Indiscriminate Behavior Research Articles

A critique on sustainable cities waste management predicaments; case of Nairobi City, Kenya

Waste management predicaments in attaining sustainable city status globally is challenged by increased solid waste generation as a result of rapid urban population and migration. Through a critique lens, solid waste management predicaments in developing countries characterized by inefficiencies; weak institutional capacities and lack of financial prudence. Nairobi City illustrates vividly predicaments through sporadic growth of open dumpsites, blocked drainers and sewers, indiscriminate behavior of littering. This is aided by weak enforcement of solid waste policies and regulations, duplicity of mandates by institutions and limited human resources. This paper undertakes to explicate predicaments in Nairobi City County and is supported by institutional, capacity and planned behavior theories. The study adopted mixed research design with data collection from a sample size of 385 household. Primary and secondary data was collected using questionnaires, key informant interview and focus group discussion; transect walk and desk top analysis. The results support the critique as documented by this paper. The study recommends institutional empowerment to reverse negative predicaments for sustainable global cities.
 Keywords: critique, sustainable cities, waste management, predicaments, Nairobi City, Kenya

Learning to predict pain: differences in people with persistent neck pain and pain-free controls.

BackgroundLearning to predict threatening events enables an organism to engage in protective behavior and prevent harm. Failure to differentiate between cues that truly predict danger and those that do not, however, may lead to indiscriminate fear and avoidance behaviors, which in turn may contribute to disability in people with persistent pain. We aimed to test whether people with persistent neck pain exhibit contingency learning deficits in predicting pain relative to pain-free, gender-and age-matched controls.MethodWe developed a differential predictive learning task with a neck pain-relevant scenario. During the acquisition phase, images displaying two distinct neck positions were presented and participants were asked to predict whether these neck positions would lead to pain in a fictive patient with persistent neck pain (see fictive patient scenario details in Appendix A). After participants gave their pain-expectancy judgment in the hypothetical scenario, the verbal outcome (PAIN or NO PAIN) was shown on the screen. One image (CS+) was followed by the outcome “PAIN”, while another image (CS−) was followed by the outcome “NO PAIN”. During the generalization phase, novel but related images depicting neck positions along a continuum between the CS+ and CS− images (generalization stimuli; GSs) were introduced to assess the generalization of acquired predictive learning to the novel images; the GSs were always followed by the verbal outcome “NOTES UNREADABLE” to prevent extinction learning. Finally, an extinction phase was included in which all images were followed by “NO PAIN” assessing the persistence of pain-expectancy judgments following disconfirming information.ResultsDifferential pain-expectancy learning was reduced in people with neck pain relative to controls, resulting from patients giving significantly lower pain-expectancy judgments for the CS+, and significantly higher pain-expectancy judgments for the CS−. People with neck pain also demonstrated flatter generalization gradients relative to controls. No differences in extinction were noted.DiscussionThe results support the hypothesis that people with persistent neck pain exhibit reduced differential pain-expectancy learning and flatter generalization gradients, reflecting deficits in predictive learning. Contrary to our hypothesis, no differences in extinction were found. These findings may be relevant to understanding behavioral aspects of chronic pain.

Entrepreneurship and Sustainability in Tourism: An Interpretative Model

Especially in recent years, the attention to sustainability is even more felt in the tourism sector where the consequences of indiscriminate behavior in the exploitation of resources on the environment, on human beings and on their economic activities have become increasingly evident (Jaremen, Nawrocka, & Żemła, 2019). Tourism is often considered as a source of natural and cultural resources’ exploitation, but it also contributes to GHG emissions, being one of the main reasons that pushes the world population to move. On the other hand, tourism-related activities, when correctly designed, can be a strong source of sustainable development. Indeed, tourism products should be sustainable as they depend on local area resources: they are complex products which, on the one hand, should use local resources as a differentiation strategy, on the other hand, hey should factor in the needs of several territory’s stakeholders.
 
 Researchers and institutions have developed many tools to assess tourism environmental impacts focusing both on the local area as a whole or on a given product. For the tourism sector, social and environmental impacts, responses and indicators fall into five categories (Buckley, 2012): population, peace, prosperity, pollution and protection. Moreover, these tools and measures have not been able to increase sustainability of tourism products and the industry is not yet close to sustainability.
 
