2. Are You My Mother?

3. Edward John Mostyn Bowlby (1907-1990)
Born in London to an upper-middle-income
family.
Fourth of six children
Raised by a nanny in the British fashion of his
class at that time - one nanny in charge of
raising the children in a separate nursery in the
house, plus two other nursemaids to help her
raise the children.
Bowlby was raised primarily by nursemaid
Minnie who acted as a mother figure to him
and his siblings.

4. Children were cared for by nannies because the
belief was that parental attention and affection
would lead to dangerous spoiling of the children.
When Bowlby was almost four years old, Minnie
left the family (which he later described as being
as tragic as the loss of a mother.)
The next nursemaid was less than nurturing with
Bowlby and his siblings (described as being cold
and sarcastic).
This early loss of Bowlby's "mother-figure" fuels
his interest later in life around what is now
known as attachment theory.

5. At the age of ten, he was sent off
to boarding school.
This was common for boys of his social
status.
The decision may have been fueled by his
parents’ concern that he and his brother be
protected from the bombing attacks.
However, In his 1973 work Separation:
Anxiety and Anger, Bowlby revealed that
he regarded it as a terrible time for him.
He later said, "I wouldn't send a dog
away to boarding school at age seven".

6. Edward John Mostyn Bowlby: British Child
Psychiatrist & Psychoanalyst.
He was the first attachment theorist, describing
attachment as a "lasting psychological
connectedness between human beings".
Bowlby believed that the earliest bonds formed
by children with their caregivers have a
tremendous impact that continues throughout
life.
According to Bowlby, based on Darwin,
attachment serves to keep the infant close to the
mother, thus improving the child's chances of
survival.

7.  Lasting psychological connectedness between human beings
 According to psychoanalytic perspective and behaviouristic
perspective feeding was seen as a central context in which the
care-giver and babies developed attachment.
 Attachment does not have to be reciprocal. One person may have
an attachment with an individual which is not shared. Attachment
is characterized by specific behaviors in children, such as seeking
proximity with the attachment figure when upset or threatened
(Bowlby, 1969).

8. CHARACTERISTICS OF ATTACHMENT

9.  Harlow and Zimmerman’s famous 1959
experiment showed that developing a close
bond does not depend on hunger
satisfaction.
 Rhesus monkey babies were separated from
their natural mothers and “fostered” by two
surrogates- one terry cloth covered and other
was wire mesh with a bottle to feed them.
 Babies clung to terry cloth “mothers” even
though wire mesh had bottle.
 This shows 'contact comfort' is a more
important and need for closeness and
affection much deeper.

10.  Ethological Theory of Attachment recognizes infant’s emotional tie to the
caregiver as an evolved response that promotes survival.
 John Bowlby applied this idea to infant-caregiver bond.
 He retained the psychoanalytical idea that quality of attachment to
caregiver has profound implication for child's security and capacity to form
trusting relationship. However: 'Feeding is not the basis for attachment'
 The central theme of attachment theory is that mothers who are available
and responsive to their infants’ needs establish a sense of security in their
children. The infant knows that the caregiver is dependable, which creates
a secure base for the child to then explore the world.

11.  Babies are born equipped with behavior like crying, cooing,
babbling and smiling to ensure adult attention & adults are
biologically programmed to respond to infant signals.
 He viewed the first 3 years as very sensitive period for attachment
 The 4 phases of attachment according to Bowlby are:
 Preattachment Phase (Birth – 6 Weeks)
 “Attachment in Making” Phase ( 6 Weeks – 6 to 8 Months)
 “Clear Cut” Attachment Phase ( 6-8 Months to 18 Months-2 Years)
 Formation Of Reciprocal Relationship (18 Months – 2 Years and on)

12.  Baby’s innate signals attract caregiver (Grasping, crying, smiling and
gazing into the adult’s eyes)
 Caregivers remain close by when the baby responds positively
 The infants encourage the adults to remain close because the
closeness comforts them
 Babies recognise the mother’s smell, voice and face.
 They are not yet attached to the mother so they don’t mind being left
with unfamiliar adults.
 They have No fear of strangers

13.  Infant responds differently to familiar caregiver than to strangers. The
baby would babble and smile more to the mother and quiets more
quickly when the mother picks him.
 Infants learn that their actions affect the behavior of those around
 They begin to develop “Sense of Trust” in which they expect that the
caregiver will respond when signaled
 The infant still does not protest when separated from the caregiver

14.  The attachment to familiar caregiver becomes evident
 Babies display “Separation Anxiety”, becoming upset when an adult on
whom they have come to rely leaves
 Although Separation Anxiety increases between 6 -15 months of age
its occurrence depends on infant temperament, context and adult
behavior
 The child will show distress when mother leaves but if the caregiver is
supportive and sensitive then this anxiety could be short-lived.

15.  By 2 years the toddler is able to understand some of the factors
that influence parents’ coming and going and to predict their
return. Thus separation protests decline.
 The child can negotiate with the caregiver, using requests and
persuasion to alter primary caregiver’s goals
 With age the child depends less on the caregiver, has more
confidence that the caregiver will be accessible and responsive
in times of need.

