KNOWLEDGE OF SELF, MOTHER, AND FATHER IN PRETERM AND FULL-TERM TODDLERS

Full-term and preterm toddlers' featural knowledge of self, mother, an d father was assessed in relation to individual differences in age, at tachment status, and cognitive ability. No relation was found between infants' knowledge of self and the predictor variables at 13 months. D ifferent factors, however, were related to infants' knowledge of mothe rs' and fathers' features. Hierarchical regressions revealed that at 2 0 months, after controlling for the relation between complexity of kno wledge and MDI Bayley scores, full-term infants who were securely atta ched to their mothers demonstrated more complex knowledge of her than insecurely attached infants or premature infants. Infants' knowledge o f self at 20 months and father at both 13 and 20 months was significan tly related to attachment status but not term status. These data are d iscussed in the context of possible differential influences of term st atus on infant-mother and infant-father interactions.