Discusses the relationship between insecurity and attachment to soft, inanimate objects. Because attachments to nonsocial objects are common, there is agreement that they do not presage maladjustment. An investigation with 20- to 41-month-olds indicated that attachment to blankets was not associated with general fearfulness, however, certain…

This study investigated the relations between toddlers' degree of attachment to their mothers and their development of an attachment to a security blanket. Seventy-four 18-month-olds were separated from their mothers three times; the third time the toddlers were left for 5 minutes in an unfamiliar playroom with their blanket and with a stranger.…

This study compared the degree to which young children were placated during a standard medical evaluation by the presence of their mother, blanket, mother plus blanket, or no supportive agent. Participating were 64 three-year-olds who underwent 4 routine medical procedures. Children were rated by their mothers as attached or nonattached to…

In this experiment, the authors investigated the influence of exoneration from blame on children's overt behavioral distress and physiological reactivity following the presentation of overheard adult conflict. The participants were 48 children (48-71 months of age) and their mothers. Through random assignment, the authors presented 16 children…

This study investigated the effects of availability of a familiar human attachment object (the mother) and familiar inanimate attachment object (the child's blanket) on a child's emotionality and learning of a discrimination task. A total of 64, 2- and 3-year-old children were assigned to groups (nonattached, mother-attached, or blanket-attached),…