This study assessed the extent to which infants use fathers as referencing targets and the familial context that might mediate referencing to both parents. Infants used fathers and mothers as referencing targets to an equal extent. Marital satisfaction was found to be a significant modifier of referencing. (PCB)

Mothers (N=67) with newborns who required intensive care were followed up six months after hospital discharge. Mothers' appraisals of risk and prevention were related to mood disturbance and attitudes toward future childbearing. The most important predictor of mothers' expectations of future pregnancies was whether the child was first born.…

The article reviews comparative studies of normal and developmentally disabled or at-risk infants in interaction with their mothers, relates these studies to the literature on optimal parent-child interaction, and draws implications for early intervention programs. (DB)

Study evaluates the functioning of the central nervous system (CNS) of 15 neonates born at-risk for neurological sequelae and 15 healthy controls. CNS information was generated through the use of two measures: (1) the Neurological and Adaptive Capacity Score (NACS) and the auditory brainstem response (ABR). (Author/RWB)

Stating that the most pressing and puzzling scientific questions are questions about properties, not about change, the authors examine Piaget's and other theories of human development. Disputes the constructivist view that the initial cognitive state is one of emptiness, showing that from birth, humans react to certain stimuli in specific ways,…

Research on perceptual and cognitive capacities of the newborn has revealed that state variables typically interfere with or override the neonate's attentional and stimulus processing tendencies. This finding argues for the power of early state variables as behavioral determinants and, further, that neonatal state measures might provide good…

No differences were found in mother-infant attachment between nonadopted and intraracial adopted subjects or between intraracial and interracial adopted subjects. Suggests that the higher incidence of psychological problems found among adoptees in middle childhood and adolescence cannot be explained in terms of insecure attachment relationships…

A large sample of adults rated a videotape of the activities of an infant whose gender was labeled differently with different subject groups. Labeling the infant "male" resulted in significantly more activities being rated masculine than feminine, whereas the converse was true when the infant was labeled "female." (KH)

When six-month-old infants are preexposed to one stimulus, they are later able to remember that stimulus and distinguish it from a previously unseen, novel stimulus; degree of experience with one stimulus and the magnitude of novelty effect positively covary. Neurological substrates of infants' memory skills are described. (RH)

Reports a study of interactions of middle-class parents from 27 Swedish families, designated as shared child care or traditional families, with their first-born infants, aged 8 to 12 months. Suggests that differential involvement in child care has significant effects on fathers' behavior. (DR)

The North Carolina Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Project surveyed 47 newly trained local Sudden Infant Death Syndrome counselors to evaluate use of autopsy report as a counseling tool. Counselors reported that sharing the autopsy report with bereaved parents was a valuable part of the counseling process. (Author/NRB)

A total of 38 first-born kibbutz-reared infants and their parents were observed at infants' eighth and sixteenth months. Mothers were found more likely to vocalize, laugh, display affection, hold, and engage in caretaking than fathers were. Infants displayed no preference for either parent, and daughters approached parents more often than did…

Results suggest that various aspects of Strange Situation behavior are related to both maternal and infant temperament, and that maternal temperament is a predictor of attachment security, particularly for Type A mother-avoidant infants. (Author/RH)

Sixty children, aged 6 to 26 months, were observed discovering their mirror image and a reflected object. Compared to a control group's reactions, their behavior suggests that self-recognition in mirrors is independent of familiarity with reflecting surfaces and that ability to relate mirror space to real space is influenced by previous…

Tracheostomized infants tended to be white, male, and premature, with moderate to severe medical illness. The majority of survivors presented with multiple physical and mental handicaps. Follow-up of survivors without other major handicapping conditions suggested an association with impaired physical and emotional development, even when cognitive…