Comments From the Perspective of Separation-Individuation Theory

Psychoanalysis and infant research is an impressive attempt to integrate the findings of infant researchers, who use observational or experimental methods to study normal infant behavior, with psychoanalytic theory and clinical practice. In this review we shall add to the complexities of a complex undertaking by showing how the findings of the observational research of the normal separation-individuation process have added yet a further dimension.

In discussing individual studies, Lichtenberg asks himself how they fit into accepted theory. He thus attempts to bridge the gap between clinical research findings and metapsychological concepts. For example, he asks whether or not some of the experiments, e.g., those on memory or on competence and effectiveness, do indeed contradict the psychoanalytic concepts of an undifferentiated phase. He says,

… I believe that existing psychoanalytic accounts of the first year of life may understate the significance of the fitting together of the mother-infant pair across a range of experiences, from low