Proximity and interactional behavior of young children to their "security" blankets.

Abstract

WEISBERG, PAUL, and RUSSELL, JAMES E. Proximity and Interactional Behavior of Young Children to Their Security Blankets. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1971, 42, 1575-1579. 2-year-old children, professed by their mothers to be attached to their blankets, preferred these objects in a play setting over 3 other items: an unfamiliar blanket judged to be similar in tactile properties, a familiar article of clothing which normally touched S's skin, and a novel control item. The frequency of S's proximity and interactional behaviors to his blanket declined steadily throughout the time of the play session, while significant intrasessional trends to S's mother, who was also present, were not evident.