Neonatal lateralization : asymmetrical attainment and maintenance of head posture

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorRisser, Anthony Harolden_US
dc.date.accessioned2024-08-15T17:39:52Z
dc.date.available2024-08-15T17:39:52Z
dc.date.copyright1981en_US
dc.date.issued1981
dc.degree.departmentDepartment of Psychology
dc.degree.levelMaster of Arts M.A.en
dc.description.abstractNormal full-term newborn infants will usually show a side preference for turning their heads away from the cephalo-caudal body midline when supine-positioned. This preferences is typically rightward. Empirical investigation concerning this phenomenon and its posited antecedents and consequences. A review of the research indicates that this typically-rightward bias is manifested at two levels. At the first, basic level, there is a lateral bias in spontaneous, attained or maintained head posture. At the second level, there is a responsive asymmetry to lateralized stimuli: an ipsilateral turning response is more easily elicited by right-sided stimulation than by left-sided stimulation. The current study was designed to be an in-depth investigation of the level one lateral bias. The goals of this study were to examine the lateral bias in a testing situation which was minimally asymmetric in stimulation, to determine the generalizability of the bias in a setting independent to prior test settings, to examine the lateral bias along three potential dimensions of lateral consistency: initial turning preference subsequent to midline head release, turning preference for all turns over the course of the test session, and which side the infant spent the majority of time turned toward, and, finally, to examine the relationship between these indices of lateral consistency and a set of attribute variables (i.e., uterine head position, parental handedness, age at testing, sex, state during testing, spontaneous head posture prior to testing, birth status, delivery types, maternal age and maternal medication). The lateral bias of fifty, healthy full-term male and female neonates was examined in a repeated-trail observation session. Each trial involved the following sequence: restricting the neonate's head to the midline until no pressure to turn in either direction was felt, head release, and one minute of free head movement by the neonate. The majority of the sample manifested a lateral bias, often rightward, along all three dimensions. The only significant relationship between the measures and the set of attribute variables was with spontaneous head posture. The contribution of these results to the available literature is discussed. A valid assessment of the theoretical and clinical neurophysiological significance of the literature awaits further multi-dimensional investigation with both normal and clinical samples.en_US
dc.format.extent124 pages
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1828/19461
dc.rightsAvailable to the World Wide Weben_US
dc.titleNeonatal lateralization : asymmetrical attainment and maintenance of head postureen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Risser_Anthony_MA_1981_191334.pdf
Size:
27.17 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Download

Collections

Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETD)
 
University of Victoria Libraries

We acknowledge and respect the Lək̓ʷəŋən (Songhees and Esquimalt) Peoples on whose territory the university stands, and the Lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ Peoples whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day.