Some further observations and comments on the earliest role of the father.

The longitudinal observation in the family setting of a boy (Michael) during his first two years is used to explore further the earliest role of the father, and to refine my 'early triangulation' model. This model was meant to account for some basic phenomena of Mahler's rapprochement subphase, and was partly based on Piaget's framework. The data are presented along three developmental lines. (1) The specific relationship with father as a different person: the concepts of 'specific refuelling' and of object-specific libido are introduced; and it is suggested that during the subphase of differentiation, all of Michael's specific objects (in particular, the father) shared some 'symbiotic' quality with the mother. (2) On the other hand, qualitative differences of the father relationship were also noted; they confirmed my earlier findings and Mahler's view. (3) Very early, Michael began to acknowledge the relationship with the parents as a couple. After a fleeting indication of rivalry (with mother!), a ritual game of 'getting his parents together' developed at the onset of the rapprochement subphase. This is discussed as one of many possible compromise solutions to avoid the full achievement of the anxiety-provoking 'early triangulation' process. This process, if completed, would involve 'identification with the rival parent', formation of a mental image of the self, and the positive cathexis of neutralized intragroup relationships (which presupposes symbolization). The ubiquitous observation of 'identification with the rival baby' may represent another such compromise solution, and thus a precursor of early triangulation. It might also be a parellel process, leading to 'generational identification' as distinguished from 'gender identification'. The isomorphism of these processes with Piaget's outline of cognitive development is pointed out.