Abstract
Recent research on the capabilities of newborns and their individual differences is reviewed. Experimental results suggest that the newborn is a great deal. more capable of organized responses than has been assumed and that he is most responsive to stimulus configurations which are inherent in the mother and her care. In the earliest weeks of life, the mother is thus a sufficient source of both affective and cognitive stimulation for the “average expectable” infant. In cases of unavoidable or avoidable deficit in maternal care, compensatory stimulation may be beneficial. The stimulation requirements differ in kind with the premature, the institutional infant, the ghetto child, and the neglected child. For optimal development and to counteract special vulnerabilities, differences in the infants’ innate endowment also differentially affect stimulation requirements. Illustrations are given. For the studies of individual differences to be most useful, they should not only pinpoint special vulnerabilities, but...
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