The enigma of infant crying: The emergence of defining dimensions

Recent research concerning the phenomenology of crying in normal and clinical contexts has clarified a number of defining dimensions of the behaviour. Four of the most prominent are developmental changes in both form and function of crying, especially those which take place between two and four months of age; categorical as compared to non-categorical descriptions of crying phenomenology; crying as a behavioural state and its relationships to other state behaviours of infants; and the differential impact of crying in clinical and non-clinical settings. These dimensions are recurrent themes in current research on crying as a signal and must be considered in any comprehensive account of the role and meaning of early infant crying.