An ethological analysis of human infant crying: answering Tinbergen's four questions
- PMID: 11745323
- DOI: 10.1002/dev.1005
An ethological analysis of human infant crying: answering Tinbergen's four questions
Abstract
The proximate causes, survival value, ontogeny, and evolutionary history of human infant crying are examined. Experiments and field observations involving infant distress vocalizations and begging calls in avian, mammalian, and nonhuman primate species are considered, as are ethnographic records of infant care and responses to crying in nonindustrialized societies. It is argued that human infant crying evolved as a primarily acoustic, graded signal, that it is a fairly reliable, if imperfect, indicator of need for parental care and that its primary function is to promote parental caregiving. Selection pressures that may have shaped the evolution of crying and its potential for corruption through dishonesty also are discussed.
Copyright 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Similar articles
-
Nine Levels of Explanation : A Proposed Expansion of Tinbergen's Four-Level Framework for Understanding the Causes of Behavior.Hum Nat. 2021 Dec;32(4):748-793. doi: 10.1007/s12110-021-09414-8. Epub 2021 Nov 5. Hum Nat. 2021. PMID: 34739657
-
Intended sensitive and harsh caregiving responses to infant crying: the role of cry pitch and perceived urgency in an adult twin sample.Child Abuse Negl. 2010 Nov;34(11):863-73. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2010.05.003. Child Abuse Negl. 2010. PMID: 20889206
-
Infant crying and adults' anticipated caregiving responses: acoustic and contextual influences.Child Dev. 2001 Sep-Oct;72(5):1287-300. doi: 10.1111/1467-8624.00348. Child Dev. 2001. PMID: 11699671
-
"Colic"--primary excessive crying as an infant-environment interaction.Pediatr Clin North Am. 1984 Oct;31(5):993-1005. doi: 10.1016/s0031-3955(16)34681-8. Pediatr Clin North Am. 1984. PMID: 6384904 Review.
-
Infant crying as an elicitor of parental behavior: an examination of two models.Psychol Bull. 1979 Jan;86(1):191-215. Psychol Bull. 1979. PMID: 377352 Review. No abstract available.
Cited by
-
Preventing and Treating Colic: An Update.Adv Exp Med Biol. 2024;1449:59-78. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-58572-2_4. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2024. PMID: 39060731 Review.
-
Age and parous-experience dependent changes in emotional contagion for positive infant sounds.Front Psychol. 2024 Mar 27;15:1336126. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1336126. eCollection 2024. Front Psychol. 2024. PMID: 38601818 Free PMC article.
-
Mothers' Attachment Style Predicts Response to Child Distress: The Role of Maternal Emotions and Attributions.J Child Fam Stud. 2023 Mar;32(3):876-891. doi: 10.1007/s10826-022-02517-5. Epub 2022 Dec 26. J Child Fam Stud. 2023. PMID: 37859978 Free PMC article. No abstract available.
-
Sows' Responses to Piglets in Distress: An Experimental Investigation in a Natural Setting.Animals (Basel). 2023 Jul 10;13(14):2261. doi: 10.3390/ani13142261. Animals (Basel). 2023. PMID: 37508041 Free PMC article.
-
A Scientometric Review of Infant Cry and Caregiver Responsiveness: Literature Trends and Research Gaps over 60 Years of Developmental Study.Children (Basel). 2023 Jun 10;10(6):1042. doi: 10.3390/children10061042. Children (Basel). 2023. PMID: 37371273 Free PMC article. Review.
Publication types
MeSH terms
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Medical
