Publications by Ainsworth
Infancy in Uganda: Infant Care and the Growth of Love. Baltimore,
MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1967.
Ainsworth, Mary D. S., Mary C. Blehar, Everett Waters, and Sally
Wall. Patterns of Attachment: A Psychological Study of the Strange
Situation. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1978.
Ainsworth, Mary D. S., Silvia Bell, and D. Stayton. ‘‘Intant-Mother
Attachment and Social Development.’’ In M. P. Richards ed.,
The Introduction of the Child into a Social World. London: Cam-
bridge University Press, 1974.
‘‘Attachments Beyond Infancy.’’ American Psychologist 44
(1989):709–716.
Bell, Silvia M., and Mary D. S. Ainsworth. ‘‘Infant Crying and Ma-
ternal Responsiveness.’’ Child Development 43 (1972):1171–
1190.
Inge Bretherton
ALTRUISM
Altruism is unselfish behavior designed to promote
others’ welfare regardless of harm to self. For exam-
ple, non-Jewish rescuers of Jews during the Holocaust
of World War II behaved altruistically. While proso-
cial behavior balances own and others’ needs, and
martyrdom risks death in support of a cause, altruism
serves others without expectation of recognition. Al-
truism requires awareness of one’s own needs, empa-
thetic understanding of others’ emotions, and action
consistent with personal moral standards. At best,
children discern their emotions by age three, empa-
thize with others’ feelings by age six, understand so-
cial interactions simultaneously from their own and
others’ perspectives by age ten, and base their moral
standards on principles they have evaluated rather
than on authority by late adolescence. Experiences
with parents, siblings, peers, and authority figures
who demonstrate, discuss, and reward self-awareness,
empathy, and moral reasoning are essential for the
development of a sense of altruism. Parents, in partic-
ular, stimulate the growth of altruistic behavior by
considering their children’s needs before their own.
See also: PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT
Bibliography
Blechman, Elaine A., Jean E. Dumas, and Ronald J. Prinz. ‘‘Proso-
cial Coping by Youth Exposed to Violence.’’ Journal of Child
and Adolescent Group Therapy 4 (1994):205–227.
Blechman, Elaine A., Ronald J. Prinz, and Jean E. Dumas. ‘‘Cop-
ing, Competence, and Aggression Prevention. Part 1: Devel-
opmental Model.’’ Applied and Preventive Psychology 4
(1995):211–232.
Prinz, Ronald J., Elaine A. Blechman, and Jean E. Dumas. ‘‘An
Evaluation of Peer Coping Skills Training for Childhood Ag-
gression.’’ Journal of Clinical Child Psychology 23 (1994):193–
203.
Elaine A. Blechman
AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE
American Sign Language (ASL) is a manual language
that involves the use of hand configurations, facial
gestures, body posture, range, direction, and move-
ment in space to exchange meaning between people.
This language is primarily used by persons who are
deaf and do not use speech to communicate. Once
thought of as only ‘‘pictures in the air,’’ ASL is recog-
nized as a true language with elaborate linguistic
rules.
ASL is used with young children who are deaf as
a means of facilitating the natural acquisition of lan-
guage. When born into families that use sign lan-
guage to communicate, deaf babies are know to
‘‘babble’’ with their hands in a similar manner as
hearing children babble with early sounds. In the
presence of fluent users of ASL, deaf children acquire
sign as quickly and easily as hearing children acquire
speech. English is typically taught as a second lan-
guage to promote literacy.Bibliography
Hall, Barbara J., Herbert J. Oyer, and William H. Haas. Speech,
Language and Hearing Disorders: A Guide for the Teacher. Boston:
Allyn and Bacon, 2001.
Padden, Carol, and Tom Humphries. Deaf in America: Voices from
a Culture. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1988.
Paul, Peter V. Literacy and Deafness: The Development of Reading, Writ-
ing, and Literate Thought. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1998.
Paul, Peter V., and Stephen P. Quigley. Language and Deafness, 2nd
edition. San Diego, CA: Singular Publishing Group, 1994.
Sacks, Oliver. Seeing Voices. Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1988.
Schirmer, Barbara R. Language and Literacy Development in Children
Who Are Deaf. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2000.
Donna J. CrowleyAMNIOCENTESIS
Amniocentesis is a prenatal diagnostic test in which
amniotic fluid is extracted via a long thin needle in-
serted through the maternal abdomen into the uterus
and the amniotic sac. The procedure is usually per-
formed between the fifteenth and eighteenth week of
gestation and results can be obtained nine to fourteen
days later. Some major medical centers now use a pro-
cedure called Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization
(FISH) to obtain results within twenty-four hours. It
is recommended for women over age thirty-five and
those having risk factors for genetic abnormalities.
Amniocentesis is a reliable (95% accuracy rate) indica-
tor of chromosomal abnormalities such as Down syn-
drome, or genetic disorders such as Tay Sachs
disease, Hunter’s syndrome, or neural tube abnor-
malities such as spina bifida and others. While usuallyAMNIOCENTESIS 23