John Bowlby's (1907 - 1990) was a psychoanalyst (like Freud)
and believed that mental health and behavioral problems
could be attributed to early childhood.
Bowlby’s evolutionary theory of attachment suggests that
children come into the world biologically pre-programmed
to form attachments with others, because this will help them to survive.
During the evolution of the human species, it would
have been the babies who stayed close to their
mothers that would have survived to have children
of their own. Bowlby hypothesized that both
infants and mothers have evolved a biological
need to stay in contact with each other.
These attachment behaviors initially function
like fixed action patterns and all share the same
function. The infant produces innate ‘social releaser’
behaviors such as crying and smiling that stimulate
caregiving from adults. The determinant of attachment
is not food but care and responsiveness.
Harlow raised rhesus monkeys from birth, and he found it was necessary to keep young monkeys separate from each other for health reasons. This separation began soon after birth, and he noticed that young monkeys deprived of contact with their mothers appeared to suffer mental distress. The babies became very attached to cheesecloth diapers in their cages, clinging onto them like security blankets.
and believed that mental health and behavioral problems
could be attributed to early childhood.
Bowlby’s evolutionary theory of attachment suggests that
children come into the world biologically pre-programmed
to form attachments with others, because this will help them to survive.
During the evolution of the human species, it would
have been the babies who stayed close to their
mothers that would have survived to have children
of their own. Bowlby hypothesized that both
infants and mothers have evolved a biological
need to stay in contact with each other.
These attachment behaviors initially function
like fixed action patterns and all share the same
function. The infant produces innate ‘social releaser’
behaviors such as crying and smiling that stimulate
caregiving from adults. The determinant of attachment
is not food but care and responsiveness.
Harlow raised rhesus monkeys from birth, and he found it was necessary to keep young monkeys separate from each other for health reasons. This separation began soon after birth, and he noticed that young monkeys deprived of contact with their mothers appeared to suffer mental distress. The babies became very attached to cheesecloth diapers in their cages, clinging onto them like security blankets.