PhD in Developmental Psychology 1978; Post doctoral work in social psychiatry 1979 – 1981;
Professor University of California at Los Angeles 1981 – present

I am interested in very young children's development of interpersonal relationships. I study peer
interaction, particularly friendships and social pretend play in toddler and preschool age children. I
also study attachment relationships between children and their adult caregivers, mothers and
other-than-mothers. My theoretical orientation is one that integrates an attachment theory of
relationship development with a eco-cultural theory of relationships developing within cultural
communities. Thus much of my current work includes describing development within classrooms
and families against the background of race, ethnicity, and home language.

Howes, C. & Wishard, A.G. (2004). Revisiting shared meaning: Looking through the lens of
culture and linking pretend play through proto-narrative development to emergent literacy. In E.
Zigler, D.G. Singer,  & S.J. Sishop-Josef (Eds.) Children's play: the roots of literacy.
Washington:DC: Zero to three. Excerpted in September 2004 Zero to Three, v25, 10 – 15.

Howes, C. & Shivers, E.M. (in press) New child-caregiver attachment relationships: Entering child
care when the caregiver is and is not an ethnic match. Social Development

Howes, C. (1999). Attachment Relationships in the Context of Multiple Caregivers. In Cassidy, J.
and Shaver, P.R. (Eds). Handbook of Attachment Theory and Research, NY Guilford
Publications. Revised 2006 for second edition.