The purpose of this study was to investigate whether or not infants who had experienced different types of naturally-occurring, significant separations from an attachment figure during the first year of life differed in their response to separation at 12 months of age. Thirty-three 12-month-old Caucasian infants from middle class, intact families…

Mastery motivation, usually measured by task persistence, is often used to predict infant competence. This study attempted to clarify how a measure of persistence can be used to facilitate the prediction of competence when examining the relationship between persistence and maternal child-rearing behavior. The measure of persistence used in this…

Three groups of 12-month-old infants (10 deaf infants with hearing parents, 10 deaf infants with deaf parents, and 10 hearing infants with hearing parents) were videotaped during free play with mothers. Infant attention state was coded, identifying periods as: (1) unengaged, (2) onlooking, (3) object-attend, (4) person-attend, (5) supported joint…

This study examined the relationship between maternal stress, changes in stress, specific stressors, and social support and quality of mother-infant attachment. Life stress of 132 mothers was assessed prenatally and when the child was 13 months old. The mothers' social support and the quality of infant-mother attachment were also measured at the…

The conditions of day care quality under which infants direct secure attachment behaviors toward their day care providers were examined. Two groups of 12- to 18-month-old infants, who were experiencing either 1:4 or 1:7 caregiver-to-infant ratios, and their day care providers, were observed while they interacted in their day care centers.…

Exploratory research was conducted to generate hypotheses regarding behaviors of a 2-year-old subject during social interaction with multi-age partners. The subject of the study was a female child age 2 years and 4 months. Interactions observed were limited to those occurring with a number of partners who were members of the subject's social…

This study was designed to investigate whether depressed mothers would show a predominantly negative affect or fail to provide a positive frame of experience for their babies. Two field studies of depressed mothers and their infants were conducted. A subgroup of 13 subjects and their babies from a larger project conducted in Cambridge…

The study compared maternal and trained observer evaluations of infant temperamental characteristics, to determine how closely the ratings correspond, and to analyze the impact of maternal drug abuse habits on maternal ratings of infant temperament. In relating observer to maternal ratings of infant temperament, seven dimensions were compared:…

Prior to expressing language, infants have mastered many means for engaging in referential communication with others. This contention can be supported by reference to (1) developmental changes in the attentional structure of communication and (2) infants' use of affective expressions as they begin to master referential communication. In an effort…

A longitudinal study was made of women and their first-born children who have different employment and day care experiences during the child's first three years of life. Specific aims of the study were (1) to gain full account of the history and experience of women who return to full-time employment while their first child is still young and of…

The acquisition of imitative responses without reinforcement was investigated with infants by eliminating contingent reinforcement through the use of videotaped models. Twenty-nine male and female infants were randomly assigned to one of two groups, a Rhythmic Vocalization Group or a Conversation Control Group. Infants in the first group were…

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between high risk infants' sensorimotor development and their use of intentional communications. Twenty-six 20-month-old infants, selected at birth by use of High Risk Index, were studied. At 15 months of age each infant was administered five scales from the Uzgiris-Hunt Ordinal Scales of…

This paper reports the effects of one hour of extra post-partum contact between mother and infant on the quality of the attachment observed when the infant was one year old. It was hypothesized that infants in the extra contact condition would be classified as securely attached while regular contact infants would be less frequently classified as…

The effects of obstetrical medication on neonatal behavior were studied using a sample of 64 Israeli infants from medicated and non-medicated mothers. Most medicated mothers received a base dose of 75 mg. of Meperidine plus a base dose of 25 mg. of Phenergan. Other drugs used included Demerol, Valium, Butalgan, Pitocin, Pantopon, Trilene, Naline,…

In this study, free play with toys having unambiguous functions was examined to test the hypothesis that a basic cognitive metamorphosis is associated with the new competences displayed in children at about 12 months. Functional play was observed in 64 children at 9 1/2, 11 1/2, 13 1/2, and 15 1/2 months of age. Six sets of toys with 36…