Effects of delayed interval testing on identification of infants' cry-signals.

The effects of delayed interval testing on 54 college students' ability to identify 4 infants' cry-signals (birth, hunger, pain, and pleasure) were studied. Their ages ranged from 18 to 30 yr. and all were low in experience as caregivers to infants. 28 subjects with delayed interval testing of 72 hr. scored significantly higher than 26 control subjects who were given no training in recognizing the birth and pain cry-signals and in their over-all difference. They also scored higher but not significantly so, in recognizing the hunger cry-signal. A year later representative samples of both experimental (n = 15) and control (n = 11) groups were retested. The difference in the data remained the same, except for the birth cry-signal. The differences in the data remained the same, exept for the birth cry-signal. The results are discussed in terms of their consistency with previous studies. When compared to previous results, delayed interval testing of 72 hr. appears to be about as effective as immediate response training in the identification of infants' cry-signals.