A historical review of neonatal assessment procedures is presented to demonstrate the trends in advancement of the field and attempts toward collaboration of medicine and psychology in contributions to the area. (Author/JMB)

This paper reviews a few studies, both in animals and humans, that are relevant in helping us to understand factors affecting infant-mother interaction. (MM)

This article is a critique of a study which concluded that there is a relationship between the use of obstetrical drugs and the behavior of infants during the first month of life. (BRT)

This article is a reply to a critique of the authors' study which concluded that there is a relationship between the use of obstetrical drugs and the behavior of infants during the first month of life. (BRT)

A series of experiments is described whose aim was to define certain of the effective dimensions of stimulation in the newborn's visual environment. (Author/JMB)

Studied neonatal imitative responses in the first hour postpartum of 12 infants in rural Nepal. Found that the newborns were able to imitate pursed lips and widened lips, which suggests that imitative capacity is present at birth. (SKC)

Mothers (N=67) with newborns who required intensive care were followed up six months after hospital discharge. Mothers' appraisals of risk and prevention were related to mood disturbance and attitudes toward future childbearing. The most important predictor of mothers' expectations of future pregnancies was whether the child was first born.…

Study evaluates the functioning of the central nervous system (CNS) of 15 neonates born at-risk for neurological sequelae and 15 healthy controls. CNS information was generated through the use of two measures: (1) the Neurological and Adaptive Capacity Score (NACS) and the auditory brainstem response (ABR). (Author/RWB)

Research on perceptual and cognitive capacities of the newborn has revealed that state variables typically interfere with or override the neonate's attentional and stimulus processing tendencies. This finding argues for the power of early state variables as behavioral determinants and, further, that neonatal state measures might provide good…

Classified fetuses as accelerators or decelerators based on intrapartum fetal heart rate (FHR). Explored the relationship of the classification with gestational age and neonatal behavior in clinically healthy neonates to provide an empirical basis for using FHR in the study of infant behavior. Subjects were 48 "healthy term" or…

Activity of 50 children whose motility had been monitored by an electronic activity monitor when they were neonates was again monitored by an ambulatory microcomputer when they were four to eight years old. Results are consistent with evidence from several longitudinal studies suggesting that individual activity characteristics tend to persist…

Two major determinants of successful parent/infant interaction models (the infant's integrative competence and the initial forms of parenting) are analyzed, with particular attention being given to preterm infants and the biological roots of parenting. (MP)

Overall findings from this series of studies indicate that fathers are as competent as mothers in providing affection, stimulation, and the necessary care for newborn infants. During feeding in the neonatal period, fathers have been found to be just as active participants in dyadic interactions with their infants as are mothers. (Author)

Responsivity to graded tactile stimuli was examined in human newborns in successive epochs of active and quiet sleep. Heart rate and behavior were both used as response indices. (Author/SS)