 In this chapter, we proposed an approach, built around Elkington’s three pillars model (1994), to assess sustainability (Lehtonen, 2004) of tourism products; we focus on products design processes to create a model that help entrepreneurs in assessing if their products are sustainable and where they are their main weaknesses. In order to show how such a simple model can be used to evaluate sustainable tourism initiatives and highlight their weaknesses we have used a multiple case studies approach and we have analyzed three different cases.

Development and Examination of the Reactive Attachment Disorder and Disinhibited Social Engagement Disorder Assessment Interview.

The fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) categorizes reactive attachment disorder (RAD) and disinhibited social engagement disorder (DSED) as two separate disorders, and their criteria are revised. For DSED, the core symptoms focus on abnormal social disinhibition, and symptoms regarding lack of selective attachment have been removed. The core symptoms of RAD are the absence of attachment behaviors and emotional dysregulation. In this study, an international team of researchers modified the Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Assessment for RAD to update it from DSM-IV to DSM-5 criteria for RAD and DSED. We renamed the interview the reactive attachment disorder and disinhibited social engagement disorder assessment (RADA). Foster parents of 320 young people aged 11 to 17 years completed the RADA online. Confirmatory factor analysis of RADA items identified good fit for a three-factor model, with one factor comprising DSED items (indiscriminate behaviors with strangers) and two factors comprising RAD items (RAD1: failure to seek/accept comfort, and RAD2: withdrawal/hypervigilance). The three factors showed differential associations with clinical symptoms of emotional and social impairment. Time in foster care was not associated with scores on RAD1, RAD2, or DSED. Higher age was associated with lower scores on DSED, and higher scores on RAD1.

A conceptual review of mate choice: stochastic demography, within-sex phenotypic plasticity, and individual flexibility.

Mate choice hypotheses usually focus on trait variation of chosen individuals. Recently, mate choice studies have increasingly attended to the environmental circumstances affecting variation in choosers' behavior and choosers' traits. We reviewed the literature on phenotypic plasticity in mate choice with the goal of exploring whether phenotypic plasticity can be interpreted as individual flexibility in the context of the switch point theorem, SPT (Gowaty and Hubbell 2009). We found >3000 studies; 198 were empirical studies of within‐sex phenotypic plasticity, and sixteen showed no evidence of mate choice plasticity. Most studies reported changes from choosy to indiscriminate behavior of subjects. Investigators attributed changes to one or more causes including operational sex ratio, adult sex ratio, potential reproductive rate, predation risk, disease risk, chooser's mating experience, chooser's age, chooser's condition, or chooser's resources. The studies together indicate that “choosiness” of potential mates is environmentally and socially labile, that is, induced – not fixed – in “the choosy sex” with results consistent with choosers' intrinsic characteristics or their ecological circumstances mattering more to mate choice than the traits of potential mates. We show that plasticity‐associated variables factor into the simpler SPT variables. We propose that it is time to complete the move from questions about within‐sex plasticity in the choosy sex to between‐ and within‐individual flexibility in reproductive decision‐making of both sexes simultaneously. Currently, unanswered empirical questions are about the force of alternative constraints and opportunities as inducers of individual flexibility in reproductive decision‐making, and the ecological, social, and developmental sources of similarities and differences between individuals. To make progress, we need studies (1) of simultaneous and symmetric attention to individual mate preferences and subsequent behavior in both sexes, (2) controlled for within‐individual variation in choice behavior as demography changes, and which (3) report effects on fitness from movement of individual's switch points.

The role of learning in social development: Illustrations from neglected children.

Children who experience early caregiving neglect are very likely to have problems developing and maintaining relationships and regulating their social behavior. One of the earliest manifestations of this problem is reflected in indiscriminate behavior, a phenomenon where young children do not show normative wariness of strangers or use familiar adults as sources of security. To better understand the developmental mechanisms underlying the emergence of these problems, this study examined whether institutionally reared children, who experienced early social neglect, had difficulty associating motivational significance to visual stimuli. Pairing stimuli with motivational significance is presumably one of the associative learning processes involved in establishing discriminate or selective relationships with others. We found that early experiences of neglectful caregiving were associated with difficulties in acquiring such associations, and that delays in this developmental skill were related to children's social difficulties. These data suggest a way in which early social learning experiences may impact the development of processes underlying emotional development.

