Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 12, 2026

Assessing the Coherence of Parents' Short Narratives Regarding their Child Using the Five-Minute Speech Sample Procedure
07:56

Assessing the Coherence of Parents' Short Narratives Regarding their Child Using the Five-Minute Speech Sample Procedure

Published on: September 19, 2019

Early predictors of infant executive functioning: Contributions of maternal sensitivity and mind-mindedness across

Cláudia Ramos1, Alfredo F Pereira2, Vera Mateus3

  • 1Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (Iscte-IUL), CIS-Iscte, Lisbon, Portugal.

Infant Behavior & Development
|July 10, 2026
PubMed

Insights

Maternal mind-mindedness during calm interactions predicts early executive functioning (EF) in infants. This highlights how attuned caregivers foster crucial cognitive skills from the first year of life.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Infant Development

Background:

  • Executive functioning (EF) is vital for cognitive, socioemotional, and academic success.
  • Caregiving's impact on EF is known in older children, but early infancy factors are less understood.
  • Understanding early relational influences on nascent EF is crucial for developmental trajectories.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the role of maternal sensitivity and mind-mindedness in infant EF.
  • To examine how these maternal factors contribute to the emergence of EF in the first year of life.
  • To identify specific relational contexts (distress vs. non-distress) that influence this relationship.

Main Methods:

  • Fifty-one infants (9-13 months) and their mothers participated.
  • Infant EF was assessed using the A-not-B task.
  • Maternal sensitivity and mind-mindedness were observed during structured free-play and distress-eliciting tasks.

Main Results:

  • Both maternal sensitivity and mind-mindedness showed associations with infant EF.
  • Mind-mindedness during non-distress (free-play) contexts significantly predicted infant EF.
  • Maternal sensitivity and mind-mindedness during distress did not emerge as significant predictors.

Conclusions:

  • Caregiver attunement to infant mental states, particularly during calm interactions, is key for developing early executive functioning.
  • Mind-mindedness in infancy lays a foundation for later cognitive abilities.
  • Future research should explore interventions targeting maternal mind-mindedness to support infant EF development.

Keywords:
Executive functioningInfancyMind-mindednessSensitivity

More Related Videos

Limited Bedding and Nesting as a Model for Early-Life Adversity in Mice04:20

Limited Bedding and Nesting as a Model for Early-Life Adversity in Mice

Published on: July 12, 2024

Using a Murine Model of Psychosocial Stress in Pregnancy as a Translationally Relevant Paradigm for Psychiatric Disorders in Mothers and Infants06:39

Using a Murine Model of Psychosocial Stress in Pregnancy as a Translationally Relevant Paradigm for Psychiatric Disorders in Mothers and Infants

Published on: June 13, 2021

Related Concept Videos

Socioemotional Development during Infancy01:30

Socioemotional Development during Infancy

Socio-emotional development in infancy is primarily shaped by early emotional responses and social connections, with temperament playing a central role. Temperament refers to the consistent patterns in an individual's emotional and behavioral responses, observable even in infancy. By examining temperament, researchers can better understand an infant's unique ways of interacting with the world, influencing subsequent personality and socio-emotional growth.
Primary Temperament Types
Stella Chess...
Information Processing Approach01:30

Information Processing Approach

The information-processing theory of cognitive development centers on fundamental mental processes, including attention, memory, and problem-solving skills. Researchers in this field examine how cognitive abilities, such as working memory, evolve and influence children's overall development. Studies indicate that children with stronger working memory tend to excel in reading comprehension, math, and problem-solving compared to peers with less efficient memory skills. Low working memory is also...
Relationship with Parents: Attachment01:28

Relationship with Parents: Attachment

Parent-child interactions lay the foundation for how we understand relationships throughout life. These interactions are not uniform across families; instead, they are shaped by a range of environmental, emotional, and behavioral factors unique to each caregiver-child dynamic. Social psychologists study these early relationships to understand how patterns formed in infancy influence social functioning and interpersonal behavior in adulthood.Attachment Theory and Early Relational ModelsJohn...
Empathy02:34

Empathy

Some researchers suggest that altruism operates on empathy. Empathy is the capacity to understand another person’s perspective, to feel what he or she feels. An empathetic person makes an emotional connection with others and feels compelled to help (Batson, 1991). Empathy can be expressed in several ways, including cognitive, affective, and motor.
Cognitive Development During Adolescence01:18

Cognitive Development During Adolescence

During adolescence, individuals experience significant cognitive development that enhances their understanding of others' emotions and thoughts, known as cognitive empathy. This period is marked by an increased ability to adapt to others' perspectives and a more nuanced understanding of others' mental states, a skill that is foundational for social problem-solving and conflict avoidance. The development of cognitive empathy relies heavily on the theory of mind — the recognition that people have...
Attachment01:20

Attachment

Attachment is vital for infant development, as warm social interactions support growth and well-being. In a classic 1958 study by Harry Harlow, the significance of warmth and comfort in forming attachments was examined. Harlow separated newborn monkeys from their mothers and provided two artificial "mothers": one made of cold wire and the other covered in soft cloth. Despite the wire mother offering food, the infant monkeys preferred the comfort of the cloth mother, demonstrating that physical...