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Aversiveness is in the Mind of the Beholder

Perception of Infant Crying by Adults

  • Chapter
Infant Crying

Abstract

The research reported in this chapter grew out of a long-standing interest in the compelling nature of infant cries and their seemingly paradoxical capacity to elicit either nurturant or hostile responses from caregivers. On the one hand, the biological significance of the cry for survival seems obvious (Bowlby, 1969), but crying also may be maladaptive because it is so frequently cited as a major trigger for child abuse (Frodi & Lamb, 1980; Lester & Zeskind, 1982). Furthermore, if crying has adaptive significance, it seems odd that parental sensitivity and responsiveness to crying are reported to vary so widely between cultures (Mead & Newton, 1967). In primitive and traditional societies, the city is treated as an emergency signal and responded to immediately, but in Western cultures, responses are delayed, and infants may cry for several hours each day.

And still Caroline cried, and Martha’s nerves vibrated in extraordinary response, as if the child were connected to her flesh by innumerable invisible fibers.

Doris Lessing, A Proper Marriage

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. High Risk Infant Development Laboratory, Boys Town National Institute for Communication Disorders in Children, Omaha, Nebraska, 68131, USA

    Ann D. Murray

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  1. Ann D. Murray
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. The Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Barry M. Lester  & C. F. Zachariah Boukydis  & 

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© 1985 Plenum Press, New York

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Murray, A.D. (1985). Aversiveness is in the Mind of the Beholder. In: Lester, B.M., Zachariah Boukydis, C.F. (eds) Infant Crying. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-2381-5_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-2381-5_10

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-9455-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-2381-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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