ABSTRACT
The goal of developmental science is to describe and explain growth and change across time. There are challenges to doing this effectively during the prenatal period and in early infancy. Yet, it is imperative to examine the confluences of early experiences that occur during normative development as well as to identify factors associated with risk that may set the trajectory for future dysregulation in development. In this chapter, a review of the measures employed in fetal and infant developmental research is presented, including those that have been generated to assess infant temperament along with mother–infant affective and social interactive patterns. Moreover, physiological measures (i.e., electroencephalograms, EEG) that reveal notable brain and neuro-hormonal influences (i.e., cortisol and oxytocin) are discussed as they serve as potential biomarkers of future patterns of regulation and dysregulation. The benefits and limitations of behavioral and physiological measures for informing prenatal and infant development research are noted, including reliability and validity considerations. The overarching theme of this chapter is to inform the next generation of researchers as to the innovative designs in this field; to present relevant and meaningful methods for data collection and analysis; and to provide suggestions for future work that can serve to advance the field of fetus-to-infant developmental science.
