The Development of Spontaneous Crying in Early Infancy : The Ontogeny of An Action System (original) (raw)

The development of the crying state during early infancy

Developmental Psychobiology, 1987

The development of the crying state was studied in 14 infants from 3 to 18 weeks in two situations: the infant alone and in interaction with the mother. A major transformation occurred in the crying state after 3 months, with the appearance of what is termed interrupted fussing, which consists of rapid alternations between fuss sounds and Moing vocalizations. This change was only found in the alone situation. The functional implications of this finding are discussed within the contexts of motor development and the behavioral state concept.

Psychobiological Aspects of Infant Crying

Early Development and Parenting, 1996

This study addresses the relationship between the amount of infant crying and maternal responsiveness to the infant's facial communicative cues during distress and non-distress situations. From an evolutionary perspective, the interpretation of infant crying as a communicative signal is preferred over its distanceregulating function. This view implies a relation between the amount of infant crying and parameters describing interactional regulation. Maternal responsiveness is operationalized by (a) the contingent reactions in a latency time span which define the intuitive character of parental behaviours (200-800ms) and by (b) an event-based coding system of maternal inappropriate behaviour. Infant states (crying, fussing, sleeping and waking hours) were assessed by means of diaries kept by the mothers. In two samples (N=lO, N=13, respectively), married, middle-class mothers were videotaped in free play situations with their healthy, firstborn children in their family homes. Results show that there is a strong intersituational consistency of maternal behaviour, but context-sensitive components of maternal behaviour could also be 1 found. The contingency of maternal reactions during the free play situation can be regarded as a predictor of the duration of the infant's crying measured by a maternal diary. The whole pattern of the results confirms the regulatory function of infant crying in the context of early caregiver-child interactions.

The Development of the Organization of Infant Crying：A Dynamic Systems Approach

乳幼児発達臨床センター年報, 1987

A description of some aspects of the development of infant crying was presented by adopting a dynamic systems perspective. Of particular interest were (1) The temporal organization of individual vocalizations and pauses within one cry bout, in relation to the length of respiration cycle, and (2) The integration of vocalization, and other motor skills of the infant to form a system of communication and control in the early months. Contrast between some features of crying vocalization observed immediately after birth and at later ages was made. It was suggested that the dynamic systems approach was useful in understanding the development of crying as action, the construction of which started at the kinematic level and the final movement or action was a combination of patterned voices, in coordination with movements of limbs and body. Implications of this perspective for understanding development in other domains was discussed.

The Vocalist in the Crib: the Flexibility of Respiratory Behaviour During Crying in Healthy Neonates

Journal of Voice, 2019

To evaluate the flexibility of respiratory behavior during spontaneous crying using an objective analysis of temporal measures in healthy neonates. Participants: A total of 1,375 time intervals, comprising breath cycles related to the spontaneous crying of 72 healthy, full-term neonates (35 females) aged between two and four days, were analyzed quantitatively. Methods: Digital recordings (44 kHz, 16 bit) of cries emitted in a spontaneous, pain-free context were obtained at the University Children's Hospital Wurzburg. The amplitude-by-time representation of PRAAT: doing phonetics by computer (38) was used for the manual segmentation of single breath-cycles involving phonation. Cursors were set in these time intervals to mark the duration of inspiratory (IPh) and expiratory phases (EPh), and double-checks were carried out using auditory analyses. A PRAAT script was used to extract temporal features automatically. The only intervals analyzed were those that contained an expiratory cry utterance embedded within preceding and subsequent inspiratory phonation (IP). Beyond the reliable identification of IPh and EPh, this approach also guaranteed inter-individual and inter-utterance homogenization with respect to inspiratory strength and an unconstructed vocal tract. Results: Despite the physiological constraints of the neonatal respiratory system, a high degree of flexibility in the ratio of IPh/EPh was observed. This ratio changed hyperbolically (r = 0.71) with breath-cycle duration. Descriptive statistics for all the temporal measures are reported as reference values for future studies. Conclusion: The existence of respiratory exploration during the spontaneous crying of healthy neonates is supported by quantitative data. From a clinical perspective, the data demonstrate the presence of a high degree of flexibility in the respiratory behavior, particularly neonates' control capability with respect to variable cry durations. These data are discussed in relation to future clinical applications.

Understanding persistent crying in infancy

Crying is one of the first forms of communication between infant and caregiver, used to gain the caregiver's attention and to elicit certain responses from them. By attending and responding to their infant's communicative cues appropriately, parents optimise their cognitive and emotional development. Parents commonly worry about crying babies and seek help and reassurance from health professionals. It is a common problem worldwide, with between 1.5 and 11.9% of babies exhibiting persistent crying. It is essential therefore that health professionals understand the range of normal crying behaviours and their likely natural history. Babies who cry for more than three hours a day, more than three days a week for more than three weeks are considered to exhibit excessive crying. Excessive crying is a complex issue. It can disturb the synchrony of the dyadic relationship between parent and child and impact on the wider emotional climate of the family. Targeted interventions for crying infants have traditionally focused on giving parents guidance about how to reduce episodes of crying in the baby. This short article provides a review the literature on the function of crying and how 'excessive' has been operationalised, neurobiological aspects in babies and caregivers, the interaction between these and behaviour, and interventions that might be helpful when parents present in clinic.

Infant crying: Acoustics, perception and communication

Early Development and Parenting, 1995

This paper first reviews briefly the literature on the acoustics of infant cry sounds and then presents two empirical studies on the perception of cry and noncry sounds in their social-communicative context. Acoustic analysis of cry sounds has undergone dramatic changes in the last 35 years, including the introduction of more than a hundred different acoustic measures. The study of cry acoustics, however, remains largely focused on neonates who have various medical problems or are at risk for developmental delays.

Infant Crying: Nature, Physiologic Consequences, and Select Interventions

Neonatal Network: The Journal of Neonatal Nursing, 2002

This article describes the nature of infant crying, the physiologic events and changes associated with it, and appropriate nursing interventions for infant crying. A cry is a series of four movements that basically resembles a Valsalva maneuver. Documented immediate and long-term sequelae of crying include increased heart rate and blood pressure, reduced oxygen level, elevated cerebral blood pressure, initiation of the stress response, depleted energy reserves and oxygen, interrupted mother-infant interaction, brain injury, and cardiac dysfunction. Caregivers are encouraged to answer infant cries swiftly, consistently, and comprehensively. Kangaroo care is an efficient method for preventing, minimizing, and halting crying. Other interventions for crying include swaddled holding, a pacifier, sugar water, a sweet-tasting nonsucrose solution, heartbeat sounds, distraction by lullabies or mother’s voice, rhythmic movement, and reduction of external stimuli.