W Michael Schorow
Newcastle University, Australia
Posters-Accepted Abstracts: J Psychol Abnorm Child
Recent models of object permanence regard the development of the object permanence complex as a necessary consequence of neural circuit maturation. The modulation of object permanence relationship development by environmental stressors has rarely been considered apart from a few instances in the early pre-Piagetian literature. Here, we considered the question: How does environmental stress modulate the onset of child developmental stages and can positive stress be harnessed to shorten systemic and neural latencies of child development? In a clinical setting, we assessed objective permanence in four age groups (6-12 months, 12-18 months, 18-24 months, 24-36 months) using the WOTSA (Waterson Objective Testing Standard Assessment) and assessed the prevalence of stressors using standard post-hoc qualitative techniques such as LASOQ. We find a strong and statistically significant (p<0.001, F=3.12, df=32) relationship between stress and WOTSA scores. We validated neural maturation using a standard EEG probe and find a positive relationship between WOTSA and EEG correlated coherence. We interpret our findings in terms of Misher�??s model and consider social, environmental and parental implications.
Email: schorowm@gmail.com
