A year after their firstborn child was delivered, 100 fathers were asked about their attitudes toward and their actual participation in infant care. Results concerned several dimensions of paternal involvement and suggested that fathers' intention to participate in delivery is more important than their actual presence. (Author/RH)

Explores whether an empirical classification of healthy fetuses as fetal heart rate accelerators or decelerators would predict birth weight and neonatal behavior scored with the Brazelton Neonatal Behavior Assessment Scale. (Author/RH)

Infants, preschoolers, and adults were tested to determine the shortest time interval at which they would respond to the precedence effect, an auditory phenomenon produced by presenting the same sound through two loudspeakers with the input to one loudspeaker delayed in relation to the other. Results revealed developmental differences in threshold…

Audio recordings of mother/child pairs in interaction were made during a 20-minute play situation. Results suggest that mothers modify certain aspects of their speech to both Down's syndrome and hearing-impaired children. Findings substantiated previous research indicating that setting is an important consideration in research dealing with mother…

Responses to sound were observed in two groups of children (one developmentally normal, the other older but profoundly multihandicapped). Results showed no significant differences between groups. In both groups, however, responsiveness was dependent on hearing level and bandwidth but not on meaningfulness. Results support the practice of…

Three studies were designed to examine infants' bisensory responsiveness to temporally modulated stimulation by varying frequency while keeping intensity constant, by varying both frequency and intensity together, and by varying intensity while keeping temporal frequency constant. Findings indicate that sound influences visual preferences via…

The research examined effects of a longitudinal intervention program on developmental status of normal, at-risk, and handicapped children under three years. The program featured a developmentally appropriate, contingently responsive setting. Data indicated significant improvements in child performance as a function of intervention. Degree of…

The author analyzes evidence from 10 studies on early intervention (EC 181 136--181 145) in terms of the nature and quality of documentation. Qualified support for casual inference in most of the studies is cited along with problems in determining generalizability of findings. (CL)

Describes vocalizations of five 13-month-old infants. Data are reported on syllable shape, vowel-like and consonant-like production in context and time, periodic utterances, complex babbling sequences, recurrent phonetic forms, fundamental frequency, and intonation types. Results are consistent with data from other studies and support theory of…

Reviews empirical research dealing with father-infant interactions in the intact family. Results indicate fathers provide an extra source of stimulation as well as unique experiences for their infants. More similarities than differences exist in father-infant interactions as compared to mother-infant interactions; however, fathers exhibit more…

Analysis of free play interaction between 40 mothers and their mentally retarded, retarded cerebral palsied, and nonretarded infants revealed that mothers of both groups of developmentally disabled (DD) infants were more directive than mothers of nonretarded infants. DD infants were more compliant and demonstrated lower levels of behavior and less…

Interviews with parents of 31 handicapped infants revealed that the child's responsiveness, temperament, repetitive behavior patterns, and demands for additional/unusual caregiving were related to stress reported by mothers. Child's rate of progress was not related. Single mothers reported more stress than mothers in two-parent homes. (Author/CL)

Examines the relationship between maternal depression and child behavior problems at various stages after childbirth. A random sample of first-time mothers from an inner London borough participated, and an examination of possible confounding factors in the relationships was attempted. (RH)

Seventeen Black teenage mothers were videotaped interacting on 10 tasks with their five- to eight-month-old infants. Several significant differences were found between mothers of boys and mothers of girls. (Author/RH)

Temperament was measured at ages four and eight months on a sample of infants representing the five Holingshead social classes. A typology very similar to the New York Longitudinal Study's "easy/difficult" axis was found in both age groups. No influences of social class and gender differences on temperament were found. (CI)