Provides data indicating that development occurs in cycles, with behavioral competencies appearing and developing and then disappearing only to reappear again in a more complex form at a later age. Data on conservation and auditory-manual coordination in infancy are used to support this theory. (ED)

This study compares interactions between infants and parents to interactions between infants and strangers. Infants from 2 weeks to 6 months of age were taped in face-to-face interactions with unfamiliar male and female adults. Tapes of parent-infant interactions were available from a prior study. Specific infant and adult behaviors were coded and…

An experiment was performed to show that infants perceive auditory and visual stimuli within a common space and that they perceive the sound as an attribute of the visual object. Subjects were 22 infants aged 3 to 5 months. Each infant was presented with a toy that moved in a small arc from side to side of a small window at the rate of one arc per…

Studies the communication of affect between depressed mothers and their infants and its relation to infant socioemotional and cognitive development through face-to-face interaction. Findings indicate that there are correspondences between the behavior of depressed mothers and their infants. (Author/BB)

Reviews recent research on mother-infant communication that takes into account both the infant's and parent's influences in interactions. Topics discussed include varieties of infant communications, cross-cultural research, the beginnings of communication patterns, assessment of communication effectiveness, and sequelae of differing mother-infant…

Examined continuity, stability, and change in behaviors reflecting infant reactivity and regulation. Subjects were 100 infants of 5 and 10 months old. Found that infant behaviors during frustrating situations showed both change and continuity, but the relationship between reactivity and regulation changed in that both factors became more…

This study applied Meehl's taxometric techniques for distinguishing latent types from late continua to Strange Situation data on 1,139 fifteen-month-olds from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care. Results indicated that variation in attachment patterns was largely continuous, not categorical. Implications of dimensional models for individual…

Developed the Toddler Behavior Checklist (TBC) using parental reports of the frequencies of 103 patterns of behavior in children from 9 to 48 months old. Five scales were derived from factor analysis: Oppositional, Immaturity, Emotional Instability, Physical Aggression, and Shyness. Four scales demonstrated excellent reliability; reliability of…

Used an event-based approach to study the nature of coordination in 3- and 6-month olds during interaction with their caregivers. Found that infants coordinated their vocalizations and facial actions more than expected by chance. When two communicative events were temporally associated across modalities, one event tended to be embedded within the…

A MAIN PROBLEM ARISING IN THE STUDY OF CATEGORIZING BEHAVIOR IN PRESCHOOL CHILDREN BY MEANS OF SORTING PROCEDURES WAS THAT PERFORMANCE APPEARED TO BE VERY MUCH A FUNCTION OF THE CHILD'S COMPREHENSION OF THE PARTICULAR VERBAL INSTRUCTIONS EMPLOYED BY THE EXPERIMENTER IN PRESENTING THE TASK. THE SPECIFIC AIMS OF THE FIRST STUDY WERE TO INVESTIGATE…

The behavior of a preverbal infant was analyzed in a search for orderly and systematic patterns. Basic elements of the infant's repertoire were distinguished. A comparison was made between the nonverbal and those verbal structures which appear early. (Author/RM)

Behavioral patterns and problems of 159 first-born infants and their mothers were studied at birth, 2-months, and again at the age of 18 months. Journal availability: J. B. Lippincott co., E. Washington Square, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19105. (Author/PHR)