Distress crying in neonates: Species and peer specificity

Abstract

Two experiments replicated the results of a series of earlier studies by A. Sagi and M. L. Hoffman (see record
1976-12035-001) and M. L. Simner (see record
1971-28677-001). 70 newborn infants participated. Calm infants cried in response to the tape-recorded crying of other infants. In addition, results show the following: (a) Crying infants continued to cry in response to the crying of another infant. (b) Crying infants who heard their own cry almost completely stopped crying. (c) Calm infants who heard their own cry made practically no response. (d) Calm infants simply ignored the cries of a chimpanzee and older child. It is concluded that these behaviors are peer and species specific. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Full text

Developmental
Psychology
1982,
Vol.
18, No. 1, 3-9
Copyright 1982
by the
American Psychological Association, Inc.
0012-1649/S2/1801
-0003500.75
Distress Crying
in
Neonates:
Species
and
Peer Specificity
Grace
B.
Martin
Armstrong
State
College
Russell
D.
Clark
III
Florida
State
University
Two
experiments replicated
the
results
of a
series
of
earlier
studies
by
Sagi
and
Hoffman
and by
Simner.
Calm
infants
cry in
response
to the
tape-recorded
crying
of
other
infants.
In
addition,
four
new findings
were
reported:
(a)
crying
infants
continued
to cry in
response
to the
crying
of
another infant,
(b)
crying
infants
who
heard their
own cry
almost completely stopped crying,
(c)
calm
infants
who
heard their
own cry
made
practically
no
response,
and (d)
calm
infants simply ignored
the
cries
of a
chimpanzee
and an
older child.
It was
concluded that these behaviors
are
peer
and
species
specific.
There
is a
tendency
for
individuals
to re-
spond
to
others
who are in a
clear
and un-
ambiguous
distress state
in
ways
that
are
rapid, impulsive,
and
noncalculative
(Pilia-
vin,
Dovidio, Gaertner,
&
Clark, 1981).
Clark
and
Word
(1972)
found
that
the av-
erage reaction time
of
subjects
who
heard
a man
fall
and cry out in
pain
was
less
than
9
sec. Piliavin
and
Piliavin
(1972)
and Pi-
liavin,
Rodin,
and
Piliavin
(1969)
found
re-
sponse rates
of
almost 100%
and
reaction
times
of
less than
10 sec
when
a
rider col-
lapsed
on the floor of a
subway. These quick
reaction times argue
in
favor
of a
basic help-
ing
tendency that
is
triggered
by the
aware-
ness
of
affect
or
distress
in
another indi-
vidual.
If
such
a
capacity
is
inborn,
it
might
be
evident
in
children. Much
of
this assumption
is
based
on the
work
of
Yarrow
and her
col-
leagues (Yarrow,
Scott,
&
Waxier,
1973;
Yarrow
&
Waxier, 1977; Waxier, Yarrow,
&
King, Note
1;
Waxier
et
al.,
Note
2).
These researchers have clearly demonstrated
that children
of
ages
10
months
to 4
years
We
gratefully
acknowledge
the
cooperation
and as-
sistance
of
Bernard
M.
Portman
and the
entire
nursing
staff
of the
newborn nursery
at
Memorial
Medical
Cen-
ter, Savannah,
Georgia.
Numerous persons provided
in-
valuable suggestions
on
previous drafts
of
this
article.
We
wish
to
thank Lloyd Elfner, Richard
Hagen,
Mary
N.
Hicks,
H.
Russell Martin, Jr.,
R.
Bruce
Masterton,
Michael
Rashotte,
Lee B.
Sechrest,
Stephen
G.
West,
and
Glayde Whitney.
Requests
for
reprints
should
be
sent
to
Grace
B.
Martin,
Department
of
Psychology, Armstrong
State
College,
Savannah,
Georgia
31406.
appear
to
become distressed
in the
presence
of
distress
in
others. Between
the
ages
of 10
months
and 16
months,
the
most common
response
is the
distress cry. Escalona
(1945)
and
Murphy (1936) have also produced
re-
sults that indicate that very young children
experience distress when
in
close proximity
to
distress
in
others.
Even
more
suggestive
of an
inborn capac-
ity to
experience arousal
as a
result
of ex-
posure
to
distress cues
from
another individ-
ual
is the
literature that indicates that
newborn
infants
cry in
response
to the
cries
of
other infants. Anecdotal reports
of
such
a
phenomenon have appeared
from
time
to
time (e.g., Morley, 1965; Piaget, 1951; Val-
entine,
1946),
but
little
serious investigation
has
been aimed
at its
understanding.
Buhler
and
Hetzer
(1928)
found
that
84% of
their
infant
subjects (ages
1-14
days) cried when
exposed
to
another crying infant.
More recently, Simner
(1971)
conducted
a
series
of
four
exploratory studies
to
deter-
mine
whether responsive crying actually
oc-
curs
in
newborns.
His
subjects were newborn
male
and
female
infants
in a
hospital nurs-
ery. Using various combinations
of
auditory
stimuli,
he
found
that infants
who
were
ex-
posed
to the
tape-recorded
cry of a
5-day-
old
female cried
significantly
more than
those
who
heard either
a
silent control, white
noise,
a
computer-generated synthetic cry,
or the cry of a
5!/2
month-old female. Simner
(1971) presented these results
as
evidence
that
the
vocal qualities
of
another infant's
cry
contain stimulus properties that promote