Caretaker-infant interaction within the first year of life was studied in a group of 10 Wolof infants. The pattern of caretaker-infant interaction was more strongly related to age of infant than any other variable investigated. The often-found result that African infants show precocious development within the first year was confirmed for the…

Development consists of a series of stage-like restructurings of behavior, and continuities in exceptional behavior generally do not bridge these stages. However, when parents perceive their child as abnormal, their expectations may serve to maintain the child's abnormal behaviors across developmental stages. (JMB)

Based on the position that cultural ideologies shape child development, many developmental analyses have focused on analyzing cultural conceptions of independence and interdependence. Less attention has been paid to charting the developmental sequences of children's independent and interdependent behavior that are ostensibly shaped by cultural…

From a symposium on Cross-Cultural Studies of Mother-Infant Interaction at the Biennial Meeting for Research in Child Development, Minneapolis, Minn., April 2, 1971. (MB)

The aim of this article is to propose a theorization of the father-child relationship based on our current understanding of attachment, interactions between fathers and their young children, and human-specific adaptations. The comparison of mother-child and father-child interactions suggests that fathers play a particularly important role in the…

Focuses on the role of instinctual and affective forces in internalization, a process identified by Piaget and Vygotsky as the primary mechanism underlying the development of higher mental structures and functions. Discusses the theory of contemporary psychoanalyst Hans Loewald, who shares Piaget's and Vygotsky's emphasis on internalization but…

From a symposium on Cross-Cultural Studies of Mother-Infant Interaction at the Biennial Meeting for Research in Child Development, Minneapolis, Minn., April 2, 1971. (MB)

From a symposium on Cross-Cultural Studies of Mother-Infant Interaction at the Biennial Meeting for Research in Child Development, Minneapolis, Minn., April 2, 1971. (MB)

Presents a model of mutual influences within the family which relates parental beliefs about developmental processes to parents' teaching practices. The model was tested by applying a path analysis to data on 120 families varying on number of children and educational level and age of parents. Results indicated differences between beliefs and…

Describes ambivalent, avoidant, and disorganized attachment patterns. Proposes that avoidant individuals deactivate their attachment needs, have high sense of self efficacy, and prefer objects to people; ambivalent persons hyperactivate attachment needs, have low self-efficacy, and orient more to people; and disorganized/controlling individuals…

Considers evidence for continuity and discontinuity of attachment in four major longitudinal studies. Discusses the difficulty of constructing a critical test of the prototype and stable environment hypotheses for attachment continuity. Notes that intergenerational transmission of attachment has been only indirectly addressed. (KDFB)