Association between electronic media use, development milestones and language in infants / Asociación entre el uso de medios electrónicos, hitos del desarrollo y lenguaje en infantes

Abstract The use of electronic media has increased in early childhood. During early childhood, language and motor skills are important for the development of other cognitive skills. Therefore, it becomes essential to study how the use of screens is associated with these important skills in the first years of life. The objective of the following research was to describe the use of electronic media (i. e., TV, cell phone and tablet) and its association with language and developmental milestones in the first years of life. Participants were 253 primary caregivers of infants between 2 to 48 months (M = 30.17 months, SD = 10.82, female = 124). Parental reports of infant media use, motor and language development milestones, the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory (CDI) and the Permanent Household Survey (EPH) for sociodemographic variables were used. The results showed that, on average, infants began to use screens during the first year of life at an average of one hour per day with TV as the most used medium and video viewing as the activity they did the most. The number of hours of devices usage was positively associated with lexical density and sentence use. Furthermore, starting device use at a later age was associated with lower scores in language reports and later milestones of motor and language development. No differences were found based on the type of device content and sociodemographic variables. Results indicate that the excessive use of screens could affect some early skills, although it is necessary to investigate the context in which they are used.

Resumen En los últimos años, el uso de medios electrónicos ha aumentado en la infancia temprana debido al creciente acceso a las pantallas y a la situación de aislamiento ocasionado por la pandemia de COVID-19. Por otro lado, durante la primera infancia, las habilidades de lenguaje y motrices son fundamentales para el desarrollo de otras habilidades cognitivas, y se asocian con el rendimiento académico y habilidades sociales posteriores durante la niñez y adolescencia. Por ende, se vuelve fundamental estudiar cómo el contexto de estimulación en el hogar, específicamente el uso de pantallas, se asocia con estas habilidades importantes en los primeros años de vida. Si bien existen investigaciones sobre las asociaciones del uso de pantallas con habilidades cognitivas tempranas, son escasas las que indagan este fenómeno en el ámbito latinoamericano, y nulas las que lo realizaron en el actual contexto de pandemia. El objetivo de esta investigación fue describir el uso de medios electrónicos (i. e., TV, teléfono celular y tablet) y su asociación con el lenguaje y los hitos del desarrollo en los primeros años de vida. Los participantes fueron 253 cuidadores primarios de infantes de Latinoamérica (68.8 % de Argentina, y 31.2 % de otros países de la región) con edades entre 2 y 48 meses (M = 30.17 meses, SD = 10.82, femenino = 124), reclutados vía web a través de muestreo no probabilístico de tipo intencional y por bola de nieve. Se utilizaron los reportes de los padres sobre el uso de medios electrónicos (i. e., tiempo de uso, edad de inicio y tipo de contenido), los hitos del desarrollo motor y del lenguaje, el Inventario de Desarrollo de Habilidades Comunicativas (CDI) (i. e., densidad léxica y uso de oraciones) y la Encuesta Permanente de Hogares (EPH) para evaluar las variables sociodemográficas. Los resultados mostraron que, en promedio, los infantes comenzaron a usar pantallas durante el primer año de vida en un promedio de una hora por día, con la televisión como el medio más utilizado y la visualización de videos la actividad que más realizaban. El número de horas de uso de dispositivos se asoció positivamente con la densidad léxica y el uso de oraciones: a más horas de uso, mayor cantidad de palabras y oraciones reportadas. Además, cuanto más tardía era la edad de inicio de uso de dispositivos, más bajas eran las puntuaciones en los informes lingüísticos e hitos posteriores del desarrollo motor y del lenguaje. Los tamaños del efecto para estas asociaciones fueron de bajos a moderados, lo que indica que otras variables podrían estar contribuyendo al desarrollo de estas habilidades cognitivas. No se encontraron diferencias en las capacidades motrices y del lenguaje en función del tipo de contenido del dispositivo. Tampoco se observaron diferencias en el uso de pantallas en función del género de los infantes, la edad y las variables sociodemográficas, lo que podría indicar, tal como demostraron investigaciones anteriores, que durante el aislamiento por COVID-19 el uso de los medios electrónicos fue constante, independientemente del contexto del hogar. Los resultados indican que el uso excesivo de pantallas podría afectar, tanto de forma positiva como negativa, algunas habilidades tempranas, aunque es necesario investigar el contexto en el que se utilizan. Específicamente, para futuras investigaciones sería importante: (a) trabajar con díadas de cuidadores-infantes, para evaluar cómo los comportamientos parentales moderan las asociaciones entre uso de pantallas y cognición infantil; (b) realizar estudios longitudinales; y (c) evaluar estas variables en diferentes provincias del país y regiones de Latinoamérica, para estudiar cómo las idiosincrasias culturales modulan el uso de estos dispositivos.

