Reactions of Infants and Toddlers to Live and Toy Animals

Abstract

250 infants, 25 boys and 25 girls each in the 6-, 12-, 18-, 24-, and 30-mo. age groups, were individually observed with a mechanical toy dog which barked and moved realistically, a contact-comfort mechanical cat which purred and meowed when hugged and petted, and the family dog(s) and/or cat(s), presented in random order. An investigator-generated checklist of proximity-seeking and contact-promoting behaviors was used to record subject responses demonstrating whether the infants attached to pets because of tactual qualities, sounds, movement, familiarity, and/or behavioral qualities. It was hypothesized that as babies age, their responses to the live pet and toy animals would become progressively dissimilar and that older infants would show significantly more attachment behaviors and would spend significantly more time observing and interacting with live pets than with toy animals. Data support the hypotheses and indicate significant differences in the quantity of attachment behaviors toward live pets and toy animals at one year. From one year on, dogs are significantly preferred to cats by both sexes. During the first year, boys show significantly more attachment behaviors than girls; the two sexes are equal at 18 mo., and girls show significantly mote attachment behaviors than boys at 24 and 30 mo.