Ten normal white babies of middle class parents from the United States and 11 from Holland were observed for one 3-hour period every 2 weeks for the first 3 months of life. The observation form called for an observation about every 5 minutes, about 36 observations per visit. Although all the data on the American babies have not been completely analyzed, some results are available. The early environments of the Dutch and American babies were different. The Dutch babies were kept in a cool room and dressed more heavily than the American babies, who were kept in warmer rooms. The Dutch mothers spent less time responding to their babies than American mothers but did tend to respond to boys more than girls. The feeding schedule for Dutch babies was more rigidly structured and the feeding time was shorter than for the American babies. It was found that those babies in the Dutch sample whose mothers performed the most actions towards them tended to do less negative vocalizing. U.S. babies tended to make more pleasant vocalizations than Dutch babies. The Dutch babies sucked their thumbs more than U.S. babies. The relatively infrequent interaction of Dutch mothers with their babies and the lack of visual stimulation in the babies' environments do not appear to produce any damage in the Dutch children, however, contrary to the predictions of some theorists. (WD)