Regardless of birthweight, ventilated infants received the lowest ratings for overall performance on the Infant Behavior Record. Ventilated newborns of very low birthweight were more likely to receive ratings characterizing an overly active infant with a short attention span, and never-ventilated infants of very low birthweight were most likely to…

Investigated fathers' reported interaction with infants. Instrumentation consisted of three sets of questionnaires. Results indicated fathers of nonbreast-fed infants reported being generally more involved in caregiving. Fathers performed care tasks selectively, were more participatory when mothers were present, played with or comforted infants…

Investigates intersensory interaction between auditory and visual stimulation in newborn infants. Following auditory stimulation, newborns' visual preferences for light patches of different intensity were examined. Results indicate that newborns attend to quantitative variations in stimulation and that these variations reflect both the objective…

Neonates born without complications to healthy mothers at 14,000 feet or at 490 feet above sea level were evaluated at 24-36- and 48-60-hours-of-life. In comparison with low-altitude infants, high-altitude infants were significantly lighter, shorter, had a smaller arm circumference, and presented more signs of behavioral immaturity in interactive…

The ability of neonates to integrate auditory and visual information into a single percept was investigated using a signal detection methodology. Thirty-two infants ranging in age from 2 to 11 days served as subjects. (Author/MP)

Ninety-two clinically normal infants (48 male, 44 female) were tested at 2 and 90 days of age to examine the continuity of newborn behavior through early infancy across a broad range of behaviors. (MP)

The age of onset for tactual exploration of the fingers, body (torso), knee, foot, and penis by the fingers was determined in 100 normal infants. Journal availability: see EC 113 765. (Author)

Longitudinal data indicated a significant relation between five-month vagal tone and negative reactivity elicited in the laboratory and maternal ratings of activity level and smiling behavior. Newborn vagal tone predicted maternal ratings of frustration and fear. Moderate stability was found for infant reactivity. (RH)

Reports a study of 110 newborn infants' responses to the heelstick procedure to draw blood samples, and of the responses of 40 of those infants to their first inoculations at two months of age. Discusses measures of distress; stability of reactivity across time; and individual differences and health of the infant as factors in reactivity. (NH)

Examined grief responses of parents suffering perinatal loss and explored effects of gender, type of loss, time since loss, number of losses, and subsequent pregnancy on grief response. Responses to Grief Experience Inventory from 176 such parents revealed subjects suffering grief. Grief response was affected by subjects' perception that loss was…

Compares annual rates of neonatal, postneonatal mortality to annual rates of low birth weight, 1963-1982. Shows that same level of decline in incidence of low birth weight is associated with greater decline in mortality rates of non-White than White infants and for nonmetro than metro infants. Contains 15 references. (Author/DHP)

Examined the effects of hunger on the hand-mouth (HM) behavior of a group of newborn infants. Found that significantly more mouth opening before contacts to the mouth than those to the face occurred before but not after feeding, suggesting some link between HM behavior and hunger state. (MDM)

Tested infants' remembrance of the orientations and angular relations of line segments. In one experiment, infants "dishabituated" to a change in orientation but not a change in angle. In two further experiments, infants familiar with either an acute or obtuse angle gave strong novelty preferences to a different angle. (BC)

Two experiments tested whether newborns could discriminate their own and another newborn's cry. Results indicated that awake newborns expressed facial distress more frequently and longer to another newborn's cry than to their own. Sucking decreased significantly between pretest phase and first minute of another infant's cry. Asleep infants'…