A theoretical overview and empirical study of mediated learning experience: Prediction of preschool performance from mother‐infant interaction patterns

This research is based on a 4‐year longitudinal study of 51 normal, low SES infants and their mothers. It was conducted at the Clinical Infant Development Program sponsored by the Clinical Infant‐Child Development Research Center (NIMH‐HRSA). Infants' free‐play sessions with their mothers were analyzed at 4, 8, 12, 24, and 36 months of age by use of an observation method based on Feuerstein's theory of Mediated Learning Experience (MLE). The participating children were tested with the Bayley Scales (to age 2 years) and the McCarthy Scales (at 36 and 48 months). Ten‐minute observations of motherchild interactions, which used molar criteria of observation based on MLE theory, predicted cognitive performance at 2, 3, and 4 years of age. The observation made at 12 months was most predictive of long‐term cognitive performance. Mother‐infant interaction patterns were less predictive of cognitive performance in infancy than they were of performance at 2, 3, and 4 years of age. Each of the observed MLE criteria increased with age, although the frequency of some of the criteria remained low throughout the study. Stability of all MLE criteria was significant across most comparisons over time.