Findings support the general hypothesis that the nature of parent/infant interaction and infant development assessed at 12 months is anticipated by a complex pattern of variables, beginning with the parents' characteristics before the birth of their first child and extending via parent/infant and infant behavior throughout the first year of life.…

Examines the effect of nutritional supplementation provided to mothers during pregnancy and lactation on the mental and motor development of their infants. While neither sex nor mental differences could be attributed to supplementation, motor development in infants was affected. (Author/MP)

Results support previous findings of interactional differences during early infancy between mother/premature and mother/full-term infant dyads. Preterms performed significantly below full-terms on measures of cognitive and language development corrected for gestational age. (Author/RH)

Data support three conclusions: (1) that notable individual differences in the interaction patterns of mothers and Down syndrome children exist, (two) that maternal directiveness and sensitivity are separable dimensions of maternal style, and (3) that individual differences in mother/child interaction patterns may be related to mental development…

Investigates the effect of the relationship between conditions at encoding (familiarization) and retrieval (test) with regard to infants' performance on a paired-comparison recognition test. Subjects were 32 male and 32 female infants between 8.7 and 10.3 months of age. (MP)

Investigates whether disputes arising between 21-month-old children, meeting for the first time in a laboratory playroom, showed one or more of the following social hallmarks: (1) a patterned interactive structure, (2) explicitly communicative content, including conventional gestures and intelligible speech, and (3) antecedent and consequent…

Investigated effects of changes in temporal organization of material play participation upon variety of infant and maternal social interactive variables. Results confirmed hypothesis that both three- and five-month-old infants recognize temporal changes and respond differentially to natural, slower, and faster temporal styles. (Author/MP)

Analyzes methods used to record infant head position and the limits of these methods. An experimental device is proposed which records infant head turning and head righting when the vestibular system is stimulated. (Author/DB)

One- and two-month-old infants were shown schematic drawings of a human face with features arranged (1) naturally, (2) symmetrically but scrambled, and (3) asymmetrically and scrambled. Two-month-olds discriminated among all arangements and preferred the natural arrangement; one-month-olds showed no discrimination or preference. (Author/DB)

The dimensional structure of infants' behavioral repertoire was shown to be highly stable over 3 to 15 months of age. Factor analysis of parent questionnaire data produced seven factors named Intensity/Activity, Regularity, Approach-Withdrawal, Sensory Sensitivity, Attentiveness, Manageability and Sensitivity to New Food. An eighth factor,…

Investigates the responsiveness of 14- and 20-week-old infants to binocular information using a stereoscopic shadow caster showing an object approaching on a collision course. (Author/SS)

Responsivity to graded tactile stimuli was examined in human newborns in successive epochs of active and quiet sleep. Heart rate and behavior were both used as response indices. (Author/SS)

Presents a descriptive analysis of infant-adult face-to-face interaction, as well as the data for analyses of the relations between the two partners and the contribution of each one during the interaction. Subjects were five infants (aged 80-92 days) and their mothers. (MP)

Examines early differences in mother-infant interaction as a function of infant birth order and birth spacing. Mother and infant behaviors were observed and recorded in the home for a two-hour period. (SS)