Interactions between Eighteen-Month-Olds and Their Preschool-Aged Siblings

Abstract

LAMB, MICHAEL E. Interactions between Eighteen-Month-Olds and Their Preschool-aged Siblings. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1978, 49, 51-59. 24 infants were observed interacting with their preschool-aged siblings in a large laboratory playroom. Analyses revealed that both infants and older siblings interacted preferentially with parents rather than with one another and that there was more parent-child and sibling-infant interaction when only 1 parent was present than when both were present. Younger siblings paid much more attention to the whereabouts and activities of the older children and were more likely to imitate their behavior or take over their toys than the reverse. The older children were more likely to offer toys and vocalize to their siblings than were the infants. It is suggested that siblings (like peers) may facilitate mastery of the object environment. There were no sex differences.