Female predatory response to conspecific males and heterospecific prey in the praying mantis Mantis religiosa: evidence for discrimination of conspecific males

Sexual cannibalism, the attack and consumption of the opposite sex by a conspecific during courtship, copulation, or soon after copulation, is widespread among invertebrates, but the causes of this behavior are not fully understood. We examine the mistaken identity hypothesis, which posits that non-copulatory cannibalism occurs because females do not recognize conspecific males as potential mates. This hypothesis predicts indiscriminate predatory behavior by females towards conspecific males and heterospecific prey. This prediction remains largely unexamined. We tested this prediction in the praying mantis Mantis religiosa (Mantodea: Mantidae) through two behavioral experiments. In experiment 1, we presented targets in isolation to females: dead conspecific males or dead common prey items from the field (grasshopper Chrysochraon dispar). In experiment 2, we presented simultaneous live targets to females: conspecific males and grasshoppers. In both experiments, we varied female mating status (virgin vs. mated). Results indicate some degree of attack discrimination by the females. In experiment 1, the females were significantly more likely to strike at the grasshoppers, and showed a shorter latency to strike at grasshoppers. In experiment 2, females tended to preferentially strike at the grasshoppers, although this result fell short of statistical significance. Female discrimination between the males and grasshoppers may be explained, in part, by the size difference between the males and grasshoppers. Female mating status did not affect the occurrence or latency to strike in either experiment. These results fail to strongly support the prediction of indiscriminate predatory behavior by females, while contributing to a broader taxonomic assessment of the mistaken identity hypothesis.

Institutionalization and indiscriminate social behavior: Differential-susceptibility versus diathesis-stress models for the 5-HTTLPR and BDNF genotypes

Institutionalization adversely impacts children's emotional functioning, proving related to attachment disorders, perhaps most notably that involving indiscriminate behavior, the subject of this report. In seeking to extend work in this area, this research on gene X environment (GXE) interplay investigated whether the serotonin transporter (5-HTTLPR) and val66met Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) polymorphisms moderated the effect of institutional care on indiscriminate behavior in preschoolers. Eighty-five institutionalized and 135 home-reared Portuguese children were assessed using Disturbances of Attachment Interview (DAI). GXE results indicated that s/s homozygotes of the 5-HTTLPR gene displayed significantly higher levels of indiscriminate behavior than all other children if institutionalized, something not true of such children when family reared. These findings proved consistent with the diathesis-stress rather than differential-susceptibility model of person×environment interaction. BDNF proved unrelated to indiscriminate behavior. Results are discussed in relation to previous work on this subject of indiscriminate behavior, institutionalization and GXE interaction.

Annual research review: Attachment disorders in early childhood--clinical presentation, causes, correlates, and treatment.

Though noted in the clinical literature for more than 50years, attachment disorders have been studied systematically only recently. In part because of the ubiquity of attachments in humans, determining when aberrant behavior is best explained as an attachment disorder as opposed to insecure attachment has led to some confusion. In this selective review, we consider the literature on reactive attachment disorder and disinhibited social engagement disorder and describe an emerging consensus about a number of issues, while also noting some areas of controversy and others where we lack clear answers. We include a brief history of the classification of the disorders, as well as measurement issues. We describe their clinical presentation, causes and vulnerability factors, and clinical correlates, including the relation of disorders to secure and insecure attachment classifications. We also review what little is known and what more we need to learn about interventions. We conducted a literature search using PubMed, PsycINFO, and Cochrane Library databases, using search terms 'reactive attachment disorder,' 'attachment disorder,' 'indiscriminate behavior,' 'indiscriminate friendliness,' 'indiscriminate socially disinhibited reactive attachment disorder,' 'disinhibited social engagement disorder,' and 'disinhibited social behavior.' We also contacted investigators who have published on these topics. A growing literature has assessed behaviors in children who have experienced various types of adverse caregiving environments reflecting signs of putative attachment disorders, though fewer studies have investigated categorically defined attachment disorders. The evidence for two separate disorders is considerable, with reactive attachment disorder indicating children who lack attachments despite the developmental capacity to form them, and disinhibited social engagement disorder indicating children who lack developmentally appropriate reticence with unfamiliar adults and who violate socially sanctioned boundaries. Although many questions remain to be answered, especially regarding appropriate interventions, we know considerably more about attachment disorders than we did only a decade ago.