Vulnerabilidad social y comunicación verbal y no-verbal en infancia temprana: revisión sistemática / Social vulnerability and verbal and non-verbal communication in early childhood. Systematic review / Vulnerabilidade social e comunicação verbal e não-verbal na primeira infância. Revisão sistemática

Resumen (analítico) El objetivo de la siguiente revisión sistemática fue indagar sobre la contribución diferencial del entorno socioeconómico en la capacidad de comunicación verbal y no verbal en los primeros tres años de vida. Se revisaron artículos de investigación empírica de los últimos 30 años en infantes con desarrollo típico. Se encontraron, en general, menores niveles respecto del desarrollo del habla y la comunicación expresiva y productiva en infantes de contextos vulnerables. Sin embargo, los resultados fueron inconsistentes respecto a la comunicación no verbal. Se concluye que se deben realizar más estudios con medidas directas comportamentales en comunicación no verbal para poder paliar las inconsistencias en los resultados actuales sobre la temática.

Abstract (analytical) The objective of this systematic literature review was to inquire about the differential contribution of socioeconomic environment to the capacity for verbal and non-verbal communication in the first three years of life. Empirical research articles from the last 30 years in normally developing infants were reviewed. In general, lower levels were identified among infants from vulnerable contexts in terms of speech development f and expressive and productive communication . However, the results were inconsistent in the area of non-verbal communication. It is concluded that more studies should be carried out with direct behavioral measures in relation to non-verbal communication in order to alleviate existing inconsistencies for the current results in this field.

Resumo (analítico) O objetivo da revisão sistemática a seguir foi indagar sobre a contribuição diferencial do meio socioeconômico na capacidade de comunicação verbal e não verbal nos primeiros três anos de vida. Artigos de pesquisa empírica dos últimos 30 anos em bebês com desenvolvimento típico foram revisados. Em geral, foram encontrados níveis mais baixos em relação ao desenvolvimento da fala e da comunicação expressiva e produtiva em bebês de contextos vulneráveis. No entanto, os resultados foram inconsistentes com relação à comunicação não verbal. Conclui-se que mais estudos devem ser realizados com medidas comportamentais diretas na comunicação não verbal, a fim de amenizar as inconsistências nos resultados atuais sobre o assunto.

The still-face paradigm in Latin American mother-child dyads at 2 and 3 years: Effects of socioeconomic status and temperament.

The still-face paradigm (SFP) is a common method in infancy used to assess emotion regulation and interactions when an adult (typically the caregiver) abruptly stops a positive interaction with a child and switches to a more neutral affect. The effect of this paradigm has been studied in different countries and age ranges, but research in Latin America and with toddlers (e.g., 2-3 years old) of different socioeconomic backgrounds is scarce. The current study analyzed caregiver-child interactions in this novel sample, to analyze the possibility of generalization of the typical response of this paradigm (i.e., less positive affect, reduced gaze, and more negative affect in children when parent affect changes). The sample consisted of 114 caregiver-child dyads from low to middle socioeconomic status (SES) (children's Mage = 26.61 months, SD = 6.73, range = 18-36; 61 girls). The SFP modified version (i.e., on the floor and with a series of standardized toys), the temperament Early Childhood Behavior Questionnaire adapted for Argentina, and an SES scale were used. The typical SFP response was observed in Latin American children. In addition, older children and children with higher SES exhibited better general regulation, and there were weak associations with temperament. For gender differences, boys demonstrated more aggressive behaviors at Phase II. Results from this study suggest that children's response to this paradigm is an unconditional response to the lack of social reinforcers and is only partially associated with social and individual variables.

