This study attempted to identify characteristics that distinguish approach as an attachment behavior from approach serving other behavioral systems. Locomotor approaches of 16 male and 10 female white middle-class infants to an attachment figure (mother) and to a nonattachment figure (visitor-observer) were examined under naturalistic conditions…

Preference for novelty, as measured with an exploratory behavior paradigm, was compared in 8-month-old full-term and preterm infants of matched conceptional age. Subjects were 64 infants, 32 full term and 32 preterm, with 16 males and 16 females in each group. (Author/JH)

A series of five experiments explore the 7-month-old infant's ability to discriminate among photos of faces. The infant's tendency to choose visual targets for inspection provides evidence of discrimination and recognition. (Author/JH)

The analysis of I-scale preference orders of 71 infants (2 to 9 months old) to four face-like stimuli suggested a common J-scale stimulus ordering for each of four age groups. Changes in I-scale frequencies were used as a measure of age-related changes in preference orders. (MS)

Examined changes in cortisol and behavioral responses in 83 infants. Found that salivary cortisol responses before and after inoculation were high at 2 months, decreased between 2 and 4 months, remained stable, then declined again between 6 and 15 months. Found some evidence that emergence of circadian rhythm in cortisol might be related to early…

Compared expressions of attachment relationships in preterm and full-term infants and their mothers at home at 8 and 12 months of age and in the Strange Situation at 18 months. Found 84% concordance in the distinctions between secure and nonsecure classifications of the mother-infant relationship made at home at 12 months and in the Strange…

This study examined two alternative interpretations of violation-of-expectation findings that young infants can represent hidden objects. Findings indicated that 5-month-olds succeeded in reasoning about the interaction of a visible and a hidden object even though the 2 objects were never simultaneously visible and a 3- or 4-minute delay preceded…

Notes that 4-month olds who show a low threshold to become distressed and motorically aroused to unfamiliar stimuli are more likely than others to become fearful and subdued during early childhood, while infants who show a high arousal threshold are more likely to become bold and sociable. Considers implications for psychopathology and relation…

Two experiments investigated the role of distractor characteristics and type of object-directed attention on 7- and 10-month-old infants' distraction latencies during object exploration. Found that infants took longer to turn toward distractors during focused object-directed attention than when engaged in more casual attention. They exhibited…

Offers suggestions for facilitating infant play for the following age groups: birth to 4 months, 4 to 8 months, 8 to 12 months, and 12 to 18 months. Suggestions cover play materials and some activities. (KB)

Two experiments investigated whether novel phonotactic regularities, not present in English, could be acquired by 16.5-month-olds from brief auditory experience. Subjects listened to consonant-vowel-consonant syllables in which particular consonants were artificially restricted to either initial or final position. Findings in a subsequent…

Studied the organization of the behaviors involved in the development of prehension by 80 infants of 1-8 months. Four types of behavior patterns that occurred at different periods were found to constitute the development of prehension. (BG)

Argues that there are important individual differences in infant responses to frustrating situations. These different patterns of behavior have important implications for subsequent responses to challenge. Also argues that these different coping responses are in part temperamentally based and that individual differences in temperament help us to…

Compared effects of contingent and noncontingent adult-infant social interactions on subsequent infant-controlled habituation and choice tasks of 26 infants of 3 months. Infants who experienced a prior noncontingent social interaction tended to adopt response strategies that reduced the density of stimulation during subsequent nonsocial tasks.…

Effects of modeling and contingent praise on infant's motor response topographies were experimentally analyzed. Three male 10-month-olds showed systematic increases in targeted training and probe response topographies after introduction of the modeling and praise treatment procedure. Thus generalized imitation with infants was demonstrated. (RH)