In a paradigm of simulated stranger distress designed to elicit empathic arousal, this study examined multiple elements of responding in 61 preschoolers. Disengagement from stranger distress was underscored in addition to prosocial responding. All children encountered a female adult stranger feigning stomach ache followed by an infant manikin…

Learn what prominent theorists say about bonding, attachment, separation and stranger anxiety, and the best practices for infant care. This introductory guide makes it easy to learn about John Bowlby, Mary Ainsworth, Magda Gerber, John Kennell, Marshall Klaus, and T. Berry Brazelton.

This study examined both differential patterns and the stability of infants' (N = 70) distress reactivity across mother and stranger arm-restraint conditions when infants were 6 and 9 months of age. Reactivity measures included observational variables for the rise, intensity, and duration of infant distress as well as motor activities associated…

Relations between infant-mother attachment security at 15 months and infants' (N = 206) joint attention behaviors (a) with an experimenter at 8 and 15 months, and (b) with their mothers at 15 months were investigated. No concurrent or longitudinal relations were observed between attachment security and infants' tendency to respond to an…

The influence of the presence and novelty of an adult stranger on the reactions of 36 full-term year-old infants was investigated. Subjects were placed near their mothers in a room containing a new toy and either the same, a different, or no adult stranger for eight 4-minute trials. (Author/GO)

Two studies examined social responses to attractive and unattractive faces on the part of 123 infants of 12 months. Results suggest that visual and behavioral preferences for attractiveness are exhibited much earlier in life than was previously thought. (RH)

This study examined the stranger reactions of 18-month-old children in three types of mother/stranger social contexts: (1) no interaction, (2) conversation only, or (3) playing cards. The results showed differential responding by condition, suggesting that 18-month-olds are sensitive to the background context of social encounters.

A comparison was made of the behaviors of 64 12-month-old infants in situations where adult female strangers played either an active or a passive role. (Author/JMB)

This study of 9 to 10-month-old fearful and non-fearful males examined the relationship of cognitive and affective variables to fear of strangers. (DP)

This study tested the hypothesis that one year old infants' wary behavior toward an unfamiliar female adult would decrease and affiliative behavior would significantly increase in the course of a relatively brief period. (Author/SB)