Emerging coherence and relations to communication among executive function tasks in toddlers: Evidence from a Latin American sample.

Recent work within early executive function (EF) seems to suggest that toddlers show distinct patterns of development, involving poorly correlated performance across EF tasks and significant improvements over relatively short periods of time. The present study sought to extend these findings by investigating evidence for these patterns in toddlers and the existence of more traditional patterns of EF (e.g., correlations between tasks, links to language) when using the same tasks in a novel Latin American sample. Eighty toddlers (18-24 months) and sixty young preschoolers (30-36) months completed a battery of EF tasks, early social communication, and receptive and expressive language measures. Results indicated that toddlers showed similar distinct patterns of development (i.e., few relations between tasks and links to responding to joint attention), but by early preschool a more cohesive EF and links to language were present. Further, work demonstrated significant age (older children outperformed younger children), gender (girls outperformed boys), and socioeconomic differences (satisfied basic needs outperformed unsatisfied basic needs, but only on the snack delay). This work provides evidence for patterns of emerging EF development within this novel cultural sample (and evidence for group differences) that may be supported by communicative and representational development.

Frustración, temperamento y vulnerabilidad social en bebés: estudio comparativo / Frustration, temperament and social vulnerability in babies: a comparative study

Resumen Antecedentes: la frustración se define como las respuestas del organismo que se desencadenan cuando existe una discrepancia negativa entre un incentivo esperado con el que realmente se recibe. Estas situaciones provocan respuestas conductuales, emocionales y neurofisiológicas análogas a las que ocurren con la presentación de estímulos aversivos o su anticipación. Existen investigaciones en bebés, pero pocos sobre sus asociaciones con diferencias individuales y ambientales y ninguno en población argentina. Objetivos: asociar la frustración, el temperamento y la vulnerabilidad social en una muestra de infantes. Metodología: se realizó un estudio asociativo-comparativo con una situación observacional estructurada donde se evaluaron a 22 bebés de 10 a 14 meses durante una tarea de frustración y su relación con el temperamento a través del Cuestionario de Conducta Infantil (IBQ-VSF) pertenecientes a dos extractos sociales evaluados con una ficha sociodemográfica. Resultados: se halló que a mayor extroversión, menor manipulación del objeto; y a mayor esfuerzo de control, menor fue la respuesta de morder, y viceversa. No se encontraron diferencias significativas en función del nivel socioeconómico. Conclusiones: se discutieron los resultados en función de la teoría de la frustración y las limitaciones del estudio, incluyendo recomendaciones para futuras investigaciones.

Abstract Background: Frustration is defined as the body's responses that are triggered when there is a negative discrepancy between an expected incentive and the one actually received. These situations elicit behavioral, emotional and neurophysiological responses analogous to those that occur with aversive stimuli or their anticipation. There is research on babies, but few on the associations with individual and environmental differences and none on the Argentine population. Objectives: To associate frustration, temperament and social vulnerability in a sample of infants. Method: A comparative associative study was carried out using a structured observation technique where frustration and its relationship with temperament were evaluated in 22 babies aged 10 to 14 months through the infant behavior questionnaire-revised very short form (IBQ-R VSF). The study population belonged to two social strata according to a sociodemographic record. Results: An inverse correlation was found between extroversion and manipulation of objects, and between effortful control and biting response. No significant differences were identified based on the socioeconomic level. Conclusions: The results were discussed taking into account the frustration theory, the study limitations and the recommendations for future research.

Social and individual factors modulate parent-infant interactions: Lessons from free play sessions in an Argentine sample.

