THE BEHAVIOR OF PRESCHOOL BLIND AND PRESCHOOL SIGHTED CHILDREN AND THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE BEHAVIOR OF MOTHERS AND CHILDREN WERE STUDIED. SUBJECTS WERE 10 BLIND AND 12 SIGHTED CHILDREN FROM THREE TO SIX YEARS OF AGE AND FROM NONIMMIGRANT, UNBROKEN CAUCASIAN FAMILIES OF AVERAGE SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS AND CHRISTIAN BACKGROUND. A SYSTEMATIC BEHAVIOR OBSERVATION TECHNIQUE WAS USED TO OBSERVE EACH CHILD IN HIS HOME ENVIRONMENT. RESULTS SHOWED SIGNIFICANTLY GREATER INTERACTION WITH ADULTS BY BLIND CHILDREN THAN BY SIGHTED CHILDREN, NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES IN THE AMOUNT OF SELF-INSTIGATED BEHAVIOR BETWEEN GROUPS, AND MORE SELF-INSTIGATED BEHAVIOR AIMED AT THE MOTHER BY BLIND CHILDREN THAN BY SIGHTED CHILDREN. BLIND CHILDREN'S SELF-INSTIGATED BEHAVIOR AIMED AT THE MOTHER WAS CATEGORIZED AS 51 PERCENT SUCCORANT, 30 PERCENT SOCIABILITY, AND 14 PERCENT DOMINANCE. NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES WERE FOUND AMONG THESE THREE TYPES OF ACTS FOR THE SIGHTED CHILDREN. IN RELATION TO THEIR MOTHERS, BLIND CHILDREN TENDED TOWARD SUCCORANCE AND SOCIABILITY, AND SIGHTED CHILDREN TENDED TOWARD DOMINANCE AND NURTURANCE. THE BEHAVIOR OF BLIND CHILDREN WAS NOT AS VARIABLE AS THAT OF SIGHTED CHILDREN. SUCCORANCE WAS THE CHARACTERISTIC WHICH MOST CLEARLY DISTINGUISHED THE BEHAVIOR OF BLIND AND SIGHTED CHILDREN. MOTHERS OF BLIND CHILDREN WERE COMPLIANT TO ABOUT HALF OF CHILDREN'S SUCCORANT BEHAVIOR. MOTHERS OF SIGHTED CHILDREN EITHER COMPLIED VERY MUCH OR VERY LITTLE TO SUCH BEHAVIOR. MOTHERS OF BLIND CHILDREN USED REFUSAL AND IGNORING AS WAYS OF NOT COMPLYING, WHILE MOTHERS OF SIGHTED CHILDREN RELIED ALMOST TOTALLY ON REFUSAL. A NUMBER OF SIGNIFICANT RELATIONSHIPS WERE FOUND BETWEEN THE BEHAVIOR OF BLIND CHILDREN AND THEIR MOTHERS. THE AUTHOR CONCLUDED THAT THE DEGREE OF SELF RELIANCE IN A CHILD IS BETTER PREDICTED FROM THE MOTHER'S COMPLIANT BEHAVIOR THAN FROM THE EXISTENCE OF BLINDNESS IN THE CHILD. THIS DOCUMENT IS AVAILABLE FROM THE AMERICAN FOUNDATION FOR THE BLIND, 15 WEST 16TH STREET, NEW YORK, N.Y. 10011. $1.50. (DF)