• CHYS 2P10
Lecture 9. Parents & Family
• Dr. Tony Volk
•
• Class Business
• Keep up the good work overall!
• Rene Sptiz & Attachment
• 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)
• Harlow & The Cupboard Theory
• The Cupboard Theory of attachment was initially proposed to explain the mother-infant
bond
• 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
• John Bowlby
, • Bowlby was a psychoanalytical psychologist interested in studying children
• Synthesized evolution, psychoanalysis, and developmental psychology
• Believed that there is an innate psychological mechanism for promoting a bond between
caregiver and infant
• Tenants of Attachment
1. Emotional bond has a basic survival value (particularly for our ancestors)
2. Bond is mediated by the CNS
3. Each partner builds a mental working model of the relationship
4. That progression is gradual and sets up later mental models
• Phase 1 of Attachment
• Preattachment (0 - 6 weeks): the infant is indifferent to particular caregivers (i.e., is
indiscriminate)
• This is likely due to energetic demands of newborns
• However, there is some evidence that newborns do prefer their mothers (e.g., prefer her
smell over other mothers)
• Phase 2 of Attachment
• 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
Lecture 9. Parents & Family
• Dr. Tony Volk
•
• Class Business
• Keep up the good work overall!
• Rene Sptiz & Attachment
• 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)
• Harlow & The Cupboard Theory
• The Cupboard Theory of attachment was initially proposed to explain the mother-infant
bond
• 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
• John Bowlby
, • Bowlby was a psychoanalytical psychologist interested in studying children
• Synthesized evolution, psychoanalysis, and developmental psychology
• Believed that there is an innate psychological mechanism for promoting a bond between
caregiver and infant
• Tenants of Attachment
1. Emotional bond has a basic survival value (particularly for our ancestors)
2. Bond is mediated by the CNS
3. Each partner builds a mental working model of the relationship
4. That progression is gradual and sets up later mental models
• Phase 1 of Attachment
• Preattachment (0 - 6 weeks): the infant is indifferent to particular caregivers (i.e., is
indiscriminate)
• This is likely due to energetic demands of newborns
• However, there is some evidence that newborns do prefer their mothers (e.g., prefer her
smell over other mothers)
• Phase 2 of Attachment
• 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
