American parents and policymakers are failing to acknowledge the significant links between early childhood literacy and academic success. This experimental study investigated the effects of daily reading with 150 infants between the ages of 14 to 28 months throughout a 28-day period. Participants from all economic, demographic, and ethnic…

In neurotypical infants, genetically-specified attachment/attention mechanisms underpin the motivation to interact, which enables the acquisition of socio-cultural norms for language and accounts for the efficacy of socialization processes (Lee et al., 2009; Schumann, 2013). In children with autism, as in second language acquisition,…

Cultural variation in relations and moment-to-moment contingencies of infant-mother person-oriented and object-oriented interactions were compared in 118 Japanese, Japanese American immigrant, and European American dyads with 5.5-month-olds. Infant and mother person-oriented behaviors were related in all cultural groups, but infant and mother…

The present study was designed to examine cross-cultural differences in longitudinal links between infant temperament toddler behavior problems in the U.S. (N= 250) and Russia (N= 129). Profiles of risk/protective temperament factors varied across the two countries, with fewer significant temperament effects observed for the Russian, relative to…

An Italian translation of the Infant Behavior Questionnaire-Revised (IBQ-R) was developed and evaluated with 110 infants, demonstrating satisfactory internal consistency, discriminant validity, and construct validity in the form of gender and age differences, as well as factorial integrity. Cross-cultural differences were subsequently evaluated…

Betsy Lozoff is among the world's leading experts on iron deficiency and its effects on infant brain development and behavior. Iron deficiency is the most common single nutrient disorder in the world, affecting more than half of the world's infants and young children. Research by Lozoff and others has shown that there are long-lasting…

Investigated early development of temperament across three cultures: People's Republic of China (PRC), United States of America (US), and Spain, utilizing a longitudinal design (assessments at 3, 6, and 9 months of age). Selection of these countries presented an opportunity to conduct Eastern-Western/Individualistic-Collectivistic comparisons. The…

Four-month-old infants from Boston, Dublin, and Beijing were administered the same battery of visual, auditory, and olfactory stimuli. The Chinese infants were significantly less active, irritable, and vocal than the Boston and Dublin samples, with American infants showing the highest level of reactivity. (Author)

Measured 5- and 12-month-old Japanese and U.S. infants' responses to an arm restraint procedure. Found that older infants exhibited shorter response latencies and produced more negative facial expressions than did younger infants. Among five month olds, U.S. infants produced negative facial expressions more quickly than did Japanese infants. (BC)

During observed interactions between mothers and infants in New York, Paris, and Tokyo, mothers responded to infants' exploration of the environment with encouragement, infants' vocalized nondistress with imitation, and infants' distress with nurturance. Cultural differences in maternal responsiveness to infant looking behavior were found. (BC)

The effects of obstetrical medication on neonatal behavior were studied using a sample of 64 Israeli infants from medicated and non-medicated mothers. Most medicated mothers received a base dose of 75 mg. of Meperidine plus a base dose of 25 mg. of Phenergan. Other drugs used included Demerol, Valium, Butalgan, Pitocin, Pantopon, Trilene, Naline,…

Identifies three categories of baby diaries--scientific, educational, and domestic--prevalent from the late 18th to late 19th century in Western Europe and the United States. Discusses the diarists and recurring themes in the diaries, such as the nature of instinctive behaviors and recapitulationism. Explores contemporary uses of the diary method.…

Maternal and infant behaviors of 30 American and 52 Japanese mother/infant dyads from middle-class homes were compared. The major differences in caretaker behavior were (1) the Japanese mothers spent more time with or in the presence of their babies than did the American mothers, and (2) the American mothers were more active in positioning the…

A cross-national comparison of infant behavior in the Strange Situation was designed to determine whether preseparation episodes made any difference in attachment classifications and whether infant behavior before separation from mother was the same in different countries. Infants in different countries made similar primary appraisals of the…

This study focused on French and U.S. mother-infant dyads interacting in their homes. Infants' visual attention, tactual exploration, vocalization and mothers' mediated and unmediated stimulation and speech to infants were observed. Mothers and infants in the two cultures showed some similarities and some different emphases in their activities,…