of research beginning to simulate research is very scary and overwhelming.  I am feeling very inadequate about my ability thus far in this class.  I feel that our textbook Doing Early Childhood Research is very helpful as a resource.    I look forward to learning if you all suggest any additional resources that will make this process more palatable.

Welcome to EDUC 6163 Building Research Competencies

I am going to continue to use my same blog that I have for all of my Walden University classes up to this point.  I look forward to learning and working with a new group of students.