Time sampled observations of non-elicited behaviors, obtained for several hundred newborn babies were used to determine (1) whether specific motor patterns are state linked in the manner of spontaneous behaviors; (2) whether certain behaviors appear with greater frequency preprandially; and (3) whether associations between behaviors and states are…

Reviewed is research on the mother-newborn relationship suggesting that hospitals should provide for earlier and increased physical contact between mother and infant. (DB)

Two teaching strategies for helping mothers of high risk neonates acquire a method of encouraging infant head control were compared. Both guided learning groups (who received either demonstration only or demonstration and simulation) performed better than did the control group. (Author/DB)

Identifies a coordinative structure of action that integrates hand and mouth activities within hours after birth. Found that presenting neonates with a sucrose solution focused gross motor patterns of hand movement on the oral and perioral regions. (SKC)

Newborn infants showing anthropometric signs of atypical patterns of fetal growth were compared with infants of appropriate growth on the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale and on recently developed supplementary items. The sample consisted of lower-socioeconomic-status families in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and included teenage and older mothers.…

Two experiments assessed the extent of newborns' ability to discriminate color. Results imply that newborns have some, albeit limited, capacity to discriminate chromatic from achromatic stimuli, and hence, are at least dichromats. (Author/DR)

Examines the ability of infants ranging in age from 21 to 44 hours old to discriminate among visual stimulus arrays. Infants were able to discriminate between small sets of dots (two to three dots) but not between larger sets (four to six). (Author/MP)

To measure characteristic levels of energy output at the very beginning of life, the activity and crying patterns of 72 normal neonates were monitored for 1-3 days by an electronic activity monitor. (Author/MP)

In two experiments, the majority of 21 newborn infants who were maintained in an alert state consistently turned their heads toward a continuous sound source presented 90 degrees from midline. For most infants, this orientation response was rather slow, taking median latencies of 2.5 seconds to begin and 5.5 seconds to end. (JMB)

Results of two experiments suggest that the initial head-turning preference of an infant is related to the holding preference of its mother. (JMB)

Evaluated psychological mechanisms underlying imitation of facial actions in 40 newborn infants. Results showed imitation of head movement and a tongue-protrusion gesture. Subjects imitated from memory after displays had stopped. (RJC)

Studied hand-mouth coordination in 40 infants of 1-3 days. Sucrose solution was delivered intraorally every 2 minutes. Results provide evidence for sucrose as a calming agent and for a coordinative behavorial system that integrates hand-mouth activity in supine human infants. (RJC)

Investigated newborns' responses to decreased sound pressure level (SPL) by means of a localized head turning habituation procedure. Findings, which demonstrated recovery of neonatal head turning to decreased SPL, were inconsistent with the selective receptor adaptation model. (RH)