ABSTRACT
In nonacademic circles, the notion that families constitute a primary ecological niche affording survival of offspring and socialization of new generations into a common culture is not a controversial one. Within developmental psychology, however, this notion has long been neglected and at times even rejected. Indeed, until human ethologists provided new insights into the significance of primary caretakers and the essential role of caretaker-child relationships during the 1960s and 1970s, the family as a relevant developmental context was seldom studied. When family environments were considered by researchers, they were evaluated along such dimensions as number of toys available in the home, housing conditions, quality of neighborhood, and conditions of day care centers.
