This study examined infants' reactions to new people by manipulating the social context in which infants became acquainted with new people. Infants (N=48) met someone new in the presence of another unfamiliar adult and their mothers. The new acquaintance either: (1) chatted and worked on a puzzle with the mother; (2) remained silent and worked on…

This study examined sequential dependencies in behavior of 10 mother-infant dyads recorded when the infants were at 7 and 20 weeks of age in an effort to determine the extent to which individuals behave responsively to their partners during interactions. Ten maternal actions and 10 infant actions were selected in face-to-face interactions. Actions…

DiPietro, Larson, and Porges (1987) found behavioral and physiological differences between breast-fed and bottle-fed newborns. It was suggested that breast-feeding is associated with more optimal physiological organization and with increased irritable reactivity early in the neonatal period. The present study investigated whether breast-fed…

Reports on a portion of a long-term investigation carried out to determine the prognostic significance of newborn behavioral assessments for later development and behavior, in terms of identifying a subpopulation which would be a high risk group. (Author/SDH)

Findings of a series of studies on individual differences and maturational changes in expressivity at the neonatal stage and during early infancy are reported. Research results indicate that newborns are able to discriminate and imitate the basic emotional expressions: happy, sad, and surprised. Results show widened infant lips when the happy…

This paper questions social interaction studies that use frequency or duration of behaviors in mother-infant relations as reliable measures of infant interactive competence. An infant's high score on frequency and duration tests may falsely indicate that the child is more communicative than other subjects. Such results may suggest that mother and…

Stability of temperament over successive ages in the first 2 years was evaluated for 109 full-term and 81 preterm infants who were assessed at 6, 9, 12, 18, and 24 months of age. At each age subjects were engaged in a series of age-appropriate vignettes in the laboratory; experimenters used a structured sequence of activities. Composite ratings…

In his article "The 'Effects' of Infant Day Care Reconsidered," Jay Belsky (see PS 017 108) concludes that maternal employment puts infants at risk for developing emotional insecurity and social maladjustment. After a review of Belsky's and other research, a different conclusion is offered in this paper. It is agreed that infants whose…

The booklet describes the condttion known as low birth weight and suggests ways in which a mother can take precautions against its occurring in her own child. Problems and maternal factors associated with low birth weight babies are discussed, and research on the causes of prematurity and growth retardation are reviewed. (SBH)

Clarifies issues involved in use of heart rate as index of newborn attentional responsivity by reviewing related studies and concluding that heart rate variability can be used in studying attentional responsivity state, and intra-individual and individual variables. (ED)

Study supported in part by Grant MH-10993 from the National Institute of Mental Health, U.S. Public Health Service.