Maternal singing is considered vital to infant well-being. This study focuses on vocal emotion expressions in infant-directed singing among mothers in war conditions. It examines the questions: (a) how traumatic war events and mental health problems are associated with the content and valence of vocal emotion expressions and (b) how these emotion…

Young infants use caregivers' emotional expressions to guide their behavior in novel, ambiguous situations. This skill, known as social referencing, likely involves at least 3 separate abilities: (a) looking at an adult in an unfamiliar situation, (b) associating that adult's emotion with the novel situation, and (c) regulating their own…

Investigated whether, in a sample of 30 infants, anger could reliably be observed in facial expressions as early as seven months of age. Also considered was the influence of several variables on anger responses: infants' familiarity with the frustrator, repetition of trials, and sex of the child. (Author/RH)

Investigated 4-month-olds' responsiveness to others' affective expressions in the context of a peekaboo game. Found differential patterns of visual attention and affective responsiveness to happiness/surprise, anger, fear, and sadness. Findings underscore importance of contextual information for facilitating recognition of emotion expressions and…

Examined in four studies whether and when infants connect information about an actor's affect and perception to their action. Found that 12-month-olds, but not 8-month-olds, recognized that an actor was likely to grasp the object she had visually regarded with positive affect. Replicated findings with 12- and 14-month-olds and with several…

Observation indicates that affect is experienced prior to organized thought. After five months emotional responses are increasingly differentiated and independent of physical state. All childhood learning is propelled by affect. Adults who work with children must recognize their emotions to facilitate their acquisition of skills and knowledge.…

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…

The infant's impressions of his environment are viewed by several philosophers, including Jean Piaget. There has been some past tendency to suppose that, prior to the acquisition of language, the infant has no real impressions about his environment. More recent understandings consider that the infant is capable of conceptualization and can express…

Papers and discussants' comments from a symposium on issues concerning infants' reactions to strangers are presented. Researchers agreed that there is a developmental shift in infant behavior at 7 to 9 months of age when the infant becomes more cautious in approaching strangers. However, investigators hypothesize that the presence of the mother,…

Information on infant growth and development from 9-12 months of age is presented in a self-instructional format. This illustrated booklet is part of a related curriculum on parenting and child development for school-age mothers. Infant emotional behavior, cognitive development, toilet training, walking and other motor skills, and perceptual…

This book contains a collection of papers that focus on normal infant development, particularly from the standpoint of learning. Written by leading experts from a member of disciplines, these papers deal with topics such as: the examination and observation of infants, including neurological, neuropsychological, and neurobehavioral aspects;…

This selective bibliography cites recent ERIC documents and journal articles focusing on various aspects of infant day care including the effects of day care on infant development and on parent-child interaction and program and staff requirements for infant day care. Entries include resumes from "Resources in Education" (RIE), August 1972-August…

This document consists of four research reports and one research note focusing on several aspects of the cognitive and emotional development of young children. The first article explores two theories of the relationship between cognition and emotion, reporting on an investigation of that relationship in a simple learning task involving 60 Japanese…