Developmental
Psychology
PSY-263
Rawa Haider
Lecture: 2
The content on the slides is
taken from the book
“Developmental Psychology”
by Howard Gardner.
Second Edition
Infancy
 The
newborn faces two major challenges:
 To become acquainted with the social
world of other people
 To gain understanding of the physical
world of objects
Infancy(contd.)

The first of these begins
when the child
recognizes the existence
of other people and,
most particularly, the
principle caretaker,
usually the mother. The
resulting bond of
attachment and sense
of trust will have
important
consequences for the
child’s later well-being.
Infancy(contd.)



To understand the physical
world. The child must build
upon basic ways of processing
information, which eventually
yield complex ideas about the
attributes and behavior of
objects and their existence in
space and over time.
This ‘sensorimotor’ intelligence
is a product of the interaction
of the child and her
environment.
Upon this foundation the
increasingly advanced
cognitive levels of childhood
and adulthood are
constructed.
Infancy(contd.)
Infants are strangers to the world, but they are
, fortunately, well equipped to master its
challenges.
 Their genetic heritage, the nine months spent
in the mother’s womb, and their capacities to
perceive, to act, and to feel all combine to
bring about the affective and cognitive
advances that mark the first two years.
 By the end of the second year children have
begun to know the world and to gain a sense
of their own place in it.

Bonds of Attachment
 Harry
Harlow’s Monkey Experiment:
John Bowlby’s
studies of Human
Attachment
In the 1940s ‘WHO’ asked John
Bowlby, A British psychiatrist , to
study the effects of mother
child separation in early
childhood.
John Bowlby’s studies of
Human Attachment

In 1951 Bowlby and his
colleagues reported
that normal infants who
have been separated
prematurely from their
mothers are unable to
relate satisfactorily to
any person and are
afraid to play, venture
forth, explore, discover
the world beyond their
own skins , or even
themselves.

Bowlby reached this
conclusion: “What is
believed to be essential
for mental health is that
the infant and young
child should experience
a warm, intimate and
continuous relationship
with his mother (or
permanent mothersubstitute) in which both
find satisfaction and
enjoyment” (Bowlby,
1966, p. 11).
John Bowlby’s studies of
Human Attachment:
Insights from Ethology



Bowlby became impressed by
the analytic framework of
ethology, at that time the new
line of behavioral investigation.
Unlike workers in the
environmental –learning
traditions, who favor controlled
studies in the laboratory,
ethologists study the organism
in its natural habitat.
Such naturalistic observation
of an organism are deemed
crucial to a proper
understanding of its most
important behaviorsaggression, sexual relations
and other interaction between
species members.


Ethologists do not, however,
simply report everything a
duck, fish or monkey does.
They are guided by specific
hypothesis about just what
factors in the environment
determine a pairing, an
aggressive or threatening
gesture, or a location of a nest
.
Once their hypothesis have
been tentatively confirmed in
the animal’s natural habitat,
ethologists may then devise
miniature experiments on the
scene.
John Bowlby’s studies of
Human Attachment:
Insights from Ethology (contd.)


Ethologist tries to
determine which
factors or releasers in
the environment cause
the infant to become
imprinted on or
permanently bonded
to a mother figure.
Perhaps the duckling
can be imprinted on a
tape recording , in
which case sound is
serving as a releaser.


Or perhaps the
duckling will become
attached to a
source of warmth like
an electric blanket.
Or perhaps the
releaser is a duck like
decoy or a human
being who moves in
a duck like manner.
Ethologist Lorenz(1957)

By mimicking the
strutting of a bird,
ethologist
Lorenz(1957)
managed to make
himself the object of
a jackdaws
attachment: this
jackdaw eventually
regarded humans as
parents and even as
sexual companions.
Ethologists(contd.)


In addition to studying the
process and effect of
imprinting, ethologists also
examine the time during
which such early behaviors
emerge.
In particular they are
looking for critical
behaviors, fixed intervals
during which pivotal events
must occur, or releasers be
encountered, if a certain
lasting consequence is to
ensue.

