Infant Crying: Theoretical and Research Perspectives PDF
Preview Infant Crying: Theoretical and Research Perspectives
INFANT CRYING Theoretical and Research Perspectives \0 sARAi,} z. llwAvs. WtLlv YsU I '-', II fa '1 o.l\lJ~: c. r-"'-- r- <:JlJ CI.. ~\~L~o~'\\ ~ j . crL1tf\ 6 ~ Written by 8-year-old Alyssato herS-year-oldsister,Sarah INFANT CRYING Theoretical and Research Perspectives Edited by Barry M. Lester and C. F. Zachariah Boukydis The Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School Boston, Massachusetts PLENUM PRESS • NEW YORK AND LONDON Libraryof CongressCataloging in PublicationData Main entry under title: Infantcrying. Includesbibliographiesand index. 1.Crying. 2.Infant psychology.3.Crying-Research.4.Interpersonal communica tion in children.I.Lester,BarryM.II.Boukydis, C. F.Zachariah.[DNLM: 1. Com munication-ininfancy&childhood.2.Crying-ininfancy&childhood.3.Language Development. WS105.5.E5143] BFnO.C78154 1985 155.4'22 84·26414 ISBN-13:978-1-4612-9455-9 e-ISBN-13:978-1-4613-2381-5 DOl:10.1007/978-1-4613-2381-5 ©1985Plenum Press,New York Softcoverreprintofthehardcover1stedition1985 ADivisionof Plenum PublishingCorporation 233SpringStreet, New York,N.Y.10013 Allrightsreserved No part of thisbook may be reproduced,stored inaretrievalsystem, or transmitted, inany form orby any means,electronic,mechanical,photocopying, microfilming, recording, orotherwise,without written permissionfrom the Publisher To our fathers, Norman C. Lester and A. Charles Boukydis, and to John Lind, one of the fathers of cry research. Contributors MARTIN BAX, Community Paediatric Research Unit, St. Mary's Hos pital Medical School, London, England LOIS BLACK, Department of Psychology, Syracuse University, Syra cuse, New York C. F. ZACHARIAH BOUKYDIS, Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, and Department of Pediatrics, The Children's Hos pital, Boston, Massachusetts T.BERRYBRAZELTON,DivisionofChild Development,TheChildren's Hospital, andDepartmentofPediatrics, HarvardMedicalSchool, Bos ton, Massachusetts JENNIFERS. BUCHWALD,Department of Physiology, Brain Research Institute and Mental Retardation Research Center, School of Medi cine, UniversityofCalifornia at LosAngeles, LosAngeles, California RAYMOND H. COLTON, Department of Otolaryngology and Com munication Science, College of Medicine, Upstate Medical Center, State University of New York, Syracuse, New York vii viii CONTRIBUTORS MICHAELJ. CORWIN, Department of Pediatrics, Boston University Schoolof Medicine, and Department of Pediatrics, Boston City Hos pital, Boston, Massachusetts WILBERTA 1. DONOVAN, Infant Development Laboratory, Waisman Centeron Mental Retardationand HumanDevelopmentand Depart ment of Pediatrics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin ANNFRODI,DepartmentofPsychology, UniversityofRochester, Roch ester, New York JOHN GLEASON,DepartmentofPsychology, SyracuseUniversity, Syr acuse, New York HOWARD 1. GOLUB, Pediatric Diagnostic Service Institute, Cam bridge, Massachusetts ANNA-LIISA JA.RVENPA.A., Department of Neonatology, Children's Hospital, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland LEWIS A. LEAVITT, Infant Development Laboratory, Waisman Center on Mental Retardation and Human Developmentand Departmentof Pediatrics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin BARRY M. LESTER, Harvard Medical School and Division of Child Development, The Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts PHILIP LIEBERMAN, Department of Linguistics, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island JOHN LIND,lateofthe IIDepartmentofPediatrics, Children's Hospital, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland KATARINA MICHELSSON, II Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital, University ofHelsinki, Helsinki, Finland ANN D. MURRAY, High Risk Infant Development Laboratory, Boys Town National Institute for Communication Disorders in Children, Omaha, Nebraska THOMASMURRY, Audiologyand Speech Pathology Service, Veterans Administration Medical Center, San Diego, California CONTRIBUTORS ix JOHN D. NEWMAN, Laboratory of Comparative Ethology, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Insti tutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland PETER F. OSTWALD, Department of Psychiatry, Langley Porter Psy chiatric Institute, School ofMedicine, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, California CARL SHIPLEY, Department of Physiology, Brain Research Institute and Mental Retardation Research Center, School of Medicine, Uni versity of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California