Assessment of the effects of brief separation from parent on infants

The purpose of the study was to answer 2 questions: (1) are children 12 to 24 months old able to interpret their parents' accessibility on the basis of previous separation, and (2) how long do the effects of a brief, experimental separation last? 20 children were observed with their parents for 3 min, were then left alone for 3 min, and were observed for 3 min following reunion; as controls 19 children stayed with their parents for 9 min. The children were later observed after 1 or 2 weeks, this time they were free to separate themselves from their parents in order to explore an adjoining room. Observations were made by scoring predefined behavior measures from videotape. Results showed effects 1, but not 2 weeks after separation, and suggest that separation chiefly affects behaviors which involve confidence in parents' physical accessibility.