A self-esteem maintenance model was tested using 52 friendship pairs. Undergraduates (N=52) participated in a word identification task described as an indirect measure of important skills (high relevance) or as a game of password (low relevance). Participants presented clues to both a friend and a stranger. As predicted by the model, subjects gave…

This study compares the face-to-face interaction of infants with fathers to their interaction with mothers and with strangers. Five infants were videotaped in individual interaction with their mothers, fathers, and unfamiliar adults at weekly intervals from the second week until the infants were 6 months old. Infants were seated in a laboratory…

The effects of counter-aggression strategies on married couples resulting from use of the Taylor interactive paradigm were investigated. Married persons (N=52) competed in a complex reaction time task and set durations of 100 decibel punitive noise for either their spouse or an opposite-sex stranger. During pretrials (aggression escalation), males…

This study examines the degree to which young children are influenced by the familiarity of an adult participant in their pretend play with toys which vary in resemblance to highly prototypical objects (e.g., cup-like cups or doll-like dolls). A group of 29 children, mean age 21 months, was divided into two experimental groups balanced by sex; 15…

Presents a method of defining cooccurring constellations or "packages" of maternal facial-visual engagement and head or hand stimulation during face-to-face play with an infant. The functional relevance of these packages is documented in case studies of one four-month-old infant playing with his mother and a stranger. (Author/CB)

This longitudinal study investigated the relationship of stress arising from medical problems of newborns to parent-infant interaction through the infant's first year. Significant interactive differences between full term and premature infants were found in feeding situations during the neonatal period and in floor play at eight months. The sample…

This paper presents two studies of the development of social competencies in infancy. In the first experiment, the central issue investigated was whether facial configuration or height is utilized by infants to respond differentially to children and adults. Five different strangers, a male and a female child, a male and a female adult, and a small…

This study of the bidirectional effects of parent-child relations, focuses on the exchange of attachment behaviors, investigating the interactions of twelve 3-member nuclear families in a strange-situation condition. Dyadic and triadic conditions involving parents with their 12-, 18-, or 24-month-old children were observed and videotaped in a…