CHYS 2P10 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: John Bowlby, Developmental Psychology, Object Permanence
14 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Need to be held and cold
▪
Initially developed in not having relationships with anyone else other than their
parents
▪
Chilren who were raised in hospitals were physically healthy but showed an affect
hunger
•
Initially observed infants in hospital settings
•
Noticed that infants who did not receive regular care from an individual caregiver showed
“affect hunger”
•
That is, the infants showed impoverished emotional development and a desire for affection
(early on)
•
Rene Sptiz & Attachment
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The Cupboard Theory of attachment was initially proposed to explain the mother-infant
bond
•
Study attachment bonds in monkeys (similar to humans) in order to predict explanation for
humans
•
Infants bonded to the mother because she was a “cupboard” for their needs (e.g., food,
water, heat)
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Harlow demonstrated that physical comfort was a critical factor
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Mom=Cupboard
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Not common sense, should look for food
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Contact and comfort is important and overwhelmed other variables
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Love is hard to define and operationalize
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Trust and comfort
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Love= security
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Running away from fear and then he runs to the mother and gets angry
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It will go to the nurturing mother
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Contact changes the personality from fear to anger in order to protect the mother
and themselves
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Machine: to scare money
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Regardless of who fed it the monkey spent the most time on the cloth mother
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Theory: baby's bond with their mother because they are giving them food, shelter, heat and
warmth things for survival
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Harlow & The Cupboard Theory
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Bowlby was a psychoanalytical psychologist interested in studying children
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Synthesized evolution, psychoanalysis, and developmental psychology
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Believed that there is an innate psychological mechanism for promoting a bond between
caregiver and infant
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John Bowlby
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Attachment and independence: trying to get babies to grow up
a.
Reality is they are not adults
b.
Survival values= bond
c.
Emotional bond has a basic survival value (particularly for our ancestors)
1.
Has some genetic foundation
a.
Bond is mediated by the CNS
2.
Each partner builds a mental working model of the relationship
3.
Tells us why it matters in adulthood
a.
That progression is gradual and sets up later mental models
4.
Tenants of Attachment
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Preattachment (0 - 6 weeks): the infant is indifferent to particular caregivers (i.e., is
indiscriminate)
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Phase 1 of Attachment
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Week 9: Parents & Family
CHYS 2P10 Page 1
indiscriminate)
Not a lot going on
–
Focus on staying alive
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This is likely due to energetic demands of newborns
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However, there is some evidence that newborns do prefer their mothers (e.g., prefer her
smell over other mothers)
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Attachment in the Making (2-7 months): during this phase infants can discriminate between
caregivers, and start to build a working model of relationships based on experiences
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Trust in the caregiver
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Begin to learn social rules and norms
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Not an automatic measure
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Limited by lack of object permanence (although this is now disputed)
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No stranger anxiety
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Phase 2 of Attachment
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Strangers
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History: humans kill other babies
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Clear-Cut Attachment (7-24 months): during this phase stranger and separation anxiety
appear
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The mother serves as a secure base from which the child can explore his/her environment
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"the morning drop off"
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Separation is actively protested
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Child is learning to depend on other people if you can become independent
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If you want a baby to grow up as an independent adult you have to make them dependent
on the parents first
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Mom= secure base
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You start treating you parents the way they treat you and vice cersa
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Phase 3 of Attachment
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Goal-Corrected Partnership (2 yrs +): stranger and separation anxiety begin to diminish as
a sense of independent autonomy develops
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Relationship becomes increasingly reciprocal (e.g., negotiation, sharing)
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Phase 4 of Attachment
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Temperament and resources influence this bond
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Initially believed to be separate concepts
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However, infant temperament has been shown to influence how the parent-child bond
unfolds via differences in interaction qualities (e.g., easier to bond with an easy
temperament infant)
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Attachment & Temperament
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Attachment is independent of the age and sex of the caregiver
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Primary influence=primary caregiver
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Anyone can from an attachment and can be different from one family member to the other
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Typically studied in mothers because they are typically the primary caregiver, but fathers,
grandparents, and teachers, can all form attachments
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Attachments can differ from each other (e.g., secure with Mom, not with Dad)
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Attachment & Fathers
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Developed by Mary Ainsworth (Bowlby’s student) after observing mothers in Uganda
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Test how babies would respond to certain situations with or without the parent
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Her goal was to be able to measure attachment
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Involves a parent and infant entering a new room that the child then explores
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The child then has to respond to different situations without the parent
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Stranger represents a potential threat
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Strange-Situation Test
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What is most important is the response of the infant to the returning parent
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If the infant is distressed, and then quiet upon return, the infant is said to have secure
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Strange-Situation Test
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Document Summary
Chilren who were raised in hospitals were physically healthy but showed an affect hunger. Initially developed in not having relationships with anyone else other than their parents. Noticed that infants who did not receive regular care from an individual caregiver showed. That is, the infants showed impoverished emotional development and a desire for affection (early on) The cupboard theory of attachment was initially proposed to explain the mother-infant bond. Study attachment bonds in monkeys (similar to humans) in order to predict explanation for humans. Infants bonded to the mother because she was a cupboard for their needs (e. g. , food, water, heat) Harlow demonstrated that physical comfort was a critical factor. Theory: baby"s bond with their mother because they are giving them food, shelter, heat and warmth things for survival. Contact and comfort is important and overwhelmed other variables. Running away from fear and then he runs to the mother and gets angry.
