SYNOPSIS

Author replies to commentaries on a paper reporting that different crying levels in infant simulators produce divergent testosterone (T) responses. Major points considered include that: human infant crying is similar to the crying of other mammalian young; increases in T following exposure to infant crying may mobilize paternal protection rather than paternal care; T changes in response to crying are embedded within a larger constellation of interdependent hormonal responses; more refined behavioral measures and more frequent hormone sampling would enhance researchers’ ability to detect individual differences in fathers’ caregiving behavior and make causal inferences. Implications for intervention and parent education are discussed.

概要

作者在一篇论文的评论中做出回应，该论文报道了婴儿模拟器中不同的哭声水平会产生不同的睾丸激素（T）反应。考虑的要点包括：人类婴儿的哭声与其他哺乳动物的年轻人的哭声相似。婴儿哭泣后T升高可能动员父亲保护而不是父亲照顾；响应哭泣的T变化被嵌入相互依存的激素反应的更大群中。更完善的行为措施和更频繁的激素采样将增强研究人员发现父亲照料行为中个体差异并进行因果推理的能力。讨论了干预和父母教育的含义。