In this study, we aimed to explore the associations between socioeconomic status (SES) (i.e., parents' education and occupation, quality of the home and overcrowding), temperament styles (i.e., surgency, negative emotionality and regulatory capacity) and early dyadic and triadic nonverbal communication behaviors. We recruited 60 mother-infant dyads (mean age: 10.89 months, range: 9-13 months) low-to-mid SES, and assessed the duration of their communication behaviors using the Bakeman and Adamson (1984); SES was measured using INDEC Scale (2001), and temperament was assessed using the Infant Behavior Questionnaire-Revised Very Short Form (IBQ-R VSF, Putnam et al., 2014). Results showed that SES and their subdimensions were positively associated with passive, coordinated joint engagement (coordinated attention to person and object) and surgency, and negative with infant passive observation. Also, there were positive correlations between negative emotionality and unengaged attention behavior. We conclude that SES contributed to parent-infant interactions and temperament style from early months of life. We interpret these findings in relation to early intervention approaches aimed at promoting cognitive and social development.

Emociones y frustración en bebés: el temperamento y la vulnerabilidad social como factores moduladores / Emotions and frustration in babies: temperament and social vulnerability as modulating factors

Las emociones son consideradas como mecanismos que se configuran a largo del tiempo para adaptarse a las demandas del medio ambiente, procurando de esta forma la supervivencia. Una de ellas es la frustración que se define como las respuestas del organismo que se desencadenan cuando existe una discrepancia negativa entre un incentivo esperado con el que realmente recibe. Estas situaciones provocan respuestas conductuales, emocionales y neurofisiológicas análogas a las que ocurren con la presentación de estímulos aversivos o su anticipación, tales como la ansiedad, el miedo, el estrés y el dolor nocioceptivo. El objetivo del presente artículo es: a) presentar los principales modelos teóricos de la emoción y frustración, su desarrollo y sus relaciones con factores individuales (temperamento) y ambientales (pobreza), y b) hacer un relevamiento de la bibliografía existente sobre los efectos de la frustración en bebés de hasta un año. Se encontró que el temperamento contribuye a los niveles de emoción y frustración expresados por los infantes. Son necesarios más trabajos para evaluar la influencia del ambiente y en un segundo momento, realizar intervenciones que puedan aumentar la tolerancias a la frustración(AU)

Emotions are considered as mechanisms that are configured over time for conflicts to the demands of the environment, thus seeking survival. Frustration is defined as an organism response that is triggered when there is a negative discrepancy between an expected incentive and the one that actually receives. These situations provoke behavioral, emotional and neurophysiological responses analogous to those that occur with the presentation of aversive stimuli or their anticipation, stories such as anxiety, fear, stress and nocioceptive pain. The objective of this article is: a) to present the main theoretical models of emotion and frustration, their development and their relationships with individual (temperament) and environmental (poverty) factors, and b) to survey the existing bibliography on the effects of frustration in babies up to one year old. Temperament and vulnerability were found to have the levels of emotion and frustration expressed by infants. However, it will be necessary to carry out more studies to decrease the contradictory results and generate, in a second moment, those that can increase the levels of this ability(AU)

Regulation During the Second Year: Executive Function and Emotion Regulation Links to Joint Attention, Temperament, and Social Vulnerability in a Latin American Sample.

Although a growing body of work has established developing regulatory abilities during the second year of life, more work is needed to better understand factors that influence this emerging control. The purpose of the present study was to examine regulation capacities in executive functions (i.e., EF or cognitive control) and emotion regulation (i.e., ER or control focused on modulating negative and sustaining positive emotions) in a Latin American sample, with a focus on how joint attention, social vulnerability, and temperament contribute to performance. Sixty Latin American dyads of mothers and children aged 18 to 24 months completed several EF tasks, a Still-Face Paradigm (SFP) to examine ER (Weinberg et al., 2008), and the Early Social Communication Scale to measure joint attention (Mundy et al., 2003). Parents completed the Early Childhood Behavior Questionnaire Very Short Form to measure temperament (ECBQ-VS, Putnam et al., 2010) and the Social Economic Level Scale (SES) from INDEC (2000). Results revealed the typical responses expected for toddlers of this age in these EF tasks and in the SFP. Also, we found associations between EF and ER and between non-verbal communication related to monitoring infants' attention to objects (i.e., responding to joint attention) and initiation of pointing (e.g., pointing and showing of an object while the child alternates his gaze to an adult) with EF. Regarding social factors, family differences and type of housing contribute to regulation. For temperament, effortful control was associated with both regulatory capacities. Finally, only age predicted EF. These results suggest that many patterns regarding the development of these abilities are duplicated in the first months of life in a Latin American sample while further highlighting the importance of considering how the environment and the individual characteristics of infants may associate to these regulatory abilities, which is particularly relevant to developing public policies to promote their optimal development.

