Infant Previewing: Predicting and Sharing Interpersonal Outcome

Infant Previewing: Predicting and Sharing Interpersonal Outcome examines the developmental processes of the first two years of life from an innovative perspective that may dramatically alter the way health care professionals view and predict their perceptions of developmental phenomena. The volume introduces the concept of previewing, a developmental principle that organizes our understanding of how infants and caregivers share experience during the first few years of life. Previewing is manifested by virtually all caregivers and is designed to provide the caregiver-infant dyad with insight into imminent maturational trends and with the motivation for continuing on the development journey with a sense of mastery and control. The book not only launches the theory underlying the concept of previewing, but it also offers guidelines for using previewing to enhance the relationship between infant and caregiver. Various applications of previewing - as a means of fostering the infant's predictive abilities, as a catalyst for differentiating and coordinating developmental functions, and as a principle for motivating interpersonal communication - are analyzed.