This research project, designed to examine social learning in infancy, attempted to examine the process of infant interaction through its beginning, middle, and end. Pairs of previously unacquainted 21-month-old children were observed in a laboratory playroom for 15-minute sessions on three consecutive days; on the fourth day, new dyads were created and observed for 15 minutes. The incidence of conflict, defined as an interaction marked by the incompatability of two individual actions, was recorded on videotape. The temporal sequence of conflict was defined in terms of specific dyadic interaction. Analysis was conducted regarding types of interaction withing the course of a dispute, from one dispute to another, and over days. Results indicated that actions within the course of a dispute were not chosen randomly but escalated as a dispute continued, that losers of disputes were much more likely to start another conflict, and that certain individual children were disposed to begin fights regardless of whether their partner was familiar or a stranger. (Author/DB)