El desarrollo de la autorregulación en la infancia temprana y sus factores moduladores / The Development of Self-Regulation in Early Childhood and its Modulating Factors

La autorregulación emocional refiere a la capacidad intrínseca de los niños y niñas de modular y modificar respuestas tanto emocionales como cognitivas, por demandas de situaciones específicas (Lewis & Todd, 2007; Vohs & Baumeister, 2004). Sin embargo, su definición no está exenta de ambigüedades (Gross, 2013). La siguiente revisión tiene como objetivo analizar el concepto y desarrollo ontogenético de la autorregulación, y describir los principales factores endógenos y exógenos que modulan esta habilidad cognitiva en los primeros años de vida. Específicamente se trabajará con el período que abarca del momento de nacimiento hasta los 3 años de vida, denominado infancia temprana. Se realizó una revisión narrativa para explicitar el estado de conocimiento hasta el momento, utilizando las bases de datos Scopus, Medline y Web of Science, recuperándose un total de 146 referencias, de las cuáles se seleccionaron 48 que eran acordes a los objetivos establecidos. Los principales factores intrínsecos recabados fueron la maduración de las redes atencionales y el temperamento, mientras que los factores exógenos fueron la sensibilidad materna, los estilos de crianza y los entornos socioeconómicos. Se concluye que esta habilidad debe ser diferenciada conceptualmente de la regulación emocional y las funciones ejecutivas, y que la misma es el resultado de determinantes bio-psico-sociales. En futuros trabajos deberían realizarse más investigaciones empíricas con infantes y en Latinoamérica, para lograr una comprensión más acabada sobre la variable y guiar las políticas públicas para optimizar su desarrollo

Emotional self-regulation refers to the child s intrinsic ability to modulate and modify emotional and cognitive responses, due to the demands of specific situations (Lewis & Todd, 2007; Vohs & Baumeister, 2004). However, its definition is not without ambiguities (Gross, 2013). The following review aims to analyze the ontogenetic concept and development of self-regulation, and describe the main endogenous and exogenous factors that modulate this cognitive ability in the first years of life. Specifically, it will work with the period from the moment of birth to 3 years of life, called early childhood. A narrative review was carried out to explain the state of knowledge, using the Scopus, Medline and Web of Science databases, recovering a total of 146 references, of which 48 were selected according to that were consistent with the established objectives. The main intrinsic factors collected were maturation of the attentional networks and temperament, while the exogenous factors were maternal sensitivity, parenting styles and socio-economic environments. It is concluded that this ability must be conceptually differentiated from emotional regulation and executive functions, and that it is the result of bio-psycho-social determinants. In future work, more empirical research with infants and in Latin America should be carried out to achieve a more complete understanding of the variable and guide public policies to optimize their development

La influencia de la vulnerabilidad social en los estilos parentales. Generando una agenda de investigación / The influence of social vulnerability on parental styles. Generatting a research agenda

La vulnerabilidad social implica privaciones vinculadas a aspectos económicos, educativos, ocupacionales, emocionales, sociales y de derechos, y abarca el 30,7% de la población argentina (CEPAL, 2018). Por otro lado, los estilos parentales refieren a las diversas formas de interacción entre cuidadores e infantes que impactan en el desarrollo cognitivo y socioafectivo. El objetivo de la siguiente revisión narrativa será analizar el impacto del nivel socioeconómico (NSE) en los diversos estilos de crianza y sus factores mediadores. Se encontró que el NSE impacta en los estilos parentales, siendo las variables de nivel educativo, tipo de comunicación e interacción y entorno sociocultural las de mayor poder predictivo. A su vez, la crianza en contextos de bajo NSE traen aparejados relaciones más punitivas y negligentes, sin embargo, es necesario tener en cuenta el contexto cultural para analizar de forma ecológica las diversas prácticas parentales. En conclusión, es importante no solo aminorar el impacto de los entornos vulnerables, si no también trabajar con las familias entendidas desde un entorno cultural determinado para generar prácticas de crianza que enriquezcan el desarrollo cognitivo y emocional infantil