ALFREDSTEINSCHNEIDER,AmericanSIDSInstitute, Atlanta, Georgia CARL-JOHANTHODEN, IIDepartment ofPediatrics, Children's Hos pital, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland OLE WASZ-HOCKERT, II Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hos pital, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland PETER H. WOLFF,DepartmentofPsychiatry, The Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts PHILIPSANFORDZESKIND,DepartmentofPsychology, VirginiaPoly technic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia Foreword The cries of infants and children are familiar to essentially all adults, and we all have our own common sense notions of the meanings of various cries at each age level. As is often the case, in the study of various aspects ofhumanbehaviorweoften investigatewhatseemsself evident to the general public. For example, ifan infant cries, he or she needs atttention; ifthe cryis different than usual, he or she is sick;and whenweareupsetbyothermatters,children'scryingcanbeveryannoy ing. As a pediatric clinician often faced with discussing with parents their concerns or lack of them with respect to their children's crying, these usual commonsense interpretations were frequently inadequate. As this book illustrates, when we investigate such everyday behaviors as children's crying and adults' responses to crying, the nature of the problem becomes surprisingly complex. As a pediatrician working in the newborn nursery early in my career, I knew from pediatric textbooks and from nursery nurses, that newborninfantswithhigh, piercing crieswere often abnormal. Inorder toteach this interestingphenomenontoothersand tounderstandunder what circumstances it occurred, Ifound I needed to know what consti tuted a high-pitched cry or even anormal cry, for that matter, and how often this occurred with sick infants. Certainly I saw sick infants who did not have high-pitched cries, but I still wondered if their cries were deviantinsome otherway. Fortunately, several investigatorsinthe past 25yearsandmanymore in the past 10years have pursuedthis problem. xi xii FOREWORD As might be expected, the number of parameters used to define cries has escalated with improving analyzing techniques. At first, investiga torsstudied thecriesofinfantswith known neurologicalproblems, then the cries of infants who were only at known risk for a neurological problem, and now infants considered to have had normal pregnancies and deliverieswho might nevertheless have suffered some neurological problem. Thus the possibilitiesfor clinicalapplication have expanded. The chapters in this book on the cries of newborns and young infants amply illustrate the evolution ofthese important studies, which Ithink have great promise. Inclinical pediatrics, Ialsodiscovered that how and wheninfants' and children's crieswere responded to depended as much on the char acteristicsof the listener as on the characteristics of the cry. Whileone mightsuperficiallythink that alladults would giveattention toaninfant who cried and alsobecome annoyed when the cryingwas excessiveor strident, Iwassurprisedatthemany exceptionstothisgeneralwisdom. Ifollowedthe development ofan infant who criedfrequently and pro longedlyin the earlymonths oflife,whose mothersurprised meby her lack of complaints and her true devotion to this child. She expressed her happiness with this infant because she needed her somuch.At the other extreme was the mother of a quiet, competent infant who cried very little, whose mother seemed disappointed, saying that this baby did not seem to need her. These extreme cases reflect the mothers' perceptionsoftheirrolesand what theyattribute totheirinfants.Several chapters of this book address these important issues. I think this area ofresearch isjust getting started and isgreatlyenhancedby the studies ofcrycharacteristics. Weare always limited in our interpretations ofthe precise roleof the nervous system in the particular humanbehaviors we are studying. We, therefore, need animal models that will permit experimentation withthe nervous system'scontrolsovervocaloutputand reception, and such studies have been included in this book. Thisis the firstbook that includes studies ofthe characteristicsof infants' and children's normal and abnormal cries,the reasons forvary ingadultresponses,andanimal models thatmightprovidefurtherinsight into these important subjects. It is an important contribution to this relativelynew and excitingfield. ARTHURH. PARMELEE LosAngeles, California
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