Indiscriminate Behaviors in Previously Institutionalized Young Children

This study included 54-month-old children with a history of institutional care. Our goal was to: (1) examine differences in indiscriminate social behaviors in children with a history of institutional care compared with home-reared children; (2) test whether foster care reduces indiscriminate social behaviors in a randomized controlled trial; and (3) examine early predictors of indiscriminate behaviors. Participants were 58 children with a history of institutional care and 31 never-institutionalized control (NIG) subjects enrolled in a randomized controlled trial of foster care for institutional care, assessed from toddlerhood to 54 months. Indiscriminate social behaviors were measured naturalistically by using the Stranger at the Door procedure. In the Stranger at the Door procedure, children with a history of institutional care left with a stranger at higher rates than NIG subjects (33% vs. 3.5%; P < .001). Children in the care as usual group left more than NIG subjects (41.9% vs. 3.6%; P ≤ .001). The differences between the foster care group (24.1%) and the care as usual group and between foster care group and NIG were not significant. In a logistic regression, early disorganized attachment behaviors, baseline developmental quotient, and caregiving quality after randomization contributed to variance at 54 months. In the same analysis using only children with a history of institutional care, only disorganized attachment contributed significantly to 54-month indiscriminate social behaviors (Exp[B] = 1.6 [95% confidence interval: 1.1-2.5]). Observed socially indiscriminate behaviors at 54 months were associated with prolonged exposure to institutional care. Young children raised in conditions of deprivation who fail to develop organized attachments as toddlers are at increased risk for subsequent indiscriminate behaviors.

Indiscriminate Behaviors in Previously Institutionalized Young Children

Indiscriminate Behaviors in Previously Institutionalized Young Children

Why Do Only Some Institutionalized Children Become Indiscriminately Friendly? Insights From the Study of Williams Syndrome

Why do some institutionalized children develop indiscriminate behavior (IB) while others do not? Considering children with Williams syndrome (WS) may provide an answer because IB has been observed routinely among individuals with this rare genetic neurodevelopmental disorder. By conceiving WS as a natural genetic model that mimics the indiscriminate phenotype and, more importantly, is associated with the deletion of genes in a specific region, we propose an integrative conceptual framework that underscores the dynamic developmental interplay between genes, endophenotypes, and environment. In this article, we consider the etiology of IB among institutionalized children, which emphasizes environmental factors, followed by the effect of such behavior on WS children's hypersociability, which highlights the crosstalk between genes and neuropsychological features in programming their distinctive social-emotional and behavioral phenotype. We propose new hypotheses regarding the etiopathogeny of IBs in institutionalized children, particularly the prediction of specific Gene × Environment interactions.

INDISCRIMINATE BEHAVIOR OBSERVED IN THE STRANGE SITUATION AMONG INSTITUTIONALIZED TODDLERS: RELATIONS TO CAREGIVER REPORT AND TO EARLY FAMILY RISK.

Socially disinhibited or indiscriminate behavior (IB) has traditionally been investigated using caregiver reports. More recently, an observational measure based on the Strange Situation Procedure (M. Ainsworth, M. Blehar, E. Waters, & S. Wall, 1978), the Rating of Infant and Stranger Engagement (RISE; C. Riley, A. Atlas-Corbett, & K. Lyons-Ruth, 2005), was validated in home-reared at-risk children. The present study aimed to validate the RISE in an institutionally reared sample using the caregiver report, to assess whether IB assessed with the RISE was elevated among the institutionalized children, and to explore potential risk factors associated with IB. The study was conducted among 74 institutionalized toddlers aged 11 to 30 months. Sociodemographic questionnaires were used to assess pre-admission experiences, and aspects of institutional placement were coded from the children's files in the institution and staff's report. Institutionalized children displayed high frequencies of IB as assessed on the RISE, and this instrument was validated against caregiver report. Pre-admission experiences of the institutionalized children in their biological families-namely, prenatal risk and maternal emotional neglect risk-predicted IB. Results suggest that the RISE is adequate to use among institutionally reared toddlers and point to aspects of the early familial environment that may be implicated in IB.

Attachment and Emotional Development in Institutional Care: Characteristics and Catch-Up.

