Based on the presentations given by well-known specialists at a recent
multidisciplinary conference of developmental psychobiologists, obstetricians,
and physiologists, this book is the first exhaustive attempt to synthesize the
present scientific knowledge on fetal behavior. Utilizing a psychobiological
analytic approach, it provides the reader with an overview of the perspectives,
hypotheses, and experimental results from a group of basic scientists and
clinicians who conduct research to elucidate the role of fetal behavior in
development. Experimental and clinical as well as human and animal data are
explored via comparative developmental analysis. The ontogeny of fetal
spontaneous activity -- via the maturation of "behavioral states" -- and of
fetal responsiveness to