16.  Ainsworth devised a simple experiment to
measure the attachment of an infant to the
caretaker:
 The Strange Situation Experiment – In this
experiment, the caregiver is in a toy room with
the child, the caregiver leaves and in comes a
stranger, the child is left alone with the stranger
for several minutes, and then the caregiver
returns.

17.  Observer shows caregiver and infant into the
room and then leaves. ( 30 Seconds)
 Caregiver sits and watches child play. (3 mins)
 Stranger enters, silent at first, then talks to caregiver, then
interacts with infant. Caregiver leaves the room. (3 mins)
 First separation. Stranger tries to interact with infant. (3
mins)
 First reunion. Caregiver comforts child, stranger leaves.
Caregiver then leaves. (3 mins)
 Second separation. Child alone. (3 mins)
 Stranger enters and tries to interact with child. (3 mins)
 Second reunion. Caregiver comforts child, stranger leaves.
 If the child becomes very upset, any of the above are
curtailed

18.  Exploration: to what extent does the child
explore his/her environment?
 Reaction to departure: what is the child’s
response when the caregiver leaves?
 The stranger anxiety: how does the child
respond when alone with the stranger?
 Reunion: how does the child respond when
the caregiver returns?

19.  Infants differ in quality or style of their
attachment to their caregivers.
 Most show one of four distinct patterns of
attachment:
1) Secure attachment
2) Insecure-Avoidant attachment
3) Insecure-Ambivalent attachment
4) Disorganised attachment (added by Researchers
Main and Solomon [1986])

20.  70% of 1 year olds
 Freely explore their environment, touching
base with caregiver periodically for security.
 May or may not cry when separated, but when
caregiver returns, crying ceases quickly.

21.  15%
 Don’t cry when separated
 React to strangers similar to his/her caregiver
 When returned, avoids caregiver or is slow to
greet her/him.
 (suspect child abuse)

22.  10%
 Seek contact with their caregiver before
separation
 After caregiver returns, they first seek her/him,
then the child resists or rejects offers of comfort

23.  5-10%
 Elements of both avoidant and ambivalent
(confused).
 The child’s reactions to caregiver’s return vary,
but they are never secure.

24.  Research in this area indicates that patterns
established in childhood have an important
impact on later relationships.
 Securely attached adults tend to believe that
romantic love is enduring;
 Ambivalently attached adults report falling in
love often;
 Those with avoidant attachment styles describe
love as rare and temporary.

25.  Have trusting, long-term relationships
 High self-esteem
 Enjoy intimate relationships
 Seek out social support
 Are able to share feelings with other people.

26.  Feel reluctant about becoming close to others
 Worry that their partner does not reciprocate
their feelings.
 This leads to frequent breakups, often because
the relationship feels cold and distant.
 These individuals feel especially distraught
after the end of a relationship.
 Some ambivalently attached adults cling to
young children as a source of security.

27.  Tend to have difficulty with intimacy and close
relationships.
 Do not invest much emotion in relationships
 Experience little distress when a relationship ends
 Often avoid intimacy by using excuses (such as
long work hours)
 May fantasize about other people during sex.
 Often more accepting of and likely to engage in
casual sex.
 Fail to support partners during stressful times
 Unable to share feelings, thoughts, and emotions
with partners.

28.  Attachment styles differ.
 Reflect different approaches to rearing
 Avoidant is higher in Germany
 Ambivalent is higher in Japan
 Secure is the norm in New Zealand

29.  Maternal deprivation and emotional problems in children (Bowlby,
1946):
 Study on 44 Juvenile thieves
 Children who experienced maternal deprivation before the age
of 5 years were more likely to become affectionless
psychopaths than children who hadn’t experienced maternal
deprivation, supporting the hypothesis.
 Once the attachment bond was broken, the negative effects
couldn’t be undone.
 Note : More research has shown that ‘secure attachment’ is
associated with good psychological health in adulthood.

30.  Schaffer and Emerson 1964 observed that strongly attached infants
had mothers who responded quickly to their demands and who offered
the child the most interaction, whereas weakly attached infants had
mothers who failed to interact with them.
 The Minnesota longitudinal study followed children from infancy to
adolescence and found continuity between their early attachment
styles and their later emotional social behaviour. This supports the
continuity hypothesis.

31.  It is considered the dominant explanation of how and why
attachment develops
 Imprinting is supported by Lorenz’s ducks
 Bowlby suggests that attachment evolved as an aid to survival. If
this is true, then attachment and caregiving behaviour should be
universal, in all cultures, despite differences in child rearing
practices. There is evidence to support this

32.  The idea that attachment behaviours have evolved to promote child
development has good face validity but evolutionary ideas are very
difficult to test and therefore, difficult to prove or disprove.
 Bowlby’s theory focuses on the role of the mother. There is evidence
that in two parent families, the quality of attachment of the father can
also have a big effect on the child’s behavior and development
 Other research indicated that the best predictor of adult attachment
style was the perceptions that people have about the quality of their
relationships with their parents as well as their parent's relationship with
each other.