S. Pippsiegel et al., THE RELATION BETWEEN INFANTS SELF MOTHER KNOWLEDGE AND 3 ATTACHMENT CATEGORIES, Infant mental health journal, 16(3), 1995, pp. 221-232
The relation between attachment and knowledge of self and mother was a
ssessed in 1- to 2-year-old infants. Infant behavior in the Strange Si
tuation was classified according to three attachment categories: secur
e, insecure-avoidant, and insecure-resistant. Infants' featural knowle
dge was measured by featural recognition, name, possession, and gender
. Infants who were securely or resistantly attached had significantly
more complex knowledge of mother than self, whereas avoidantly attache
d infants did not differ in the complexity of knowledge of self and mo
ther. Securely attached infants had more complex self-knowledge than b
oth categories of insecurely attached infants. In contrast, avoidantly
attached infants had less complex knowledge of mother than did secure
ly or resistantly attached infants. These data are discussed in the co
ntext of how infants' strategies of coping with stress are related to
the acquisition of self- and mother-knowledge.