Age and brief separation: Note on children's distress reactions

26 children, one to three years old, were briefly separated from their parents in a strange situation in order to investigate the relation of age to children's crying and manipulation behavior. A significant negative correaltion was found between age and crying ( r =÷0.51), while no relation was observed between age and manipulation. The results support Bowlby's (1973) view that the peak of separation distress occurs during the child's second year of life.