Examined consistency in behavioral state organization for 30 fetuses and neonates. Assessed heart rate pattern and presence or absence of eye and gross body movements during sleep, finding quiet sleep (QS), active sleep (AS), and indeterminate states in nearly identical proportions. Duration of enclosed QS epochs provided only stable measure of…

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…

This study is the third of three investigating attentional preference in infants. In the second study (PS 003 071), infants gave initial attentional preference to familiar patterns of visual stimuli, and later switched their preference to the unfamiliar, novel stimuli. The purpose of the present study was to duplicate these results with improved…

This paper has two major purposes: first, to consider how infant feeding behavior may fit into attachment theory; and second, to cite some evidence to show how an infant's early interaction with his mother in the feeding situation is related to subsequent development. It was found that sucking and rooting are precursor attachment behaviors that…

The data indicate that fathers do interact with their infants, and that they demonstrate charactersitic styles of interaction. (Author)

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)

This study examined mother/child interactions during feedings for full-term, healthy premature, and sick premature newborns. Ten first-born infants in each of these categories were observed with their parents once in the hospital, twice at home, and once in the laboratory during the first 4 months of life. Observations focused on the position in…

AN ATTEMPT TO ASSESS STIMULUS CONDITIONS IN THE ENVIRONMENT OF THE INFANT IN THE FIRST YEAR OF LIFE AND THE IMPACT OF THESE STIMULI ON HIS ADAPTIVE AND SOCIAL BEHAVIORS WAS PRESENTED. INFANTS WERE OBSERVED IN FOUR CHILD-REARING ENVIRONMENTS--RESIDENTIAL, KIBBUTZ, SINGLE-CHILD FAMILY, AND MULTIPLE-CHILD FAMILY. UNDER THEORETICAL ORIENTATION, THESE…

The cry sounds of 12 well-nourished and 12 malnourished male infants were compared using behavioral and acoustic measures. (BRT)

Analyzed effects of modeling and contingent praise on infant imitation of three responses: motor-with-toy, motor-without-toy, or vocal. Found a systematic increase in the percentages of training and probe models matched by the three 12- to 14-month-olds following introduction of model-and-praise treatment conditions. Nonmatching responses did not…