Discusses implications of lateral dominance in infants for infant stimulation and development as well as implications for parents and teachers. (Author/DB)

This study examined behavioral correlates of the rapid central nervous system changes occurring in the first 4 months of life. It was hypothesized that during the early months of infancy, visual preference would occur as a function of quantitative dimensions of the stimuli (size) which could be mediated at a subcortical level. It was further…

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that specific spatial and possibly temporal rates of change dominate early infants' looking, that these spatial and temporal events have meaningful and specific empirical correlates in neurophysiology as a function of age, and finally that neurophysiologically constrained models provide testable…

Four questions are discussed that deal with aspects of neurological, affective, and cognitive development of infants and have implications for educational programs. (Author/SB)

Introduces this special journal issue re-examining the contributions of Myrtle McGraw to developmental psychology in order to clarify misinterpretations of her work and to highlight dimensions that constitute promising lines of inquiry for contemporary researchers. Maintains that McGraw failed to receive credit for her alternative to…

Discusses how McGraw's work broached the notion of a reciprocal relationship between structural maturation and function, thus anticipating the current understanding of the role of experience in the cortical and motor maturation of infants in the first year of postnatal life. Also presents her clear formulation of a flexible critical period concept…

Reexamines McGraw's research and theoretical principles on early neuromotor development, focusing on unaided walking. Notes that contemporary research supports and clarifies her observations providing greater detail about factors involved in the formation of higher-order control, and amplifying the role of experience. Discusses possible mechanisms…

Maintains that McGraw conducted a more complex analysis of neurobehavior than acknowledged by those characterizing her position as maturationist; that she advanced a unique analysis of brain development and consciousness, singling out the reciprocal relationship between neural growth processes and early experience; and that her studies of the role…

Implications of three basic facts about very young infants are delineated in this summary. Normally, human infants are capable of a wide range of functions, such as "appetitive responses" (e.g., the rooting reflex) and defensive maneuvers. They experience pleasure and feel pain. Additionally, they undergo a transition from subcortical to…

Determines the frequency distribution of Brainstem Auditory Evoked Potential variables (BAEP) for premature babies at different stages of development--normal newborns, infants, young children, and adults. The author concludes that the assumption of normality underlying most "standard" statistical analyses can be met for many BAEP…

Examines the potential contribution of different neural systems to developmental change in the duration of visual fixation, and the individual differences in that variable that are predictive of subsequent cognitive function. Presents hypotheses concerning two specific and independent neural systems and how they might contribute to individual and…

Used event-related potentials (ERPs) and fixation duration to examine infants' responses to events. Found that ERPs, but not looking time, distinguished between familiar events presented frequently rather than infrequently, and between familiar and novel events presented infrequently. Proposed that ERPs reflected updating of working memory or…

The author describes recent findings on the neurobiological mechanisms involved in perceptions of risk and safety. The term "Neuroception" describes how neural circuits distinguish whether situations or people are safe, dangerous, or life threatening. Neuroception explains why a baby coos at a caregiver but cries at a stranger, or why a…

This paper presents autoassociator neural networks. A first section reviews the architecture of these models, common learning rules, and presents sample simulations to illustrate their abilities. In a second section, the ability of these models to account for learning phenomena such as habituation is reviewed. The contribution of these networks to…

Examines the weak relationship between structural and functional brain development. Maintains that variability is the basic characteristic of normal development, and that involves the ability to construct pluriform strategies and to select the proper strategy in any particular situation. Argues that McGraw recognized intra- and inter-individual…