The Amazing Infant

Tiffany Field, world renowned infant development scholar, writes an engaging and comprehensive book that collects and reviews the latest findings in the field, exploring cutting edge research and contemporary theories about infant development.

• An engaging and accessible book that integrates research, theory, and real life experiences and practices to provide a closer look at how infancy research is conducted.
• Features illustrative photos and data graphs covering research from recent years.
• Draws on recent advances in neuroscience to examine the progress made in the areas of prenatal and cognitive development.

Foreword, by Michael Lewis vi

Preface vii

Acknowledgments viii

1. How infancy research is conducted 1

2. Being a fetus (Prenatal Growth and Development 17

3. Coming into the world (The Perinatal Period) 41

4. Being in tune with the world (The Early Senses) 71

5. Body-Talk with Parents and Others (Social Development) 97

6. Being Emotional and Temperamental (Emotional and Personality Development) 119

7. Moving Around in the World and Making Objects Do Things and Things Happen (Motor and Cognitive Development) 137

8. Finally Using Words (Language Development) 163

9. Taking Turns with Peers (More Social Development) 177

Appendix: My Diary on Tory’s First Year 199

Glossary on Infant Development and Caregiving 225

Bibliography 273

References 317

“The Amazing Infant is a fabulous book. Beautifully crafted, written by one of the most creative figures in the field of infancy, this book will charm both college students and parents wanting to learn about the wonders of the baby’s mind. Who needs dinosaurs or astronomical Big Bangs when we have babies to explore? The infant is the keeper of many, many mysteries, and this book engages us in exploring quite a few of them.”
Joseph J. Campos, University of California, Berkeley

“Tiffany Field is without question our leading researcher and writer on the role of touch in infant development and behavior. The Amazing Infant is an excellent primer on infant behavior and development, utilizing her personal experiences with her own daughter’s development. An exceptional aid for new parents as well as students.”
Lewis P. Lipsitt, Brown University

“This book is a very good read. The writing style is engaging and easy to follow. It is also truly unique in the field of infant development … a field in which far too little attention has been paid to the obvious fact that infants’ development involves learning and that specific patterns of maternal behavior are essential for successful child behavioral outcomes.”
Martha Pelaez, Florida International University

“A prolific writer…Field provides thumbnail sketches of what is known to this point on a variety of topics, with emphasis on recent research findings.”
Choice

“An enjoyable read.”
Times

Tiffany Field is director of the Touch Research Institute and a professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Psychology, and Psychiatry at the University of Miami School of Medicine. Her publications include Infancy (1990) and Touch (2001). “Infants are fascinating from their very first movements as fetuses until they walk out of infancy into their terrible twos.” With these words, Tiffany Field, world renowned developmental psychologist, reminds us of the wonders of infant development. For years parents and professionals marveled at the complexity of infants, but it was not until the 21st century, when explosive advancements in neuroscience began taking place, that sophisticated insights started to emerge. In The Amazing Infant, Field combines research, theory, and real-life experiences to create a comprehensive and approachable guide to the study of infant development.

With a sharp intellect and engaging writing style, Field examines the most recent studies on infants, exploring cutting-edge research related to a range of intriguing topics from prenatal problems to motor skills and personality development. Enlightening and intelligent, featuring a breadth of accessible information, The Amazing Infant is essential reading for students, parents, and professionals alike.