This study investigates the importance of object function (action-object-outcome relations) on object individuation in infancy. Five experiments examined the ability of 9.5- and 12-month-old infants to individuate simple geometric objects in a manual search design. Experiments 1 through 4 (12-month-olds, N = 128) provided several combinations of…

Examines the relationship between an infant's sex and its capacity to maintain eye contact. Subjects were 15 male and 15 female newborn infants. (MP)

In this study examining infants' responses to optical expansion, 18 infants between 36 and 61 days old watched expanding shadows that differed in the terminal location of the center of expansion and the number of dimensions undergoing change. Babies consistently rotated their heads upward during expansion of a closed figure when the center of…

Investigates the effect of a recorded male human voice on neonate head, eye, mouth and crying behaviors. Vocal Stimulation enhanced head movement, eye opening, mouthing and crying and influenced hand sucking. Differences between breast fed and bottle fed babies were found for mouth orientation, hand sucking and crying. (RH)

Two-year-olds' reactions to strangers were related to ratings of their emotionality, sociability and activity and to ratings of parental love and control by both fathers and mothers. Each child received two sessions with strangers, one male and one female. Four times per session a stranger, in a friendly manner, approached each child as it sat in…

Investigates the relationship between cardiovascular reactions and five basic emotions, (interest, anger, fear, distress, and joy) exhibited by 40 9- and 12-month-old infants. (CM)

Demonstrates that eye contact per se, and not solely the inherent attractiveness of the eyes and face, is salient to five-month-old infants. Five-month-old infants can distinguish when another person is looking at them, rather than at a nearby location. (Author/MP)

The effects of minor illness on infants' social behavior were studied among disadvantaged infants who attended a day-care program. Twelve infants aged 4 1/2 to 6 months were observed once while playing alone and once while interacting with their teachers each week for 6 weeks. A time-sampling procedure was used to record frequencies of…

This study examined sex-role typing in older adults' interpretations of young children's behavior. Participants were 48 older adults averaging 64.7 years of age. Videotapes were made of the play behavior of each of two toddlers, a female and a male matched in body type, hair length, dress (plain tee shirt and shorts), and in the activities in…

This study identifies elements in the attachment behaviors of 7-month infants which predict the quality of their attachment to their mothers at 13 months. At 7 months 147 infants were observed (and videotaped) during a free play period with their mothers present, during a separation from their mothers and then during a reunion period. At 13 months…

This study explored three aspects of the 2-month-old's perception of multisyllabic utterances. Questions addressed were: (1) Do infants perceive phonetic contrasts occurring either in the initial (Bada-Gada) or medial (Daba-Daga) positions of multisyllabic utterances; (2) Are infants more likely to perceive these contrasts in stressed as opposed…

The impact of two levels of infant organization and marital satisfaction on parent-infant interaction patterns was investigated in 25 couples. It was predicted that (1) disorganized infants would have a negative impact on the parent-infant relationship, and that (2) parent-infant interaction with disorganized infants would be more negative among…

This study investigated the cognitive and behavioral functions associated with iron deficiency anemia in infants and toddlers and the short-term effects of therapy on such behaviors. Subjects were 24 iron deficient and anemic infants, 9 to 26 months old. The subjects were randomly assigned to a treatment or control group. The Bayley Scales of…

This report describes two exploration studies which examined the development of infants' intermodal knowledge by examining infants' auditorily guided visual search for objects. Experiment 1 examined intermodal search for the mother and father by 9 infants at each of three age levels: 3, 5, and 7 months of age; the final sample was 23 infants.…

Discusses differences in results of factor analyses of ten diverse samples which have been studied using the Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS). Concludes that a single common factor structure accounts for the intercorrelations among NBAS items. (Author/BH)