Social vulnerability implies deprivation linked to economic, educational, occupational, emotional, social and rights aspects, and covers 30.7% of the argentine population (CEPAL, 2018). On the other hand, parental styles refer to the different forms of interaction between caregivers and infants that impact on cognitive and socio-affective development. The objective of the next narrative review will be to analyze the impact of socioeconomic status (NSE) on the different styles of parenting. NSE influences parental styles, being the variables of educational level, type of communication and interaction and sociocultural environment the most predictive ones. In turn, upbringing in low NSE contexts brings about more punitive and negligent relationships. However, it is necessary to take into account the cultural context to analyze in an ecological way the different parental practices. In conclusion, it is important not only to reduce the impact of vulnerable environments, but also to work with families understood from a specific cultural environment to generate parenting practices that enrich children's cognitive and emotional development

Trazando puentes entre las neurociencias y la educación. Aportes, límites y caminos futuros en el campo educativo / Building bridges between neuroscience and education. Neurosciences' contributions, limitations and future directions in the education field

Resumen Las neurociencias son el conjunto de disciplinas cuyo objetivo de investigación es el sistema nervioso, poniendo el acento en la actividad del cerebro y su relación con nuestros comportamientos. Abordan aspectos neurobiológicos de la conducta y se apoyan en la psicología cognitiva, la lingüística, la antropología y la inteligencia artificial. La neuroeducación, también llamada neurociencia educativa, es una disciplina en expansión que se ocupa de estudiar la optimización del proceso de enseñanza y aprendizaje con base en el funcionamiento del cerebro y los fundamentos neurobiológicos que lo sustentan. El artículo se propone revisar aportes de las neurociencias al campo educativo, y a su vez críticas y futuros caminos para establecer relaciones aún más estrechas entre ambos. Se concluye que a pesar de que los aportes de la neuroeducación son variados y se esperan avances en el área, derivados de nuevas tecnologías, debemos ser cautos y críticos a la hora de analizarlos o ponerlos en práctica, ya que aún se deben generar estudios con mayor validez ecológica, en entornos educativos con seres humanos y con distintos niveles de análisis, sin dejar de lado la interdisciplina.

Abstract Neurosciences are a set of disciplines which aims to research the nervous system, focusing on brain functioning in relation with our behaviors. Neurosciences not only address the neurobiological issues of behavior but also rely on cognitive psychology, linguistics, anthropology and artificial intelligence. Neuroeducation, also called educational neuroscience, is an expanding discipline that aims to study brain development and its neurobiological foundations by optimizing teaching and learning process. Through analyzing some classic and current contributions of the neurosciences to the educational area, this paper proposes to review neurosciences' contribution to the educational field, establishing at the same time critical and future ways to get even closer relations between them. Then, we conclude that although the neuroeducation contributions are varied and we expect advances in this area derived from new technologies, we must be cautious and critical when analyzing or putting them into practice, since research must be generated with greater ecological validity, in educational environments with human beings with analysis at different levels, without ignoring the interdiscipline.

Desarrollo temprano de las funciones ejecutivas: ¿cómo se relacionan con las competencias comunicativas y cuáles son sus métodos de evaluación? / Early development of executive functions: ¿how are they related with communicative competences and how are they evaluated?

Las funciones ejecutivas son entendidas como un constructor complejo que engloba procesos como la memoria de trabajo, el control atencional e inhibitorio, la planificación y la flexibilidad cognitiva. El desarrollo de las mismas se encuentra modulado por diferentes variables. Una de ellas son las capacidades comunicativas con la que los niños cuentan desde su infancia. Durante el primer año de vida, los niños empiezan a desplegar una serie de competencias comunicativas (e.g., seguimiento de mirada, gesto de señalar y lenguaje), que se inscriben en la llamada atención conjunta; típicamente definida como la coordinación visual de dos individuos hacia un objeto de interés mutuo. A su vez, las funciones ejecutivas, favorecen el avance de las habilidades sociales de comunicación de los niños. Por ende se da un desarrollo recíproco de ambas capacidades cognitivas. Las investigaciones relacionadas con el desarrollo de ambas funciones en los primeros años de vida son escasas. En este sentido, se vuelve interesante profundizar en el desarrollo temprano de estas capacidades y como se relacionan. Se revisarán modos de evaluar funciones ejecutivas, y por último se relevará literatura sobre investigaciones que vinculen ambos procesos.

