Briefly reviews research concerned with symbolic development in children born prematurely. Focus is on the complex process of sorting out the effects of biological maturation and environmental experience in the study of the emergent processes, and examining the effects of biological risk and environmental opportunity in determining developmental…

Examines the relation between aspects of the fundamental frequency (basic pitch) of 16 infant newborn cries and 28 multiparous mothers' perceptions of those cries. Results support the hypothesis that increases in fundamental frequency are related to increases in maternal perceptions of the intensity of the infant's cry. (Author/RWB)

This article reviews the literature and presents data on sensory deprivation stress and supplemental stimulation of the rat pup and the preterm neonate. (PCB)

In its eight years of operation, a British Columbia program to identify hearing loss in newborns has been duplicated at 19 regional sites. Summary data are presented for incidence of loss as well as type (sensorineural, conductive, or mixed). (CL)

Determines the time course of circulating cortisol following circumcision in 80 healthy newborns and investigates whether changes in behavioral state following circumcision in anyway paralleled the adrenocortical time course. Adrenocortical and behavioral data indicated that subjects were able to cope with circumcision trauma. Cortisol levels…

Studied the maternal plasmatic zinc behavior at delivery time and the cord blood zinc concentration from appropriate and low-birth-weight full-term infants and appropriate preterm infants. Findings indicated that neither prematurity nor fetal growth delay interfere in maternal or newborn infants' zinc levels. (BJD)

This brochure, one of a series of publications on recommended feeding and dietary practices to improve nutritional status at various points in the life cycle, focuses on childbirth, the initiation of breastfeeding, and breastfeeding concerns during the first week after birth. Addressed to health care providers working with mothers and newborns,…

The behavior of 10 newborn babies given pacifiers in response to spontaneous empty sucking, rooting, and mouthing was compared to that of 10 controls. Observations, conducted at 24-hour intervals for four days, began 2 hours before and concluded 1 hour after feedings. (RH)

Examines, in 30 normal infants from three age groups, differences in exploratory and sucking responses to artificial nipples varying in material and shape. Results suggest the existence of a developmental trend influenced by the type of nipple. Findings support the view that the mouth has a perceptual as well as a nutritive function. (Author/RH)

The Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale was administered to 54 full-term, healthy infants on days 1 through 5 and on days 7 and 10. Infants were divided into eight groups, differing in terms of the obstetrical medication mothers received. Low dosages of obstetrical medication were found to have significant but subtle effects on the…

Designed with procedural and methodological controls which were not always adequate in earlier studies, this study tests the hypothesis that early and enhanced contact between mothers and infants after delivery facilitates maternal attachment behavior. Thirty mother-infant pairs from a lower-middle-class population were studied. (Author/MP)

Investigates infant stimulation as it relates to nurturing and natural mothering activities. A format for a case-study of a newborn infant and her parents is discussed. (RJC)

Data suggest that human newborns are capable of making a chromatic discrimination within the spectral region above 540 nm (the Rayleigh region), but their ability is limited to chromatic stimuli of very wide spectral separation and of very large size. Possible neurological bases underlying this immaturity are discussed. (RH)