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This monograph is the detailed report of an interesting longitudinal study of 75 babies in the newborn and preschool periods. The strategy was to make a comprehensive study of behavioral organization at each period; the sample of second and later born babies was selected to exclude those with complications of pregnancy or delivery.The study of the organization of newborn behaviour provides a thorough and careful account of the interrelations, and stability between feeding periods, of a number of measures taken in different phases of sleep and waking states. The assessments of which measures were sufficiently stable for longitudinal study and the critical discussion of discrepancies between the results and those of other studies are particularly valuable, as the issues raised are important to a wide range of studies of the newborn.At the preschool period the children spent four weeks in small groups in a nursery school. A wide range of measurements was made, based on concepts of intensity of behaviour, approach-withdrawal, agonistic, affiliative and exploratory behaviour, and using a variety of techniques. The group of measures which appeared to be important for both sexes in organizing behaviour was one which combined intensity, assertiveness and in-volvement with peers. The important question seemed to be how involved and busy the children were in play, rather than how long they spent in particular activities. Another group of measures reflected close interplay between language, cognition and close interaction with adults, with interesting differences in the formation of the cluster for boys and girls. Sex differences in the composition of the other classes of behaviour were so marked that separate longitudinal analyses had to be done for boys and girls. Sex differences have, of course, repeatedly been shown in studies of preschool children; what is interesting about this group is that they were younger than those usually studied (27 to 33 months), and careful sample selection ensured that the differences were not a reflection of the greater vulnerability of males to paranatal problems.A few links between newborn and preschool measures were found; individual newborn measures predicted just as well as composite classes, although composite classes of preschool behaviour showed stronger relationships than individual measures to the newborn period. In interpreting the findings, the authors stress the 'paradoxical general quality' of many of the links : vigorous responsive newborn behaviour was associated with low responsiveness and lack of involvement in 403

From a 5-to 10-minute newborn examination, behaviors of males at age 3 could be predicted. The number of minor physical anomalies, assessed soon after birth, was significantly related to a cluster of behaviors that are frequently labeled hyperactivity.