We have reported a preliminary research effort to apply Lichtenberg's five motivational systems to the analysis of videotaped mother-infant interactional data. The work required viewing each segment at least

In summary, we were able to apply Lichtenberg's motivational systems concepts, derived from clinical and theoretical psychoanalysis, to observational research data. The conflicts of mother-infant interaction, within each partner and between the two, were sharply elucidated when we looked at behavior from the point of view of each motivational system. This enriched our understanding of the unfolding mutual influences between the adolescent mothers and their babies, which could also be applied to healthy pairs, and allowed for enhanced description of fluctuations and patterning among the motivational systems.