Reports use of the strange situation procedure to explore the effects of Israeli kibbutz child-rearing practices on the development of infant-mother, infant-father, and infant-caretaker attachment. (Author/NH)

Aims of study were (1) test for independence in infant's attachment to parent, (2) test concept of security by viewing infants judged secure versus insecure with mother in situation designed to arouse apprehension, (3) examine effects of infant-parent relationships upon positive responsiveness to new persons, and (4) identify characteristics of…

Studied effects of strategies used by mothers to prepare a two-year-old child to be left with a stranger. Strategies differed, as did outcomes. Among the results, children given brief preparations remained with the stranger longer and played with more toys. (Author/DB)

Forty-nine German 12-month-old infants and their mothers were videotaped in Ainsworth's Strange Situation; a measure of quality of attachment relationships. Forty-six of these infants were videotaped again at 18-months with their fathers. Results are compared to American samples and discussed in terms of parental attempts to cope with the demands…

This paper focuses on difficulties and possibilities of theory and research on emotional attachment in humans and problems associated with exclusive reliance on the Strange Situation procedure in cross cultural research. After specifying emotional consequences of qualitatively different attachment histories and appropriate ways of assessing their…

To investigate the relationship of differences in 2-year-old children's reactions to strangers to differences in their temperaments and their security of attachment with their mothers, a correlational study was conducted with 47 infants and their parents. In the first component of the study, both parents completed a child temperament rating…

The preference of the infant for mother versus father as an attachment figure and as a secure base for exploration is examined in this study. Subjects were fifteen 15-month-old infants whose mothers were their primary caregiver. The Ainsworth Strange Situation procedure was modified to permit both parents' simultaneous presence during separation…

This study examined the effects of increasing the amount and quality of father-son interaction at home on attachment and separation behavior in the laboratory situation. Twenty boys, 12 months of age, and their low interacting fathers participated in this study. Twelve father-son pairs received a list of games to be played each evening over a…

This study tested the hypothesis that Soviet day care children (aged 16 to 38 months) derive emotional support from the presence of their group-mates. Children were observed in a strange situation in one of three conditions: with a familiar peer (a group-mate), with an unfamiliar peer (a child from another group), or alone (without a peer). An…

The attachment behavior of 35 white, middle-class 3 1/2- to 4-year-olds who had experienced different rearing histories was observed through a series of standardized episodes involving separations and reunions with the mother and a stranger. (Author/JMB)

Provides evidence that the significance given to the infant-mother attachment and personality and social development is not warranted. Infants normally develop attachments to more than one person. Their interpersonal world is complex and includes fathers and other caretakers. (Author/JAC)

The recent increase in emphasis on the impact of early childhood experience on subsequent human development constitutes a change in the conceptual framework of the study of early childhood development. Anyone who is interested in prevention and intervention needs to be aware of the particulars of the debate on the strengths and weaknesses of the…

This study compared three ways of analyzing individual mother-infant attachment behaviors in order to test the hypothesis that success in the search for stable individual differences in attachment behavior is in part a function of the level at which behavior individuality is assessed. Fifty infants were videotaped in the Ainsworth and Wittig…

This study measured infant responses to mother and stranger as a function of mother and stranger distance. A group of 10-month-old infants were pretested for level of object permanence and person permanence, and 18 males and 18 females were chosen as study participants. The infants were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups: (1)…

Examined extent to which infant-mother attachment could be predicted by mother interactional variables and infant proneness to distress. Meta-analysis indicated that sensitive, responsive maternal interaction predicted the security of attachment in Ainsworth and Wittig's "strange situation." Proneness to distress, a temperamental variable,…