Assessed 40 women's responses to young infants' cries. Mothers and nonmothers were similar in basic features of caregiving behaviors. Although the sound of infant cries may inform caregivers about distress level, caregiving behaviors appear to be determined by additional factors. (RH)

Results indicated that six cries differentially affected subjects' affective, self-reported, behavioral responses and tendency to report not hearing the cry. Participants were 53 male and 65 female psychology undergraduates and 58 mothers who were exposed to one of six types of infant cries. Higher pitched cries elicited less optimal responses…

College students listened to recordings of infant cries that varied in the duration of crying sounds and of pauses between crying sounds. Results indicated that the shorter the duration of the pause the more informative, arousing, and aversive was the cry in the judgment of the students. (BC)

Examined behavioral/physiological responses of 2-month-olds during physical examinations. Found that colic infants cried twice as much, cried more intensely, and were more inconsolable than control infants. Heart rate, vagal tone, and cortisol measures showed no appreciable difference. At home, colic infants displayed a blunted rhythm in cortisol…

The purpose of this study was to explore the quality of daycare by examining interactions between caregivers and young children. Across 49 Israeli daycare centers, 299 children aged 18-30 months were observed naturalistically in groups of four to eight, together with their main caregiver. Caregivers' behavior was defined in terms of mediation and…

Objective: To determine whether there is an age-specific incidence of hospitalized cases of Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) that has similar properties to the previously reported ''normal crying curve,'' as a form of indirect evidence that crying is an important stimulus for SBS. Design and setting: The study analyzed cases of Shaken Baby Syndrome by…

Variations in the aversiveness of a newborn's distress cry were examined by means of manipulation of features of fundamental frequency, intonation, and spectral complexity, and of information given to subjects about the infant's health status. Findings suggest that the listener's reaction to cry characteristics can be altered by the inducement of…

Four studies assessed adults' latencies to signal they would respond to infant crying as a function of perceived infant distress and contextual information relevant to caregiving. Results suggested that adults' responses are influenced by both acoustic gradations in the cry and the caregiving context. Ratings of degree of distress may be highly,…

Parents need to remember that crying is the first method of communication for children younger than 5 or 6. It is their way of getting attention. While it isn't easy for new parents to interpret their baby's cries, most learn to distinguish the "I am hungry--feed me" cry from the "My tummy hurts" or the "I am just fussy and bored" cry. This…

This study investigates individual differences in the contribution of specific maternal regulatory behaviors to the mother-infant dyad's regulation of infant distress response. Additionally, we examined the stability of infants' stress responses and the stability of specific maternal soothing behaviors. The sample included 128 mother-infant dyads…

Used signal detection methodology to examine how cognitive set affects mothers' response to crying by "difficult" and "easy" infants. Found that increased mothers' sensitivity was associated with the "difficult" infant cognitive set and that mothers with high illusory control were least sensitive in detecting…

Parents, and adults inexperienced in child care rated intensities of infants' cries. The groups did not differ in their ratings. The cries of 6-month olds were rated more intense than 1-month olds. Amplitude and noisiness of cry predicted adult judgments of 1-year olds' cries. A measure of amplitude ratio predicted ratings of 6-month olds' cries.…

Conducted spectrum analysis of standard and vociferous cries from infants with Wessel's colic, non-Wessel's colic, and comparison infants. Vociferous cries had longer duration, higher fundamental frequency, and greater percentage of dysphonation than standard cries. After feedings, problematic criers had greater percentage of dysphonation in…

Research findings on articulatory and acoustic characteristics of infant noncry/nondistress vocalization are applied to the clinical assessment of infant noncry vocal activity. Discussed are differentiation and definitions of cry and noncry productions, stages of vocalization, a protocol for developmental vocal assessment, and interpretation of…

Thirty nonparent adults were classified as high or low on the Child Abuse Potential Inventory. Their heart rate and skin conductance were assessed as they listened to audiotapes of "normal" phonated infant cries and high-pitched, hyperphonated cries, and subjects rated the cries. Marginal differences were found between groups.…