Newborn and Preschooler: Organization of Behavior and Relations between Periods

Abstract

This monograph is the detailed report of an interesting longitudinal study of 75 babies in the newborn and preschool periods. The strategy was to make a comprehensive study of behavioral organization at each period; the sample of second and later born babies was selected to exclude those with complications of pregnancy or delivery.The study of the organization of newborn behaviour provides a thorough and careful account of the interrelations, and stability between feeding periods, of a number of measures taken in different phases of sleep and waking states. The assessments of which measures were sufficiently stable for longitudinal study and the critical discussion of discrepancies between the results and those of other studies are particularly valuable, as the issues raised are important to a wide range of studies of the newborn.At the preschool period the children spent four weeks in small groups in a nursery school. A wide range of measurements was made, based on concepts of intensity of behaviour, approach-withdrawal, agonistic, affiliative and exploratory behaviour, and using a variety of techniques. The group of measures which appeared to be important for both sexes in organizing behaviour was one which combined intensity, assertiveness and in-volvement with peers. The important question seemed to be how involved and busy the children were in play, rather than how long they spent in particular activities. Another group of measures reflected close interplay between language, cognition and close interaction with adults, with interesting differences in the formation of the cluster for boys and girls. Sex differences in the composition of the other classes of behaviour were so marked that separate longitudinal analyses had to be done for boys and girls. Sex differences have, of course, repeatedly been shown in studies of preschool children; what is interesting about this group is that they were younger than those usually studied (27 to 33 months), and careful sample selection ensured that the differences were not a reflection of the greater vulnerability of males to paranatal problems.A few links between newborn and preschool measures were found; individual newborn measures predicted just as well as composite classes, although composite classes of preschool behaviour showed stronger relationships than individual measures to the newborn period. In interpreting the findings, the authors stress the 'paradoxical general quality' of many of the links : vigorous responsive newborn behaviour was associated with low responsiveness and lack of involvement in 403

Dopamine D4 receptor and serotonin transporter promoter in the determination of neonatal temperament

“…The predictive power of particular traits, however, may take any of several forms. [43][44][45][46][47] It is important to consider that later behavioral traits may have little face valid or intuitive relation to the content of neonate or infant temperament, although significant statistical correlations may be observed between developmental stages. Researchers who rely on face valid content in order to uncover antecedent temperaments in neonates or infants may miss important developmental markers of later personality dimensions.…”

Attachment Behavior in Thirteen‐month‐old, Opposite Sex Twins

“…1971) often state that there are innate activity differences, despite the fact that there is little evidence to substantiate this hypothesis (Maccoby & Jacklin, 1973). For example, Bell, Weller and Waldrop (1971) found no activity level differences in neonates when birth trauma is controlled and, in a longitudinal study, report that two-and-a-half-year-old boys and girls do not differ in restless movement or high vigor behavior. In addition, activity level does not seem to be a stable characteristic.…”

Facilitating Pathways

“…Infants vary greatly in their activity levels, but indi vidual differences are not very strongly predictive: in one study there was actually a negative correla tion between activity at the age of 3 days and at 2.5 years (Bell et al 1971). Detection at this age is likely to be of risk factors rather than the early signs of disorder.…”

“…Babies are seldom identified as inattentive, and the earliest manifestations of brain dysfunction may be rather different from what will later be a disorder of attention or impulsiveness. There may be a discontinuity in activity level be tween the neonatal period and later infancy (Bell et al 1971): the least active babies during the first days of life become the most active by the age of 4 months. Even in the second and third years of life, there is rather little information on the development of abnormalities of attention and motor impulse control.…”