Attachment has been assessed in the extreme environment of orphanages, but an important issue to be addressed in this chapter is whether in addition to standard assessment procedures, such as the Strange Situation, the lack of a specific attachment in some institutionalized children should be taken into account given the limits to the development of stable relationships in institutionalized care. In addition, this chapter discusses disinhibited or indiscriminately friendly behavior that is often seen in institutionalized children. Enhanced caregiving quality alone appears to be insufficient to diminish indiscriminate behavior, at least in some children, as evidenced by the persistence of indiscriminate behavior in children adopted out of institutions into adoptive families. We suggest that the etiology and function of indiscriminate friendly behavior may be different for institutionalized versus not-institutionalized children. In the first case it may reflect a distortion or disruption of early attachment relationships, in the latter case it is likely to result from the lack of expected input in the form of contingent interactions with a stable caregiver in early life. We try to delineate infant and caregiver characteristics that are associated with secure attachment in institutional settings, given the inevitable fact that large numbers of infants worldwide are being raised, and will be raised, in contexts of institutional care. We conclude that much further study is needed of the development of children's attachments following adoption out of an institutional setting.

Genetic sensitivity to the caregiving context: The influence of 5httlpr and BDNF val66met on indiscriminate social behavior

Evidence that gene×environment interactions can reflect differential sensitivity to the environmental context, rather than risk or resilience, is increasing. To test this model, we examined the genetic contribution to indiscriminate social behavior, in the setting of a randomized controlled trial of foster care compared to institutional rearing. Children enrolled in the Bucharest Early Intervention Project (BEIP) were assessed comprehensively before the age of 30months and subsequently randomized to either care as usual (CAUG) or high quality foster care (FCG). Indiscriminate social behavior was assessed at four time points, baseline, 30months, 42months and 54months of age, using caregiver report with the Disturbances of Attachment Interview (DAI). General linear mixed-effects models were used to examine the effect of the interaction between group status and functional polymorphisms in Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) and the Serotonin Transporter (5htt) on levels of indiscriminate behavior over time. Differential susceptibility, relative to levels of indiscriminate behavior, was demonstrated in children with either the s/s 5httlpr genotype or met 66 BDNF allele carriers. Specifically children with either the s/s 5httlpr genotype or met66 carriers in BDNF demonstrated the lowest levels of indiscriminate behavior in the FCG and the highest levels in the CAUG. Children with either the long allele of the 5httlpr or val/val genotype of BDNF demonstrated little difference in levels of indiscriminate behaviors over time and no group×genotype interaction. Children with both plasticity genotypes had the most signs of indiscriminate behavior at 54months if they were randomized to the CAUG in the institution, while those with both plasticity genotypes randomized to the FCG intervention had the fewest signs at 54months. Strikingly children with no plasticity alleles demonstrated no intervention effect on levels of indiscriminate behavior at 54months. These findings represent the first genetic associations reported with indiscriminate social behavior, replicate previous gene×gene×environment findings with these polymorphisms, and add to the growing body of literature supporting a differential susceptibility model of gene×environment interactions in developmental psychopathology.

Men Who Have Sex With Men and Methamphetamine Use

Health officials and AIDS activists nationwide are concerned with the increasing number of newly diagnosed HIV cases and methamphetamine use among MSM (men who have sex with men). Methamphetamine is a powerful stimulant that heightens sexual arousal, aggressive responses, and erases inhibitions, which can lead to indiscriminate sexual behavior, HIV infection, STDs, and Hepatitis A, B, C, and D. Health officials concede that methamphetamine use is not the sole factor in newly diagnosed HIV cases but acknowledge it is a dangerous risk factor in the transmission of HIV/AIDS and other blood pathogens in the MSM community. This article examines the risk factors, methamphetamine addiction, and options for HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention in the MSM population.

Socially indiscriminate attachment behavior in the Strange Situation: Convergent and discriminant validity in relation to caregiving risk, later behavior problems, and attachment insecurity

Socially indiscriminate attachment behavior has been repeatedly observed among institutionally reared children. Socially indiscriminate behavior has also been associated with aggression and hyperactivity. However, available data rely heavily on caregiver report of indiscriminate behavior. In addition, few studies have been conducted with samples of home-reared infants exposed to inadequate care. The current study aimed to develop a reliable laboratory measure of socially indiscriminate forms of attachment behavior based on direct observation and to validate the measure against assessments of early care and later behavior problems among home-reared infants. Strange Situation episodes of 75 socially at-risk mother-infant dyads were coded for infant indiscriminate attachment behavior on the newly developed Rating for Infant-Stranger Engagement. After controlling for infant insecure-organized and disorganized behavior in all analyses, extent of infant-stranger engagement at 18 months was significantly related to serious caregiving risk (maltreatment or maternal psychiatric hospitalization), observed quality of disrupted maternal affective communication, and aggressive and hyperactive behavior problems at age 5. Results are discussed in relation to the convergent and discriminant validity of the new measure and to the potential utility of a standardized observational measure of indiscriminate attachment behavior. Further validation is needed in relation to caregiver report measures of indiscriminate behavior.

