Looking behavior of Down syndrome infants.

Eleven Down syndrome infants were individually matched for sex and socioeconomic status with 11 nonretarded children. Looking behavior for the two groups was coded when the children were 6 and 9 months of age while they played with their mothers without toys. No significant group differences were found for maternal looking, holding, and vocalization behavior, but the Down syndrome infants spent almost half the play time looking toward their mother, nearly twice the time spent by the contrast group. Results were discussed in terms of Down syndrome fixation characteristics, maternal behavior, and referential looking.