Observations of seventy-six infants showed two distinct patterns of reaction to hospitalization in infancy. The first, called the 'global syndrome', usually observed in the infant under seven months of age, is characterized by the infant's extreme preoccupation with its environment upon return home. Typically, it scans its surroundings with a blank or anxious look. It does not seem to recognize familiar objects, and ignores or avoids the advances of members of its family. Disturbances of feeding and sleep are often noted. In the infant over seven months of age, the 'overdependent syndrome' is commonly found. This infant reacts to separation from its mother with fretting. After returning home from the hospital, it clings to its mother, fears strangers, and may avoid other members of the family. Before the middle of the first year of life, the infant is in what Piaget calls a state of 'adualism'; that is, there is no distinction between self and environment, and objects have no existence independent of the