A Network-based Analysis of Polyanion-binding Proteins Utilizing Yeast Protein Arrays

The high affinity of certain cellular polyanions for many proteins (polyanion-binding proteins (PABPs)) has been demonstrated previously. It has been hypothesized that such polyanions may be involved in protein structure stabilization, stimulation of folding through chaperone-like activity, and intra- and extracellular protein transport as well as intracellular organization. The purpose of the proteomics studies reported here was to seek evidence for the idea that the nonspecific but high affinity interactions of PABPs with polyanions have a functional role in intracellular processes. Utilizing yeast protein arrays and five biotinylated cellular polyanion probes (actin, tubulin, heparin, heparan sulfate, and DNA), we identified proteins that interact with these probes and analyzed their structural and amino acid sequence requirements as well as their predicted functions in the yeast proteome. We also provide evidence for the existence of a network-like system for PABPs and their potential roles as critical hubs in intracellular behavior. This investigation takes a first step toward achieving a better understanding of the nature of polyanion-protein interactions within cells and introduces an alternative way of thinking about intracellular organization.

Chance, Time Allocation, and The Evolution of Adaptively Flexible Sex Role Behavior

An alternative to classic sexual selection hypotheses for sex differentiated pre-mating behavior is that time available for mating-as individuals experience it-along with fitness differences among alternative potential mates, induces choosy versus indiscriminate mating behavior. This alternative hypothesis says that selection has acted so that all individuals flexibly express fitness-enhancing choosy, indiscriminate, and competitive mating behavior, induced by time-varying life histories, environmental and social cues. Key predictions of DYNAMATE, the formal model of adaptively flexible sex role behavior of individuals of both sexes within dynamically changing populations, include: (1) All individuals regardless of sex assess likely fitness outcomes from mating with alternative potential mates before expressing choosy or indiscriminate behavior. (2) Males and females express adaptively flexible, choosy and indiscriminate behavior so that individuals may change their behavior-from moment to moment-to fit dynamically changing circumstances. (3) Indiscriminate behavior of males and (4) choosy behavior of females would often be maladaptive even in species with greater female than male parental investment, when females have longer latencies to receptivity to re-mating than males, and when the relative reproductive rate of males is greater than in females. (5) Whether or not females show choosy behavior will not affect whether or not males exhibit choosy or indiscriminate behavior, and vice versa. (6) When other model parameters are equal, the proportion of individuals of a given sex expressing choosy or indiscriminate mating behavior is a function of the distribution of fitness ratios (a distribution of all fitness differences that would be conferred on an individual by mating with any two sequentially or simultaneously encountered alternative potential mates). (7) Whether same-sex individuals behaviorally compete is a function of the fitness that would be conferred if the strategist won access to a potential mate, but not a function of relative reproductive rate or its proxy, the operational sex ratio. We call for re-evaluation of sex differences in choosy, indiscriminate, and competitive behavior under strong experimental controls that level the ecological playing fields of males and females, i.e., under experimental conditions informing the mechanisms of phenotypic expression. We end with comments on the classic question of questions: why are the sexes as they are?

Attachment Disturbances in Young Children. II: Indiscriminate Behavior and Institutional Care

To assess convergence among three different measures of indiscriminate behavior and to assess the relationship of indiscriminate behavior to having an attachment figure and to aggressive behavior among young children living in a Romanian institution. Caregivers in the institution were interviewed with semistructured interviews regarding the behavior of 61 children with special emphasis on indiscriminate behavior. The study was conducted in Bucharest, Romania (1999). Substantial convergence among measures of indiscriminate behavior was demonstrated. Indiscriminate behavior was common whether or not these children had a preferred attachment figure. Indiscriminate behavior was independent of aggressive behavior. Differing explanations for indiscriminate behavior in young children derive from differing interpretations of similar findings rather than different findings with different measures. Indiscriminate behavior was largely independent of aggression in these institutionalized young children. Indiscriminate behavior may represent an independent problem rather than a type of reactive attachment disorder as suggested by DSM-IV criteria.