Data from infants unable to complete experimental sessions were compared to those for whom there were complete data. Results suggest that the elimination of large numbers of infants may have a potentially biasing effect on reported data. (Authors)

Hypothesizes that infants with attentive mothers will interact more positively with consistent partners than with matched strangers. Finds that when mothers were attentive infant dyads composed of consistent partners interacted more than stranger dyads. Suggest that withdrawal of maternal attention may be equivalent to physical separation by a…

Reports results of an investigation of the effects of age, sex, and experience with peers on infants' peer-directed behavior. (Author/BH)

Examines whether novelty produces more or less attention than familiarity and incongruity, and whether children's learning behavior is related to these differences in attention. Subjects were 43 three- to five-year-old children. (BD)

Facial configuration and height were systematically varied as four different strangers--a male and female child, a female adult and a small female adult (midget)--each approached 40 different infants. The infants responded as if there were 3 classes of persons, suggesting that both size and facial configuration cues were used. (Author/SB)

Verbal and nonverbal behaviors of fifty 2-year-old children and their mothers were recorded during free play, departure, and separation situations. Measures of the child's and mother's cognitive abilities and maternal cognitive style were also obtained. Sex and social class differences in child and maternal behaviors within each situation were…

This study of 12 white, upper-middle-class mothers and their children was conducted to provide information on how verbal aspects of mother-child interaction are differentiated by sex of the child. Results suggest greater verbal quantity and responsivity for mother-female compared with mother-male dyads. (Author/SB)

This study explored the relationship between the mother-infant interaction and the concurrent perceptual-cognitive and intellectual status of the infant. One hundred and eight-nine 12-week-old infants were given a battery of perceptual-cognitive tasks, including the Mental Developmental Index (MDI) of the Bayley Scales, the Corman-Escalona Scales…

The early communication network existing between a mother and her 12-week-old infant was explored. Over 50 infants of both sexes from a variety of social classes were seen in their homes, and a wide variety of maternal and infant behaviors were studied. Of special interest was the vocalization-in-communication data. The results indicate a lawful,…

Because of the sparcity of research on infants' response to social events, especially different categories of people, infants between 8 and 18 months of age were introduced to five different social events: strange adult male and female, strange 4-year-old female, mother, and self. The infants' responses indicated that approach affects stimulus…

This paper discusses the processes that are at work which produce some of the differences between male and female human beings. The sex of the child is an important attribute of the organism's identity. Before birth, parents express preferences for the sex of the unborn child and start providing names as a function of the sex of the child. Studies…

Fifty-two 44-month-old children were observed in a nursery school over a period of two weeks with peer and adult oriented behaviors recorded, and data analyzed in terms of the subjects' sex and birth order. Sex effects were as expected, but birth-order effects highlighted the second-born child as representing a distinct category. In particular,…

This study examines the effects of sex, socioeconomic status, birth order and birth spacing on the cognitive performance of 12-week-old infants. A brief review of research on neonatal cognitive ability is followed by a description of the study itself. The subjects, 189 three-month-old Caucasian infants (61 first borns, 58 second borns, and 49…