This study investigates three types of reciprocal interactions among members of the family unit (father, mother and infant): father-infant interaction affecting child's development, father-infant interaction affecting mother's behavior, and husband-wife interaction affecting mother's behavior. Data from a sample of 39 healthy first-born infants…

This paper presents some findings of a detailed analysis of infants' approach behavior in a familiar, naturalistic setting. A total of 26, white, middle-class infant-mother pairs were observed in the home every three weeks during the first year of the child's life. Instances of infant approach to both mother and observer were coded from the…

The behavior of the infant with prenatal drug exposure (PDE) is different from a nonexposed infant, and it is a difference that changes the rules of interaction for the caregiver. Infants exposed to opiates such as heroin or methadone demonstrate very specific signs of neurobehavioral dysfunction as they go through classic withdrawal symptoms.…

As part of a study to determine whether visual and manual response systems are correlated, 26 children between 40 and 51 months of age took part in visual and manual reaction time (RT) tasks. Subjects, whose RTs had previously been tested at 3 months of age, were tested in 1 of 2 conditions. In the first condition, subjects viewed pictures only…

Discussing findings from three studies, this report focuses on questions mothers ask their children while looking at picture books and recent family photographs. In the first study, 30 mothers and their 12-, 15-, and 18-month-old children "read" a simple ABC book that had one picture for each letter in the alphabet. In the second study,…

This document reviews a number of recent studies written in French that investigate the nature of communication between 2-year-old infants and others. The review includes three parts. The first part focuses on studies aiming to constitute a behavioral catalog of the child. Characteristically, these studies offer a posteriori interpretations of…

This research reports the development of a semantic differential for rating nonverbal style of expressiveness in a population of expectant mothers. Mothers' nonverbal features (facial expression, gestures, voice quality) were emphasized as uniquely valid indices of emotional attitudes towards parenthood and as the principal forms of interpersonal…

This paper reports the progress of an ongoing clinical research project on prevention services for at risk infants of mentally ill mothers. This project extends the prevention focus of early education programs into the mental health field. Previous research findings indicate that maximum preventive effects are achieved when programs (a) begin…

A rational approach to increasing the quality of infant caregiving environments requires knowledge of the interrelationships among three major aspects of caregiving: the adult, the infant and the environment in which care is provided. This presentation focuses on desired traits of caregivers and on the needs of infants. In addition to warm…

This study examines the relationship between mother-infant behavior and the infant's performance on perceptual-cognitive tasks as a function of the infant's sex. A total of 189 12-week-old infants and their mothers were observed in their homes during 2 hours of infant awake time. In addition, the Mental Development Index (MDI) of the Bayley Scales…

This paper reports on a followup study of the long-term effects of infant care patterns among the Logoli people of East Africa. In the original study, 12 infants, ages 7-13 months, were observed to obtain a measure of the frequency with which the infant was held by the mother and others, latency of response to the infant's crying, and the number…

This paper discusses infant attachment, which it defines as a long-lasting emotional bond revealed when a child under stress seeks out and tries to stay close to a specific figure. The paper addresses: (1) What is attachment? Who are the pioneers in attachment theory?; (2) How do we notice attachment in action?; (3) Is attachment the only…

A theory of normal mother-infant relationship based on Margaret Mahler's theories is the basis of a treatment program for disturbed mother/infant relationships. This theory includes the concept of symbiosis which for the child is an undifferentiated condition, a fusion with the mother where the two have a common outward border, thereby protecting…

The Mental Development Scales: Birth to Three Years are instruments designed to assess developmental levels of young children within a setting familiar to the child. They (1) provide a greater understanding of child behavior and development, (2) serve as a basis for planning an individualized curriculum for each child, and (3) furnish the means…

The feedback model of maternal language indicates that maternal language development is tailored to child feedback. The conversational model indicates that adjustment in mothers' speech occurs before the onset of child language. In order to verify the validity of these models, the language of mothers of six hearing and six deaf 13- to…