of early interaction in diverse ecological contexts. In each case, extended observations have been or are being obtained to ensure that individual differences are reliably measured. Comparable day-long observations of parents and infants in Quebec, Germany, the Central African Republic, and Colombia, as well as in African-American, Afro-Caribbean, and Euro-American families in the United States, are being conducted to explore further the effects of culture and context on early interactions. Extended observations of 2- to 5-year-old Bofi infants whose families either lived in villages or pursued a nomadic hunting and gathering lifestyle revealed that, contrary to widespread beliefs, weaning was seldom a time of parent-offspring conflict. In both groups, weaning was initiated by the children as they began to eat a variety of foodstuffs, although villagers were more likely to terminate breastfeeding completely at a predetermined time, whereas foragers let the children themselves set the pace. Weaning was usually associated with pregnancy, and the children's reactions varied depending on maternal sensitivity as well as the availability of additional careproviders.
