A longitudinal study was conducted to assess (1) the validity of the Denver Prescreening Developmental Questionnaire (DPDQ) in a predominantly black, lower socioeconomic population, and (2) the effect of an educational package in increasing parental accuracy in responses to the DPDQ. Randomly selected mothers of 127 infants enrolled in a follow-up…

This study focused on two questions: (1) is there a difference between social and mechanical non-social causality in infancy? and (2) do infants use information about contact between objects in inanimate, mechanical causal sequences more than they use it in situations where a social event is to be caused? Forty-eight 10- to 10.9-month-old infants…

This demonstration study examines the affective reactions of infants when they imitate or fail to imitate play behavior modeled by an adult. Subjects were twenty-four 18-month-old and twenty-four 24-month-old male and female infants. Each infant visited the laboratory twice with an inter-session interval of 48 hours. At each session, the infant…

INVESTIGATIONS INTO THE NATURE AND DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL BEHAVIOR IN HUMAN INFANCY HAVE RAISED MANY RESEARCH ISSUES AND HAVE INDICATED MANY ADDITIONAL AREAS OF INQUIRY. EARLY AND CONTEMPORARY STUDIES HAVE BOTH BEEN CONCERNED WITH PROVIDING MORE PRECISE ANALYSES OF STIMULUS AND SITUATIONAL DETERMINANTS OF SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL…

This research correlates maternal sociodemographic and psychological data and dimensions of maternal behavior at four and twelve months with dimensions of infant adjustment and competence at twelve months. Interviews of 321 low-income mothers were completed during the third trimester of pregnancy, at four months and at twelve months.…

This study was designed to compare the inter-/intra-correlational and the behavioral commonalities approaches to the assessment of attachment behaviors of infants to their mothers. At 7 months, 147 infants were observed (and videotaped) sequentially during a free play period with their mothers present, a separation from their mothers and then a…

Examined were differences in attachment behaviors of 14 abused and seven nonabused infants. Videotapes were taken during brief separation and reunion from their mothers and a habituated nonfamiliar figure. Ratings were made of exploration, distress, head turning, following, crying with separation, soothing, positive greeting, differential…

This study was designed to determine if the failure of previous investigations to find habituation and response to novelty in infants younger than 2 months of age was because the stimuli used were too complex or because a constant number of trials rather than an individual criterion of habituation was used. A total of 24 infants between 5 and 6…

Infants raised the pitch of their vocalizations when stimulated by vocalizing parents. Nonvocal stimulation did not repeat the effect. Intonation contours did not change during different conditions. The pitch of the parents' vocalizations also rose during vocal interaction. Changes in infant pitch were interpreted as a function of imitation.…

Concerning the issues of emotional development, general agreement can only be reached on the definition of "emotional" behavior. Behavior is emotional when it varies from an individual's behavioral baseline by the addition of three components: (1) an action component, (2) an arousal component, and (3) a subjective "feeling" component. In all areas…

This volume consists of reports of individual studies and surveys of research work on mother-infant interactions. It is divided into two parts. The first section presents a wide range of studies on mother-infant relations as exhibited in the behavior of animals. The second part, concerning human behavior, includes studies on the natural history of…

This paper presents a system for synthesizing the educational objectives of infant curricula and illustrates the procedure by reviewing the synthesis of several specific objectives of the Carolina Infant Curriculum. Five sources are used in the synthetic process: (1) consumer opinions, (2) developmental theory, (3) developmental facts, (4)…

Infant's crying may have an important mediating role in the formation of attachment behavior. The earliest vocalizations are discussed in terms of an acoustic communications model in which the baby's vocal repertoire becomes incorporated into a closed-loop, feedback system with his mother. Certain pre-lingual "signals" may be associated with those…

Several sets of evidence are offered to support the hypothesis that cognitive and social development are intimately interrelated, and that mother-infant interaction influences both. A mother's prompt responsiveness to her baby's signals tends to foster the development of varied and clear modes of communication and thus the development of one facet…

The report summarizes the first year of the Toddler Research and Intervention Project, a research program to devise and evaluate different aspects of educational intervention with children, ages 1-4 years, with moderate to severe development problems (primarily mental retardation). Described are the children who composed the intervention group,…