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.

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…

Disorganized attachment in infancy is known to predict a wide range of maladaptive outcomes, but its origins are poorly understood. Parental lack of resolution concerning loss or trauma has been proposed to result in atypical parenting behaviors, which in turn have a disorganizing effect on the parent-child relationship. The authors review the…

This study shows that 12-month-old infants direct more distal/affiliative behaviors to their fathers and show no preference between parents in proximal/attachment behaviors. However, with a stranger present, more proximal/attachment behaviors are directed toward the mother with no preference shown in distal/affiliative behaviors. (JMB)

The facial expressions of twenty-eight 13-month-old middle-class children were videotaped during the 3-minute separation episode of the Ainsworth strange-situation procedure. Anger was the dominant negative emotion expressed by the majority of children; patterns of emotion expression varied with type of attachment; and the proportion of time anger…

In a longitudinal study of 29 middle-class Japanese infants, an attempt was made to identify early temperamental dispositions that predict later attachment classification. Specifically, Ainsworth Strange Situation observations at 12 months of age were preceded by, among others, observation of distress evident in newborns when a nipple was removed;…

Under equivalent task conditions, assessed object and person concept attainment in securely and insecurely attached infants. Subjects were 16 male and 23 female infants from middle class families. (Author/RH)

To assess the effects of the onset of mothers' inaccessibility to their infants, infant-mother pairs were observed in the Ainsworth strange situation at both 12 and 18 months and were classified as secure, anxious-avoidant, or anxious-resistant. Children of mothers who had returned to work/school before their child was 12-months-old were more…

Twenty infants were observed at home interacting with their mothers, fathers, and an unfamiliar investigator when they were 15, 18, 21, and 24 months of age. (Author/JMB)

Face-to-face interaction between 26 infants and their mothers and a relatively unfamiliar figure was observed longitudinally in the home environment when the infants were between 6 and 15 weeks of age. Normative findings indicated that infants became more responsive over this time period, whereas maternal behavior did not change. (Author/JMB)

A model of infant social behavior is developed which incorporates attachment to the familiar and fear of strangers as well as detachment from the familiar and exploration of the stranger. (JMB)

This study identifies elements in the attachment behaviors of 7-month infants which predict the quality of their attachment to their mothers at 13 months. At 7 months 147 infants were observed (and videotaped) during a free play period with their mothers present, during a separation from their mothers and then during a reunion period. At 13 months…

This longitudinal study of 10 infants in a day care nursery traces the development of recognition and attachment to a primary caregiver from approximately 3 1/2 months of age (shortly after enrollment in the program) through the end of the first year. Monthly assessments of about 10 minutes each, on two successive days, were made of the infant's…

Critically evaluates knowledge about relations between early interaction, the "strange situation," and later social behavior in normal and atypical infants including premature infants, abused or neglected infants, and the infants of depressed mothers. Attributes equivocal relations between early interaction behaviors and later attachment…