For instance Lorenz
believes that a duck must
imprint on its mother (or
some other objects) within
the critical period of the
first three days of life if a
permanent attachment is
to result. By the same
token, Harlow has
contended that monkeys
must form enduring
attachments during the first
year of life.
Ethologists(contd.)
 Many
researchers urge caution in
applying the concepts of critical periods
and imprinting directly to human beings.
 They prefer to speak of sensitive periods,
fairly circumscribed times during which
important milestones are most apt to
occur, or are likely to occur in their most
characteristic form.
The Course of Attachment
and Separation



In his book Attachment and
loss(1969), Bowlby reexamined
through the ethologist’s lenses
many of his earlier observations
of the mother-infant bond.
At first the infant’s and parents
behaviors are quite simple and
predictable: they resemble the
stereotyped sounds and
movements nonhumans
display during bond formation
or imprinting.
The human infant’s grasping,
crying and sucking, the
mother’s cooing and hugging
– these dominate the earliest
social interactions.


Soon however, these
behaviors are
replaced by finer
patterns of response.
A single yelp
becomes a variety of
modulated cries;
sucking is modified to
fit specific objects,
clinging is replaced
by faithful following
with the eyes.
The Course of Attachment
and Separation(contd.)


In Bowlby’s view, each of
the infant’s behavior is
designed to result in
physical (and, eventually,
psychological) closeness to
the mother.
The baby clings to the
mother; the crying child
signals fright and a need
for comfort; the child
following the mother with
limbs or eyes seeks to
maintain contact with her.


The ultimate origins of
this attachment, buried
in the evolution of the
species, may forever
elude scientists.
Bowlby however
believes it reflects the
fact that, over millions
of years, the infant’s
best hope for survival
has lain in proximity to
a caring mother.
The Course of Attachment
and Separation(contd.)


During the early weeks
of life, the behaviors
that maintain closeness
are not directed
towards a particular
caretaker.
But by the second half
of the first year, the child
clearly recognizes a
primary caretaker
(usually the mother),
and unique styles of
interaction with that
person have evolved.

Now one may speak
of an attachment or
an attachment bond:
an affectional tie
enduring in nature ,
specific in its focus –
comparable in
suggestive ways to
the duckling’s
imprinting on its
mother.
The Course of Attachment
and Separation(contd.)



When a bond specific to
one person is has been
formed, disruptions can
be disturbing.
Children a year old
react with special
vehemence when this
bond is challenged.
For example: presence
of a stranger can make
the baby cry or fret
even during the
mother’s presence.



So long as the mother stays
nearby, this stranger anxiety
will pass. But if the mother
withdraws or the stranger
comes too close . Anxiety may
be heightened.
More profound distress,-separation anxiety– is apt to
occur whenever the child is
suddenly separated from the
mother.
If such separation persists as
when a mother is hospitalised
or dies, there are likely to be
severe psychological costs.
The Course of Attachment
and Separation(contd.)
 Bowlby
has
outlined a
sequence of
events that
typically follow
long-term
separation during
the second year of
life.

At first the child
protests, perhaps
shouting, screaming, or
running about wildly –
marshaling all
resources in an
attempt to recapture
the mother. Here is
what happened when
ten children were
separated from their
mothers.
The Course of Attachment
and Separation(contd.)

Eight of the children were crying loudly soon
after their parents’ departure. Bedtime was
also an occasion for tears. The two who had
not cried earlier screamed when put in a cot
and could not be consoled… one little girl
who arrived in the evening and was put
straight to bed, insisted on keeping her coat
on, clung desperately to her doll, and cried
“at a frightening pitch”. Again and again,
having nodded off from sheer fatigue, she
awoke screaming for her mother.
The Course of Attachment
and Separation(contd.)



During a second phase (the
period of despair), such
children are continually
preoccupied with their
mothers.
Now, however, their behavior
reveals increasing
hopelessness. The children sit
unoccupied, with mournful
faces.
As a defense against feelings
of abandonment, the children
build up extreme resentment
against their mothers. For this
reason such a child will fly into
despairing rage if any traces of
the mother appear.



These children have fallen
into so brittle a state that
they cannot cope with
reminders of earlier, more
secure days.
Only after some months
can the children relate to
others and seemingly
forget their own mothers.
This detachment is often
welcomed as a sign that
the children can finally
cope realistically with the
lack of a parent.
The Course of Attachment
and Separation(contd.)


But such behavior masks
damaging, long term
consequences: in
managing to get along
without their mothers, the
children may sacrifice the
ability to sustain enduring
relationships with anyone.
Should the child’s mother
return after the period of
detachment , the child
may turn away or show
disinterest, seeming hardly
to know her.


If the separation has not
been too long – perhaps
only a few months –and if
the mother can gradually
reestablish the relationship,
permanent damage can
be averted .
If however too much time
has elapsed, or the
separation has occurred
during a particularly
crucial(critical) period the
most ardent efforts of the
caretaking parent may
prove futile. (Bowlby, 1980)