Child Psychiatry Hum Dev. 1976;7(1):56-63. doi: 10.1007/BF01464419.
Child psychiatry and human development
M E Lamb
PMID: 1001070 DOI: 10.1007/BF01464419
Twenty 8-month-olds were observed interacting with their parents in a structured laboratory situation. Their responses to separations from each parent and the entrance of a strange adult were recorded. These events did not result in the predicted intensification of parental preferences. Before and after the "stressors," infants showed slight and equivocal preferences for their mothers over their fathers. Implications are briefly described.