Reports two studies conducted at an infants' residential center. Study 1 assesses whether infants already attached to a favorite nurse could transfer allegiance to an adoptive mother within a two-week adaptation period and evaluates growing attachment to the new mother; Study 2 explores infant fear of a strange infant, and infant attachment to a…

Examines the course of emotion expression development during the first 2 years of 58 full-term and preterm children through videotapes of mother/infant pairs. Mothers' contingency behavior appeared to have an effect on emotional development, as did birth status and gender. Prematurity was associated with differential socioemotional development.…

Assessed maternal sensitivity and infants' attachment behavior to test validity of a system of classifying attachment relationships at home. Subjects were 47 mothers of preterm and 42 mothers of full-term infants. Results reaffirm Ainsworth's conceptualization of distinct attachment relationships. (HTH)

Describes the core constructs of attachment theory, namely, the attachment system and secure-base behavior. Discusses contextual factors thought to be crucial in development of individual differences in attachment, especially maternal sensitivity, and considers child characteristics, especially temperament, that may contribute to the attachment…

Developmental psychologist Ainsworth discusses early influences on her work in attachment theory; similarities and differences in attachment behaviors across cultures; construction of assessments and research designs; individual differences in attachment and maternal support; and the influence of early relationships on later ones. (HTH)

Investigated the universality of children's use of their mothers as a secure base. Found that, on average, children in all seven of the countries and contexts studied were characterized as using their mothers as a secure base, but that they differed across cultures in the degree to which their behavior conformed to the definition of a securely…

Examined attachments that children form with the same caregiver and those that two caregivers form with a child in communal sleeping and family sleeping kibbutzim. Found concordance among relationships between two caregivers and the same child, as the caregivers model behaviors for each other. Found congruence in two infants' relationships to…

Examined utility of the Attachment Q-set (AQS) instrument for cross-cultural comparisons of mother-child interactions. Found that interpretations concerning the structure of attachment and other social domains made on the basis of Q-sort descriptions of middle-class English-speaking U.S. children need not be substantially modified when…