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The study seeks to illuminate the mechanisms that mediate avoidant reactions in young humans. 40 babies repeatedly were observed throughout their second year in a variety of mildly challenging situations, and then again in a series of follow-up assessments at age 3 1/2. Analysis of the covariance patterns among the repeated measurements supports positing 2 distinct types of avoidant mechanism--an inclination to be "wary" of the unfamilar, and a proclivity to be "fearful" after exposure to a mildly difficult situation. Each type of phenomena constituted an independent source of individual differences. Behaviors that differed as a result of prior experience proved fairly predictive of future social orientations; variations in initial wariness did not.
Bronson et al. (Thu,) studied this question.