title: Organization of spontaneous behaviors of sleeping neonates.
abstract: The time intervals between spontaneous behaviors of 209 infants were tallied. The frequency distributions of time intervals between spontaneous behaviors showed that behaviors were usually spaced closely in time. However, none of the spontaneous behaviors occurred with a set interval between successive behaviors. All spontaneous behaviors conformed to a single pattern of temporal organization, regardless of the particular behaviors displayed, the infant's sex, or sleep state. The pattern approximated a systematic alternation of periods of increasing and decreasing time intervals between successive behaviors. These data conflict with Wolff's theory of neural discharge but support Wolff's hypothesis about substitution.
mesh_terms: D002652:Child Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008959:Models, Neurological; D010507:Periodicity; D013216:Reflex, Startle / Q000502:physiology; D012737:Sex Factors; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology