A modified Visual Expectation Paradigm assessed the role of picture content in the spatiotemporal expectations of 80 infants. Stable picture content information facilitated formation of expectations about when and where pictures would appear. Two month olds' reactions were consistently slower than those of three month olds.(LB)

Used event-related potentials to examine infants' ability to form representations of stimuli presented in a haptic modality and to then recognize these stimuli as familiar when the stimuli were subsequently presented in a visual modality. Found that in certain conditions infants encoded the haptically familiarized object, then transferred their…

Two experiments investigated whether 5-month olds would look longer at rotating "drawbridge" appearing to violate physical laws because they knew it was causally impossible. Findings indicated that infants' longer gaze at 180-degree rotations was due to simple perceptual preference for more motion, challenging Baillargeon's (1987) claim…

Two studies examined messages conveyed in infant-directed lullabies and play songs. Findings indicated that adult raters differentiated audio recordings of mothers' lullaby- and play-song-styles with 100% accuracy and performed at above chance level in identifying which music 6-month olds were hearing on silent videotapes. Infants focused…

Studied 2-year olds' understanding of pretense expressions of independent agency in scenarios in which a doll acted as the agent of a series of pretend events. Found no gender differences in the doll's imaginary intentions, but older toddlers performed reliably better than younger. Episodes requiring enacting conclusions to events that began with…

Recorded reaching and looking preferences and movement kinematics among 5- to 15-month-olds divided into 3 age groups. Found that 5- to 12-month-olds preferred looking first at a large object; 8.5- to 12-month-olds showed preference for reaching to smaller (graspable) objects. Kinematic measures suggested that onset of object-oriented action…

Previous research has investigated the effect of maternal soothing behaviors on reducing infant reactivity but not the differential effects of specific maternal behaviors on infant stress responses. The present study investigated maternal regulation of 2- and 6-month-olds' responses to an inoculation and found a significant decline with age in…

Twenty infants were observed at home interacting with their mothers, fathers, and an unfamiliar investigator when they were 15, 18, 21, and 24 months of age. (Author/JMB)

Assessed behavioral and physiological differences between 61 breast-fed and 39 bottle-fed neonates. Mean postpartum assessment occurred at 37 hours. Results suggest that breast-fed infants had significantly longer heart periods, elevated heart period variability, and higher vagal tone than bottle-fed infants. (Author/RWB)

Ability of 26 newborns to imitate facial expressions was examined. When infants observed emotional facial expressions, they did not show imitative matching of the modeled expressions. However, when tongue protrusion was modeled, infants did produce the modeled gesture. (PCB)

Examines the psychometric properties of two procedures for reducing data from the Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale: factor and cluster analysis. The sample consisted of 85 male and 77 female newborns. (RH)

A way of thinking about the child's stimulus effects is advanced and applied to parent-child interactions observed in home settings. (Author/WY)