Cardiac Responsivity to Tactile Stimulation in Waking and Sleeping Infants

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Abstract
The role of state in determining a psychological or physiological response is not disputed. However, few studies using neonates and young infants have given much attention to this variable. This study was designed to investigate state differences in the newborn's cardiac response to a tactile stimulus. The results indicated: (1) The infant when asleep showed significantly different cardiac response than when awake. This replication demonstrates that an infant's state must be considered in any work using HR response. (2) In the present study, 6 cardiac response parameters were observed, and it was clear that not all these measures of the cardiac response yield similar results and that the response parameter E chooses to use will determine the degree of habituation found and the nature of the response curve. (3) In general, there were differences in habituation between the waking and sleeping infant.