A total of 73 three- to six-month-old infants of depressed and nondepressed mothers were videotaped in face-to-face interactions with their mothers and with nondepressed female strangers. Depressed mothers and their infants received lower ratings on all behaviors than did nondepressed dyads. (SKC)

While 18 5-month-old infants viewed photographic slides of faces posed in happy, neutral, or angry expressions, a brief acoustic noise burst was presented to elicit the blink component of human startle. It was found that blink size was augmented during the viewing of angry expressions and reduced during viewing of happy expressions. (MDM)

Looking preferences to visual temporal frequencies were examined in 77 infants at 3 ages (newborn, 1 month, and 4 months) in 3 conditions: less aroused (after feeding), more aroused-internal (before feeding), and more aroused-external (after feeding with 8 Hertz visual stimulation). Found that infants preferred faster stimuli when less aroused and…

Describes fetal development patterns within the framework of concurrent separateness from and oneness with the mother. Touches on the infant developmental stages along the way to becoming a wholly separate being. (HTH)

Facial expressions were examined in 84 3-month-old infants of mothers classified as depressed, nondepressed, or low scoring on the Beck Depression Inventory. Infants of both depressed and low-scoring mothers showed significantly more sadness and anger expressions and fewer interest expressions than infants of nondepressed mothers. (Author/MDM)

Twice during the neonatal period, the behavioral organization of 42 newborns was assessed by the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS), and the newborns' cortisol response to the NBAS procedure was determined. Newborns with low orientation showed a higher increase in cortisol during the NABS than newborns with high orientation. (MDM)

Nine- to 16-month-old infants explored pairs of novel toys in 2 conditions: violated expectation, in which the first toy produced an interesting nonobvious property and the second toy did not; and interest control, in which neither toy produced the interesting property. Infants persistently attempted to reproduce the interesting property in the…

The effects of practice on 2 elementary neuromotor patterns, stepping and sitting, were investigated in 32 6-week-old male infants. After 7 weeks, infants who received elicitation of the stepping pattern, alone or in combination with sitting exercises, stepped more than infants who received no exercise or sitting exercise only. (MDM)

Four experiments examined exogenous orienting in 3.5-month-olds. Found that sensitivity to a small moving bar was lower when most of the red bars were in the visual field contra-lateral to this probe. The distribution of color within the visual field biased attention, making it either more or less likely that the infant detected a moving stimulus.…

Examined maternal reports to determine relationship between parent-infant bed sharing and 2- to 4-month-olds' behavior. Found that 85.8% of infants slept alone; the rest slept with either one or both parents. Solitary sleepers had more positive mood and were more persistent than cosleepers, even with potential confounders controlled. Infants…

Used a modified visual-fixation-based auditory-preference procedure to test preferences for infant-directed singing versus adult-directed singing in 15 two-day-old hearing infants of deaf parents. Subjects heard a Japanese and an English play song. Found that infants prefer infant-directed singing over adult-directed singing and that the…

Presents suggested play activities for parents to do with infants from birth to 12 months that stimulate the infant's senses, encourage exploration, and satisfy security needs. Activities, games, and songs are described for birth to 2 months, 3 to 6 months, 6 to 9 months, and 10 to 12 months. (KB)

Examined behavioral/physiological responses of 2-month-olds during physical examinations. Found that colic infants cried twice as much, cried more intensely, and were more inconsolable than control infants. Heart rate, vagal tone, and cortisol measures showed no appreciable difference. At home, colic infants displayed a blunted rhythm in cortisol…

Tested whether 7-month-olds' means-end behaviors were genuine or the repetition of trained behaviors under conditions of greater arousal. Found that infants' learned button-pushing to light a set of distant lights differed from button-pushing to retrieve toys. Infants demonstrated means-end skills with behaviors that they had not been trained to…

Recent research on infants' responses to occlusion and containment events indicates that, although some violations of the continuity principle are detected at an early age e.g. Aguiar, A., & Baillargeon, R. (1999). 2.5-month-old infants' reasoning about when objects should and should not be occluded. Cognitive Psychology 39, 116-157; Hespos, S.…