This paper presents some findings of a detailed analysis of infants' approach behavior in a familiar, naturalistic setting. A total of 26, white, middle-class infant-mother pairs were observed in the home every three weeks during the first year of the child's life. Instances of infant approach to both mother and observer were coded from the…

A recent approach to understanding infant behavior and development suggests that attachment, wariness, and exploration function as one interdependent behavioral system. Major theories of attachment are contrasted and recent research relating to the interdependent perspective is evaluated. Implications for practice and public policy are discussed.…

Examines the validity of the Strange Situation procedure for Japanese mothers and infants by examining correlates and antecedents of Strange Situation behavior for 60 infants and their mothers. Results suggest that the Strange Situation may not be a valid index of the security of infant-mother attachment in Japan. (SLD)

A cross-national comparison of infant behavior in the Strange Situation was designed to determine whether preseparation episodes made any difference in attachment classifications and whether infant behavior before separation from mother was the same in different countries. Infants in different countries made similar primary appraisals of the…

Infants who changed in levels of emotionality between three and nine months were compared with infants who remained stable. Maternal personality, marital factors, and mother-infant interaction accounted for the change in highly emotional infants. Father factors accounted for changes by infants who were initially low in negativity. (BC)

To study the social-emotional development of triplets, 23 sets of triplets, 23 sets of twins, and 23 singleton infants (N=138) were followed from birth to 2 years. Maternal depression and social support were assessed in the postpartum period, mother-infant and father-infant interaction and the home environment were observed at 3 months, a…

Four studies involving 40 pigtail monkeys are described in which relatively short separation experiences in infancy were associated with evidence of persistent changes in social behavioral function (less sociability, fewer close friends) and immunological function (suppression of lymphocyte proliferation) up to 6 years later. (Author/JDD)

This paper discusses infant attachment, which it defines as a long-lasting emotional bond revealed when a child under stress seeks out and tries to stay close to a specific figure. The paper addresses: (1) What is attachment? Who are the pioneers in attachment theory?; (2) How do we notice attachment in action?; (3) Is attachment the only…

Focuses on three questions related to attachment theory: whether it requires distinct patterns of attachment, how taxonomic analysis contributes to understanding individual differences in attachment security, and whether attachment theorists are asking the right questions. Asserts that attachment theory is indifferent to the structure of…

Discusses four questions concerning commentaries on the taxometric analysis of Strange Situation behavior related to: (1) whether the categorical model of attachment facilitates theoretical and empirical innovations; (2) whether and how a continuum of security fits into the two-dimensional model; (3) the role of types and dimensions in…

Examined the concordance between mother-infant attachment behavior and patterns of mother-child reunion responses when the children were age six. Found that concordance between four types of attachment status was 82%. Also found a correlation between children's observed social competence at age five and their reunion patterns at age six. (MDM)

A theory of normal mother-infant relationship based on Margaret Mahler's theories is the basis of a treatment program for disturbed mother/infant relationships. This theory includes the concept of symbiosis which for the child is an undifferentiated condition, a fusion with the mother where the two have a common outward border, thereby protecting…

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…