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Attachment is vital for infant development, as warm social interactions support growth and well-being. In a classic 1958 study by Harry Harlow, the significance of warmth and comfort in forming attachments was examined. Harlow separated newborn monkeys from their mothers and provided two artificial "mothers": one made of cold wire and the other covered in soft cloth. Despite the wire mother offering food, the infant monkeys preferred the comfort of the cloth mother, demonstrating that...
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Socio-emotional development in infancy is primarily shaped by early emotional responses and social connections, with temperament playing a central role. Temperament refers to the consistent patterns in an individual's emotional and behavioral responses, observable even in infancy. By examining temperament, researchers can better understand an infant's unique ways of interacting with the world, influencing subsequent personality and socio-emotional growth.
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Dec 26, 2025

Clinical Practice Protocol of Creative Music Therapy for Preterm Infants and Their Parents in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
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Familiar songs reduce infant distress.

Laura K Cirelli1, Sandra E Trehub1

  • 1Department of Psychology.

Developmental Psychology
|March 13, 2020
PubMed
Summary

Singing familiar songs is most effective at soothing distressed infants, more so than unfamiliar songs or talking. This research highlights the power of music in infant emotional regulation.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Infant Behavior
  • Music Cognition

Background:

  • Parents often use vocalizations to comfort distressed infants when physical contact is not possible.
  • Understanding effective vocalization strategies is crucial for infant emotional regulation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To compare the efficacy of parental speech versus singing (familiar and unfamiliar songs) in alleviating infant distress.
  • To investigate age-related differences in infant responses to different vocalization types.

Main Methods:

  • Employed the Still Face procedure with 8- and 10-month-old infants (n=68 per group).
  • Infant distress was elicited and then mitigated by caregivers singing familiar songs, unfamiliar songs, or expressive talking.
  • Measured infant negative affect, attention, smiling, and skin conductance (arousal).

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Main Results:

  • Singing, particularly familiar songs, decreased infant negative affect and increased attention and smiling.
  • Expressive talking increased negative affect and arousal in both age groups.
  • Skin conductance indicated highest arousal for talking, lowest for unfamiliar songs, and intermediate for familiar songs.

Conclusions:

  • Songs are more effective than speech in mitigating infant distress.
  • Familiar songs are most effective, eliciting positive affect and moderate arousal.
  • Vocalizations, especially music, play a significant role in infant emotional regulation and attention.