Interactive toys for children are becoming more popular for both play and educational purposes, yet an understanding of the dependent measures used to study such interactions has not yet been explored. This study takes advantage of the idea that robotic animals exhibit both living and pretend qualities, and are therefore ideal for studying…

The purpose of this study was to determine if sex differences were observable in 1-year-olds in response to their mother and in choice and style of play with toys. Thirty-two boys and thirty-two girls were put in separate rooms with several toys, several nontoys (door knobs, taped sockets, etc.) and their mothers. The infant's mother was to…

Seventeen sets of opposite sex twins, 13 to 14 months old, were observed in a playroom situation with their mothers. Attachment behaviors, toy preference, style of play, and activity level were recorded. Analysis of four attachment behaviors indicated that girls looked at, vocalized to, and maintained proximity with their mothers significantly…

This study examines the influence of maternal predispositions toward sex-appropriate behavior and the mother's response to "feminine" or "masculine" cues in infant behavior. In the investigation, one 6-month-old male infant was presented to 11 mothers who served as subjects. The infant was dressed as either boy (blue clothes) and named Adam, or…