The relation between attachment and knowledge of self and mother in one to three-year-old infants

The relation between attachment to mother and knowledge of self and mother in 2 domains was assessed in 1- to 3-year-old infants. Infants' featural knowledge was measured by featural recognition, name, possession, and gender. In this domain, no difference between the 2 attachment classifications was obtained at 1 year of age, but significant and increasingly large differences between securely and insecurely attached infants were found at 2 and 3 years of age. The second domain measured infants' actions on self and mother in the context of symbolic play. Regardless of age, infants who were securely attached to mother acted on self and mother with greater complexity than did infants who were insecurely attached. Attachment was related equally to the complexity of infants' knowledge of self and mother. These data were discussed in the context of the development of infants' internal working models of attachment and the onset of representational ability.