This study on sensitivity and attachment included 55 toddlers and their parents. Samples included children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), mental retardation, language delay, and typical development. Children were diagnosed at 4 years of age. Two years before diagnosis, attachment was assessed with the Strange Situation procedure, and…

Results from a study of 40 one-year-old children and their mothers showed that maternal interference with children's independent object play had no short-term effect on infant social initiatives to mother, responsiveness to mother's social bids, or exploratory play. (JMB)

The link between the quality of attachment in infancy and the quality of play and problem-solving behavior at age two years was examined in 48 infants. (Author/JMB)

Twenty infants were observed interacting with their mothers and fathers at home when they were 7, 8, 12, and 13 months of age. No parental preference was found in the infants' attachment behaviors. Differences were found in the infants' affiliative behaviors, in their responses to parental play, and in situations in which they were held by…

Eighty infants, toddlers, and preschoolers were observed before, during, and after separations from their mothers. Results suggested that there were no negative cumulative effects of repeated separations. The children seemed to adapt to repeated separations following the stressful experience with their first separation. (GLR)

Twenty 18-month-olds were observed with their mothers and 20 with their fathers in laboratory free-play, departure, and separation situations. Findings were analyzed in terms of the differential roles of mothers and fathers, the development of sex differences, and determinants of separation distress. (JMB)

Examines the effect of an unfamiliar peer in a situation requiring a subject's separation from mother in order to play with attractive toys. Observation of 20 children 18 months old and 20 children 30 months old revealed that peer presence facilitated initial separation for both ages, but that age differences in subsequent behaviors existed. (CB)

Suggests future directions for study of sensitivity and its impact on early psychosocial development: (1) renewed attention to growth of attachment in context of other developing features of the parent-child relationship; (2) factors that moderate impact of sensitivity on developing security; (3) origins of individual differences in sensitivity;…