Noting that parents of infants and toddlers find child care substandard and expensive, and recognizing the importance of children's earliest experiences for later intellectual and emotional functioning, this policy brief examines what research reveals about the kinds of relationships, experiences, and environments that foster healthy child…

The present investigation was designed to compare the behavior of 6- and 9-month-old infants; visual as well as manipulative responses were recorded. (Author/RK)

As an important part of the plan to record and systematically deal with all observable behavioral events that constitute an infant's waking life, all social encounters between the baby and other persons that occurred during weekly observations of two infants in their everyday milieu were recorded. (Author/CB)

The conclusion from these results is that while prenatal anomalies or an impoverished home environment may retard development, in the majority of cases the environmental conditions fall within the limits of sufficiency that permit the genetic blueprint to determine the course of infant development. (Authors)

The author examines the effect of blindness on a child's acquisition of reaching, grasping, and crawling skills which are said to be necessary for coping effectively with the environment. (GW)

To investigate the nature of young infants' social competence, the effect of depressed maternal expression during face-to-face interaction was examined. An experimental analogue of maternal depression was employed. Subjects were 12 female and 12 male infants, ages 96 to 110 days, and their mothers. (Author/RH)

Explored new-born babys' capacity for forming visual memories. Used an habituation procedure that accommodated individual differences by allowing each infant to control the time course of habituation trials. Found significant novelty preference, providing strong evidence that recognition memory can be reliably demonstrated from birth. (Author/JAC)

Analyses were made of the pattern and frequency of mothers' visits to the intensive care nursery for premature infants. Visiting was found to be uncorrelated with medical, socioeconomic, or demographic variables, but was apparently related to significantly higher state levels achieved by infants who received a program of early stimulation.…

Presents experimental findings that indicate that some number capacity is present in 22-week old infants, long before the onset of verbal counting. Suggests that verbal counting may have precursors present during infancy. (CS)

Individual differences in pattern of habituation in fixation time and cardiac change to visual and auditory stimuli are described. Subjects were 94 5- and 10-month-old infants. (Author/MP)

Infant-toy and infant-adult interaction were observed in four conditions which varied the degree of adult-toy manipulation. Subjects were 48 infants 11-13 months of age. (Author/SS)

Investigates infant preferences for interaction with mother v father, similarities and differences in maternal and paternal behavior, and the influence of a second parent's presence on parent-infant interaction. Families with infants 15 months of age were observed in their own homes. (Author/SS)

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)

Two parental questionnaires were developed for measurement of temperament in one- and two-year old children in Sweden. (MP)