The seven articles in this annual report concern aspects of attachment, social interaction among parents and children, temperament, affective behavior, and/or research methodology. Aspects of attachment and temperament are addressed in Kazuo Miyake's study of the "Relation of Temperamental Disposition to Classification of Attachment,"…

The families of 10 children enrolled in a class for 2-year-olds at the Mills College Children's School participated in a study of parent attitudes about separation and parental behaviors that minimized separation anxiety and facilitated a smooth transition from home to school environments. The sample included nine mothers who were married and…

This study investigates the effects of age and prior experience with age-mates on attachment behavior and exploratory play with another child. Twenty home-reared children, half between 18 and 24 months and half between 24 and 30 months, and 20 day care children, also equally divided into the two age groups, were observed in the Ainsworth strange…

The present series of studies was undertaken to explore intersensory processing in the very young. In the first experiment 1-, 4- and 7-month-old infants experienced simultaneously their mothers' faces and voices. The various conditions consisted of displacing the voice from the face. The results indicated that infants as young as one month of age…

This longitudinal study was concerned with infants' reactions to being greeted by a caregiver upon arrival at the nursery, being left by the parent with the caregiver, and to reunion with the parents. Observations were made twice weekly in the natural setting of the nursery foyer where parents normally arrive with their infants. An affectivity…

An eight-month longitudinal study measuring infants' (N=8) temperament characteristics of activity level, task persistence, and affect and discourse and pragmatic features of their mothers' speech revealed complex interactions between maternal speech and infant temperament. It is argued that nonlinguistic child behaviors may influence maternal…

A sample of twin boys and their mothers was followed up from age 2 to age 9. Mothers' responses to interview questions were compared across these two ages in order to assess mothers' perceptions of continuity or change in given behaviors. Results indicated substantial continuity in mothers' reports of the presence or absence of given behaviors.…

Reviews studies of infant behavior and development. Delineates a behavioral hypothesis relating prenatal and neonatal risk factors in infancy to crib death. The mutual dependence of experience and neurostructural development suggests that infancy is a period of critical learning experiences. (Author/RH)

Examines the relationship between attachment strategies and symptom reporting among college women (N=61). The Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) was administered and interview transcripts were rated with the Attachment Interview Q-Sort. Findings support the hypothesis that secondary or defensive attachment strategies predispose individuals toward…

Examined linkages between child disruptive behavior disorder, quality of mother-child interactions, and mothers' recollections/attitudes toward their parents. Preschool boys (N=25) referred to a psychiatric clinic were matched with normally functioning boys. Mothers and sons were videotaped during a separation-reunion sequence, the Adult…

Followed from infancy to age 7 internationally adopted children placed before 6 months. Found that girls were better adjusted than boys, except in cognitive development, and that easy temperament related to higher levels of social, cognitive, and personality development and fewer behavior problems. Attachment security and maternal sensitivity…

Studied adolescent personal and interpersonal characteristics, including social competence and thoughts on friendship and romantic interests during a camp reunion. Found that concurrent interest in relationships is a stronger predictor of social competence for participants with anxious histories, although participants with secure histories were…

Examined utility of the Attachment Q-set (AQS) instrument for cross-cultural comparisons of mother-child interactions. Found that interpretations concerning the structure of attachment and other social domains made on the basis of Q-sort descriptions of middle-class English-speaking U.S. children need not be substantially modified when…

Investigated homesickness in boys ages 8 through 16. Results indicated that homesickness was prevalent and varied in intensity, was experienced as a combination of depression and anxiety, was presented most often as internalizing behavior, and was more typical for younger boys. The most-homesick became increasingly so during the separation,…

Preschool children's security of attachment was assessed in the laboratory, and their interactions with peers were observed in the preschool. Insecure boys showed more aggressive, disruptive, assertive, and controlling behavior than secure children. Insecure girls showed more dependent and compliant behavior, and less assertive and controlling…