Presents a descriptive analysis of infant-adult face-to-face interaction, as well as the data for analyses of the relations between the two partners and the contribution of each one during the interaction. Subjects were five infants (aged 80-92 days) and their mothers. (MP)

Two experiments investigated 8-, 10-, and 12-month-old infants' levels of searching for mothers, strangers, and objects. Found that, overall, 10- and 12-month-old infants had higher levels of searching for mothers, whereas youngest infants showed no differences for searching. This discrepancy is likely due to social cognitive development and…

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)

Explored patterns of emotional communication in 70 mother-infant dyads, emphasizing both mother and child roles in affect regulation. Display of maternal positive and negative affects decreased with age; child affects were unchanged. Maternal sensitivity was associated with maternal matching of son's affects and daughter's creation of shared…

Infant imitation is considered a significant component of social, cognitive, and language development. Observation of 20 infants and their mothers in 2 naturalistic settings at 4 separate ages revealed dyads' imitation and matching in vocal, verbal and action behaviors. Verbal matching increased over the second year, suggesting relation of dyads'…

Examined associations among parents' characteristics, prenatal expectations for and postpartum perceptions of infant temperament, and observers' ratings of temperament. Found that parents shared expectations for infant's emotional expressivity but differed in expectation for predictability and adaptability. Parent's postpartum ratings of…

This report is a portion of a study of attachment behavior: behavior promoting contact and/or proximity of an infant to his mother figure. This report deals specifically with crying, response to brief everyday separations from the mother and to her return, and behavior relevant to physical contact with her. The subjects, 26 infant-mother pairs…

Reports on development of a model for studying communicative competencies using naturalistic observations of specific behaviors. Discussion focuses on ways mothers and toddlers train each other to be successively more effective in their relationships. (ED)

Examined maternal and infant behaviors, behavioral coordination, maternal response, and nonresponse in relation to security of attachment. Subjects were 40 Euro-American mothers and 39 Central American immigrant mothers studied when their infants were 4-, 8-, and 12-months-old. Found that individual differences on measures of maternal response and…

Explored relation between infants' early spontaneous imitation of novel and familiar words and subsequent lexicons in longitudinal sample between 13 and 21 months. Found marked contrasts in quantity and proportions of nouns between reported and observed lexicons. When earlier vocabulary levels were controlled, infants' early replication of novel…

Assessed infants' attachment behaviors toward nonparental adults, including grandparents, other relatives, and family friends. Found that the extent of infants' attachment behavior to nonparental adults was related to infant-mother attachment behavior and to the nonparental adult's responsiveness in teaching and position in the mother's social…

Explored infants' responses to live and replay interactions with mothers and their own images. Found that to their mothers, infants decreased attention, length of first gazes, and smiling from initial live feedback to replay, and that responses to subsequent live feedback generally remained suppressed. Also found that infants did not show a…

Investigated emotional and facial expressivity in infants who failed to thrive and normal infants who were videotaped in social and cognitive contexts. Although differences in emotional expressivity were not found, infants who failed to thrive displayed more negative effects and used their lower faces less often to express emotion. (Author/BB)