Do distracting activities increase tolerance for an infant cry?. Issue 1 (25th October 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Glodowski, Kathryn; Thompson, Rachel
• Is Part Of: Journal of applied behavior analysis. Volume 50:Issue 1(2017)
• Page Start: 159
• Page End: 164
• Publication Date: 2016-10-25
• Subjects: aversive noise -- infant crying -- negative reinforcement -- shaken baby syndrome; Psychology, Applied -- Periodicals; Social Behavior -- Periodicals; 150
• DOI: 10.1002/jaba.361
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0021-8855

Abstract

Abstract : Professionals recommend parents engage in distracting activities to mitigate negative effects of inconsolable infant crying (e.g., Deyo, Skybo, & Carroll, 2008; Goulet et al., 2009). We evaluated the availability of alternative activities on six undergraduates' tolerance for a recorded infant cry; three students tolerated the cry longer when distracting activities were available. Our results show that distracting activities could decrease the aversiveness of inconsolable infant crying for some individuals; additional research in natural caregiving situations will help determine the generality and social validity of this finding.