Executive functions are understand as a complex construct that includes processes such as working memory, intentional and inhibitory control, planning and cognitive flexibility. The development of these processes is modulated by different variables. One of them is communication skills with which children have early in life. During the first year, children begin to deploy a range of skills (eg, gaze following, pointing gesture and language), who enrol in the so-called joint attention; this is defined as the visual coordination of two individuals towards an object of mutual interest. In turn, executive functions, promote the social skills of children. Thus a reciprocal development of both cognitive abilities is given, enriching the one another. Related research to the development of both functions in early life is scarce. In this sense, it becomes interesting to investigate topics related to the early development of these capabilities and relationships. In this article we will describe the ways to evaluate these functions and relieve literature on related research.

Comunicación temprana y vulnerabilidad social: estableciendo una agenda de investigación / Early communication and social vulnerability: setting a research agenda

El desarrollo de la comunicación durante la infancia involucra un sinnúmero de procesos ligados a aspectos tanto ambientales como individuales. Un componente central del desarrollo comunicativo temprano es la atención conjunta. Su definición varía según los autores, pero su concepción habitual plantea que es la coordinación visual de dos individuos hacia un objeto de interés mutuo. Este fenómeno incluye la adquisición de comportamientos como: el seguimiento de mirada, la referencia social, gestos y el monitoreo. Por otro lado, la vulnerabilidad social es un factor de riesgo estudiado en relación con numerosas variables como la memoria, las funciones ejecutivas y distintas patologías. Sin embargo, existe escasez en los estudios orientados a conocer la relación entre las habilidades comunicativas tempranas y la vulnerabilidad social. En este sentido, se vuelve interesante profundizar en temas relacionados con el desarrollo temprano de estas capacidades, relevar literatura y pensar programas que apunten a paliar los efectos de un ambiente social vulnerable.

The development of communication during infancy involves a wide range of processes related to either environmental or individual aspects. One of its most important components is joint attention. Although there are a variety of definitions depending on the authors, they all agree that joint attention is the visual coordination between two people forwards an object. This phenomenon includes the acquisition of some kinds of behaviors such as: gaze following, social reference, gestures and monitoring. On the other hand, social vulnerability is a risk factor studied in relation to different variables, for example memory, executive functions and mental pathologies. However, there is scarce literature concerning the relation between social vulnerability and early communicative development. Regarding this, it would be interesting to focus on these abilities, review some literature and think about possible future programs designed to prevent vulnerable environment effects.

Frustration behaviors in domestic dogs.

During extinction a previously learned behavior stops being reinforced. In addition to the decrease in the rate of the instrumental response, it produces an aversive emotional state known as frustration. This state can be assimilated with the fear reactions that occur after aversive stimuli are introduced at both the physiological and behavioral levels. This study evaluated frustration reactions of domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) during a communicative situation involving interactions with a human. The task included the reinforcement and extinction of the gaze response toward the experimenter's face when the dogs tried to obtain inaccessible food. The dog's frustration reactions during extinction involved an increase in withdrawal and side orientation to the location of the human as well as lying down, ambulation, sniffing, and vocalizations compared with the last acquisition trial. These results are especially relevant for domestic dog training situations in which the extinction technique is commonly used to discourage undesirable behaviors.

Breed differences in dogs' (Canis familiaris) gaze to the human face.

Domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) have been submitted to a vast process of artificial selection and to date, there are hundreds of breeds that differ in their physical and behavioral features. In addition, dogs possess important skills to communicate with humans. Previous evidence indicates that those abilities are related to the domestication process and are modulated by instrumental learning processes. Very few studies, however, have evaluated breed differences in the use and learning of interspecific communicative responses. In Study 1 Retrievers, German Shepherds and Poodles were compared in the acquisition and extinction of their gaze toward the human face, in a conflict situation involving food within sight but out of reach. The groups did not differ in the acquisition of the response, but throughout the extinction phase Retrievers gazed to the human significantly more than the other groups. In Study 2, similar results were obtained in a test without any previous explicit training. These results suggest that these three major popular breeds differ in gazing to humans in a communicative situation.

Communication between domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) and humans: dogs are good learners.

Communication involves a wide range of behaviours that animals emit in their daily lives and can take place between different species, as is the case of domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) and humans. Dogs have shown to be successful at following human cues to solve the object choice task. The question is what are the mechanisms involved in these communicative abilities. This article presents a review of studies about the communicative capacities of domestic dogs emphasizing the ones that considered the effect of associative learning upon these skills. In addition, evidence about differences in dogs' performance in following physical or social cues is summarized and two studies where both signals compete are presented here. The obtained results suggest that the training of a colour cue reverses the dogs' preference for the social one. These results are discussed in light of the findings that gave importance to the learning effect, concluding that the dogs fundamentally follow those cues that allowed them to obtain reinforcers in their previous learning history.

Incentive contrast in domestic dogs (Canis familiaris).

Dogs (Canis familiaris) trained to receive a preferred food (dry beef liver) from an experimenter learned to maintain a longer gaze on the experimenter than dogs receiving a less preferred food (dog pellets). Dogs downshifted from dry liver to pellets rejected food more frequently than nonshifted controls. Gaze duration also decreased in downshifted dogs below the level of a group always reinforced with pellets. In addition, downshifted dogs tended to move away from the experimenter, adopting a lying down posture. This phenomenon, called successive negative contrast, has been described in analogous experiments with a variety of mammalian species, but has failed to occur in similar experiments with nonmammalian vertebrates. Unlike similar previous observations, the present data were obtained in an environment involving interspecific communication.

Learning and owner-stranger effects on interspecific communication in domestic dogs (Canis familiaris).

Domestic dogs are very successful at following human cues like gazing or pointing to find hidden food in an object choice task. They solve this kind of situation at their first attempts and from early stages of their development and perform better than wolves. Most of the authors proposed that these abilities are a domestication product, and independent from learning processes. There are few systematic studies on the effects of learning on dogs' communicative skills. We aim to evaluate the effect of extinction and reversal learning procedures on the use of the pointing gesture in an object choice task. The results showed that dogs stopped following the pointing cue in the extinction and that they learned to choose the not pointed container in the reversal learning. Results suggest that instrumental learning plays an important role in interspecific communication mechanisms between humans and dogs. In both experiments for half of the subjects the pointer was the owner and for the rest was a stranger. A differential effect was found: extinction was slower but reversal learning was faster when the owner gave the cue. This data indicates that the relationship of the dog with the person who emits the cue influences performance.

Effect of reinforcement, reinforcer omission and extinction on a communicative response in domestic dogs (Canis familiaris).

There is a controversy about the mechanisms involved in the interspecific communicative behaviour in domestic dogs. The main question is whether this behaviour is a result of instrumental learning or higher cognitive skills are required. The present investigations were undertaken to study the effect of learning processes upon the gaze towards the human's face as a communicative response. To such purpose, in Study 1, gaze response was subjected to three types of reinforcement schedules: differential reinforcement, reinforcer omission, and extinction in a situation of "asking for food". Results showed a significant increase in gaze duration in the differential reinforcement phase and a significant decrease in both the omission and extinction phases. These changes were quite rapid, since they occurred only after three training trials in each phase. Furthermore, extinction resulted in animal behaviour changes, such as an increase in the distance from the experimenter, the back position and lying behaviour. This is the first systematic evaluation of the behavioural changes caused by reward withdrawal (frustration) in dogs. In Study 2, the gaze response was studied in a situation where dogs walked along with their owners/trainers. These results show that learning plays an important role in this communicative response. The possible implications of these results for service dogs are discussed.