Bruner's (1973) review of infant skill development is updated and extended by (a) placing it in the context of recent motor learning research; (b) discussing the concept of efference in its most recent conceptualization; and (c) explicating certain implicit themes relevant to a theory of infant motor intelligence. (ED)

Presents two studies which investigated the effects of social stimulation on infant's vocalization rates. Experiment I focused on response-contingent and response-independent social stimulation. Experiment II focused on continuous or omitted social stimulation. In both studies, social stimulation increased vocalization and the rate of responding…

Supplementary stimulation was supplied for 30 minutes per day for approximately six weeks to 156 normal, full-term institutionalized infants prior to adoption. The Gesell Developmental Schedules were administered regularly (until age 27 months), to determine whether development had been enhanced by the treatment. (JMB)

The final report traces the history and accomplishments of the Home Learning Center (HLC), a program housed at Ball State University for hearing impaired infants and toddlers (0 to 3 years old) and their parents. HLC offers a center based program in which parents learn how to enhance their child's development. Interdepartmental cooperation within…

Intended for parents of handicapped infants and young children, the booklet provides guidelines for child rearing and suggests additional resources. The booklet stresses that the handicapped child needs what every child needs, that home is where a baby starts learning, the importance of getting a thorough evaluation if the parent suspects…

Ways in which mothers adjust the explicitness of their speech to the capabilities of their children were explored among 38 mothers and 40 of their children. All children ranged in age from 1 1/2 to 3 1/2 years. Children were grouped by mean age in 6-month intervals, with eight subjects per group, and paired with their mothers. Each mother-child…

This paper describes a series of studies investigating the effects of memory reactivation in early infancy. Twelve-week-old infants were taught a footkick response by having one leg tied to an overhead crib mobile so that each footkick produced movement of the mobile (reinforcer). Retention of the footkick response was assessed after 6, 8, and 14…

The paper discusses the relationship between social class and infantile autism and provides supporting evidence for L. Kanner's original findings regarding a relationship between infantile autism and high socioeconomic status. Section I contains studies which are clinical or impressionistic in nature; while Sections II and III focus on studies on…

Infants' use of auditory information in guiding their search behavior is examined in this study. The subjects were two groups of 9-month-old crawling infants. Group 1 consisted of 24 infants and Group 2 of 16 infants. The auditory stimuli was the mother's voice. Infants in both groups were initially positioned by their mothers behind a screen in a…

The author considers the relationship between uncontrollable infant crying and child abuse. An integrative scheme is offered from evidence of child abuse literature, experimentally induced infant crying effects, attribution theory, and learned helplessness. It is suggested that infant crying often has causes beyond caregiver control, such as birth…

This study investigated the hypotheses that 1) infants delivered from a left occiput anterior or transverse position (LOA/LOT) would exhibit a right supine head orientation in the neonatal examination and a right hand preference at 19 weeks of age; and 2) infants delivered from a right occiput anterior or transverse position (ROA/ROT) would…

IN EXPERIMENT 1, DEVELOPMENTAL CHANGES IN THE PROSODIC FEATURES OF INFANT VOCALIZING WERE STUDIED WITH NOVEL ELECTRO-ACOUSTIC TECHNIQUES. COMPLETE AND CONTINUOUS RECORDINGS OF ALL THE VOCALIZATIONS OF TWO INFANTS DURING THE FIRST FIVE MONTHS OF LIFE WERE COLLECTED AND SYSTEMATICALLY SAMPLED FOR ANALYSIS. COMPOSITE STATISTICS, DESCRIBING THE THREE…

The lexical development of four infants was recorded by their parents in diaries. In a selective imitation situation, individualized for each child, the responses of the children were compared with semantic predictions made on the basis of one of 14 hypothesized rules, and with the semantic alternatives available from the child's lexicon. It was…

Studies of concept formation in infancy have demonstrated that certain experimental settings can elicit spontaneous behavior from infants which has been called "sorting" or "object grouping". This study pursues the issue of early sorting with infants as young as 6 months, and with a broader range of stimuli than has been used…

Intended for parents, the booklet provides information on taking care of infants with special problems at birth. Three chapters cover the following age levels: 1 to 4 months, 5 to 8 months, and 7 to 10 months. Among topics considered are feeding, safety, and discipline. Toys are suggested for infants up to 12 months old. (SBH)