Question

Watch The Responsive Brain It's about 30 minutes, but you are only required to watch one short segment. Start at 3:49 (when the narrator says 'at birth...'), watch the segment on Tiffany Field's research on premature infants) and end at 5:25 (at the rats).

Please review the study on the impact of human touch on premature infants in intensive care.

1. What was the hypothesis?
2. How was the DV operationally defined?
3. What do you think the controls were?

Answer 1

1. It is said that gentle human touch in the premature baby in the intensive care has great effect in the brain. It helps to grow brain faster. A random test has been done on the infants of the other species. It is found that fifty percent of the infants react with the human touch. They would be given the gentle human touch as stimuli in a particular session. It is also claimed that touch means the surface level contact of two skins. It helps to reduce the pain of the infant. Touch increases the reflexes of the newborn infants. If a finger is placed on the palm, then the infant tries to grasp it.

2. The dependent variable is observed through the experiment with the infants of the other species. It is found that with touch stimuli fifty percent of the infants response with satisfaction. Here the touch and message work as independent variable and the response of the infant and its growth of the brain is the dependent variable.

3. Here the control of other variables except independent variables are tested. With same stimuli the result appears different. The touch is provided in the same ways. The duration of providing stimuli is same. But the other variable are different. In different species such control has been maintained.