This symposium introduction outlines the first phase of an investigation of the mother-father-infant triad as an interactive system, influencing both parent attitudes and behaviors and child development. The focus of the research was on the early determinants of parental behavior. Subjects were 67 middle class, white parents and their first-born…

This paper discusses the analyses of antecedent correlates of the behavior of 60 infants as measured by the Brazelton Neonatal Assessment Scale on the third day after birth. The data include two sets of antecedent variables: maternal adaptation to pregnancy as reported in prenatal interviews and measured describing the conditions of labor and…

Based on findings that report differences between cries of normal and clinically abnormal infants, this study examined the relationship between birthweight and behavioral and acoustic features of neonatal cry because of the long-standing association between birthweight, perinatal trauma, and subsequent development. Subjects were 88 neonates…

This study explored the relationship between the mother-infant interaction and the concurrent perceptual-cognitive and intellectual status of the infant. One hundred and eight-nine 12-week-old infants were given a battery of perceptual-cognitive tasks, including the Mental Developmental Index (MDI) of the Bayley Scales, the Corman-Escalona Scales…

Seven-month-old infants require redundant information such as temporal synchrony to learn arbitrary syllable-object relations. Infants learned the relations between spoken syllables, /a/ and /i/, and two moving objects only when temporal synchrony was present during habituation. Two experiments examined infants' memory for these relations. In…

This study was designed to assess genetic influence on behavioral inhibition and its varying expression in 92 monozygotic and 86 dizygotic twin pairs. Infant behavior and mother-child interaction were observed and videotaped during structured play sessions at age 14, 20, 24, and 36 months. Analysis of the results suggests that most of the overlap…

This study examined the interaction between infant behavior and maternal ethnocentric attitudes and expectations. The ethnomethodological approach used in this study was guided by the assumption that it is essential for an investigator to consider the broad cultural context in which behavior is studied. The behavior of 80 African-American neonates…

A study explored whether socioeconomic status (SES) differences could be detected in 3-month-old infants' differential vocal responsiveness (DVR) to mothers versus strangers. The study also explored whether 3-month-olds' DVR was related to environmental variables, such as the mother's behaviors toward the infant in naturalistic conditions, the…

This study investigated whether the interactions of biological mothers and their offspring differ from those of institutional caregivers and infants in their charge. The subjects--43 three-month full-time Greek infants (22 home-reared infants and 21 from the institution, Babies' Center Metera) were studied while interacting with their primary…

Reported are three series of experiments analyzing the development of the visual function of infants. The first experimental series was aimed at the investigation of infants' reaction to moving objects. The second experimental series dealt with the analysis of the development of binocular vision in infants. The goal of the third series was to…

Videotapes of mother/infant pairs were made to assess the influence of selected infant and maternal characteristics on parent/child interaction. Characteristics of interest were infant mental age, infant chronological age, infant gender, and parity. Subjects were 37 mothers (20 primiparous, 17 multiparous) and their infants (19 males, 18 females)…

The objectives of this study were to investigate (1) whether prior opinions concerning a child's sex influence the qualities attributed to the child; (2) whether differences exist in the responses of male and female raters; and (3) the effect of forced-choice responses vis-a-vis non-forced responses. An 8-minute videotape of a 22-month-old infant…

Findings from three studies that used a laboratory procedure to assess individual differences in various dimensions of infant temperament in relation to later Brazelton scores are presented. Participants included 59 healthy, full-term and sick, preterm infants. The sick, preterm infants included infants who developed respiratory or neurological…

Differences in 3-month-old infants' vocal responsiveness to vocal-visual stimulation by mothers and strangers has been shown to be related to performance on both the Stanford-Binet at 3 years of age and the Illinois Test of Psycholinguistics at 5 years of age. The present retesting of 12 of the original 14 normal, first-born male subjects, now 12…

The purpose of this paper was to examine whether a pediatrician in well child care could promote mother-child interaction in the infant's first 6 months of life, and whether this intervention could affect the infant's cognitive development. Thirty-two mothers and their healthy, first born infants were followed by one pediatrician at 2, 4, 8, 15…