Our previous work has shown that when primate mothers rear infants in environments which place difficult foraging demands on them, social behavior, maternal patterns and the course of infant development are each affected. When the total demand is sufficiently great, infants may show overt disturbance during rearing, while psychologically less difficult settings may result in infants whose vulnerability remains latent until challenged. Based on our recent work and relevant components of the human attachment literature, we suggest that these developmental disturbances arise as a result of decrements in the security of infant attachment with the concommittant diminution in the infant's emerging sense of control or mastery., We hypothesize that normally, mothers and their infants have a series of mechanisms which serve to reduce the potentially adverse effects of disruptions to control and security within the attachment complex. These buffering mechanisms include behaviors which emerge in preparation of disruption, those which may ameliorate the stress of maternal engagement and, in particular, those which serve to compensate for the disruption once it has concluded. The proposed research will focus on the developmental significance of these patterns when mothers are confronted with high foraging demands in the context of a new paradigm which places maternal foraging and infant contact in conflict and reduces infant control capacities. We will also assess the differences in developmental impact of separations as compared to periods of maternal psychological unavailability. Finally, we will evaluate experimentally the specific role of the compensatory (and related) mechanisms following a period of disruption in affecting control and security within the attachment complex. In all instances, in addition to assessing the ongoing effects of these regimens during the course of development, a comprehensive Outcome Profile will be used to determine the long term effects of these situations on cognitive affective and social development.
