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 study examined the differential effects of sex of parent, sex of child, and sex of stranger on infant behavior in a stranger-separation situation. Year-old infants (16 males and 19 females) from middle-class families were observed and videotaped twice, at one-week intervals, in a modification of Ainsworth's laboratory stranger and separation…

The responses of 18 Down's syndrome infants in a modified "strange" situation were recorded. The results indicated that these infants were aware of the exits and entrances of both mother and stranger. (Author)

This study compares interactions between infants and parents to interactions between infants and strangers. Infants from 2 weeks to 6 months of age were taped in face-to-face interactions with unfamiliar male and female adults. Tapes of parent-infant interactions were available from a prior study. Specific infant and adult behaviors were coded and…

This study applied Meehl's taxometric techniques for distinguishing latent types from late continua to Strange Situation data on 1,139 fifteen-month-olds from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care. Results indicated that variation in attachment patterns was largely continuous, not categorical. Implications of dimensional models for individual…

This study investigated at the age at which infants become able to discriminate between their mothers and females strangers, as measured by differential patterns of pauses during the infants' crying while being spoken to by their mothers and female strangers. The subjects, 14 infants ranging in age from 7 to 20 days, were fed, burped, and changed,…

Discusses observations of sets of infant twins, aged 6 to 24 months, as they interacted with one another and with an unfamiliar peer. Assesses quality of infant-mother attachment. Finds twins are more likely to react with one another than with a peer. Results are discussed in relation to early peer relationships and attachment. (Author/RWB)

Advocates renewed efforts toward assessing attachment on a single continuum of emotional security. Contends that theory is essential to guide attachment assessment and that the constructs of secure base and emotional security provide the needed conceptual foundation. Addresses challenges to the scoring of attachment on a security continuum.…

This study was designed to compare the inter-/intra-correlational and the behavioral commonalities approaches to the assessment of attachment behaviors of infants to their mothers. At 7 months, 147 infants were observed (and videotaped) sequentially during a free play period with their mothers present, a separation from their mothers and then a…

Relationships between day care and attachment were assessed with alternative procedures: (1) hypothesized normal patterns of attachment were tested naturalistically in day-care centers; (2) day-care and home-reared children were compared in a laboratory setting. (Author/MP)

Highlights usefulness of the categorical approach to measuring infant attachment by reviewing some major advances in the field that have been fostered by that approach. Advances include identification of the disorganized attachment group, development of the concept of conditional behavior strategies, creation of systems for coding attachment…

Ainsworth's system of classifying attachment patterns will not be easily displaced primarily because of difficulties involved in a dimensional approach. Problems include the number of dimensions involved, need to develop reliable scales, and need to describe how behavior changes across age and in the Strange Situation. Only when an alternative…

Examines the strange-situation procedure among Japanese mother-infant pairs and analyzes their behavior by comparing them with the data reported in the book by M.S. Ainsworth and others. (HOD)

Focuses on three questions related to attachment theory: whether it requires distinct patterns of attachment, how taxonomic analysis contributes to understanding individual differences in attachment security, and whether attachment theorists are asking the right questions. Asserts that attachment theory is indifferent to the structure of…