Higher Human Biology
Unit 3: Behaviour, Populations
and environment
Chapter 31: Importance of Infant
attachment
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Mrs Smith Ch31 Infant Attachment
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Learning
Intentions
Success Criteria
To understand the
early part of infancy
Explain the
and the critical
importance of
stages of
development which
infant attachment
must take place to
allow later
development of
communication and
other social skills.
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Importance of Infant Attachment
Communication & Social Behaviour
• Humans are social creatures
• The vast majority prefer to live in
communities rather than lead a
solitary existence.
• To operate successfully the members
of a group must be able to
communicate with one another.
• Communication between humans
starts at birth and continues
throughout life. Mrs Smith Ch31 Infant Attachment
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Is this man communicating?
If so communicating what?
• Social behaviour involves transmitting and
receiving information using signs and signals
(e.g. verbal ,written
body
language)
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Ch31 Infant
Attachment
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Body language – Actions speak
louder than words!
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Importance of Infant Attachment
Communication & Social Behaviour
Infant humans have long periods of dependency
on adults.
• In early period, critical stages of development take
place to allow later development of communication
& social skills.
• The reason for the long dependency is that the
move from baby to child to adult requires much
learning
Nervous System
detects
information
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Decision made
based on
experience
Behaviour
6
Infant attachment
The tie that binds a baby to its carer is called infant
attachment.
A strong emotional tie
develops between the baby &
the mother as the baby
suckles, clings and cries. This
triggers the mothers desire to
protect and care for the baby.
0-6 months = Indiscriminate attachment on the babies
part.
6-7 months = Specific attachment to the mother and a
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Mrs protests
Smith Ch31 Infant
Attachment
few
other carers (baby
if separated
from carers). 7
Graph: Indiscriminate vs
Specific Attachment
• As specific attachment
develops,
indiscriminate
attachment weakens.
• Attachment can be
measured by the
amount of protest
shown by a baby on
being separated from
its carer.
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Contact Comfort Intro:
• For many years it was
thought that babies
became attached to
their parents principally
because the parents
provide food.
• However in recent
years, the additional
importance of contact
comfort has become
appreciated. Mrs Smith Ch31 Infant Attachment
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Contact
ContactComfort
ComfortIntro:
Intro:
Infants need:
• Close bodily contact
• The sensation of physical
well-being & safety
Contact comfort helps
establish the attachment
between an infant and its
carer(s).
Contact comfort was first
demonstrated experimentally
using infant monkeys.
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Contact Comfort: Monkey experiments
http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Harlow/love.htm
• Infant monkeys were
exposed to two types of
substitute mother.
• The first mother was
constructed out of bare wire.
• The second mother was
made out of the same wire
but covered in thick, soft
towelling.
• It was the mother with bare
wire that supplied the food
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Harry Harlow Monkey Experiment
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Contact
Past
PaperComfort:
Question
Monkey Experiment Results
Once the infant monkey had
finished feeding from the wire
mother, they spent much of their
time clinging to the cloth mothers
rather than the bare one.
• They always ran to the cloth
mother when frightened.
• Cuddling the cloth mother’s soft
body calmed the infants down
These experiments demonstrate a high level need for
CLOSE BODILY CONTACT and the sensation of physical
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well-being and safety.
Importance of Infant
Attachment
A long period of dependency and infant
attachment are important because...
• It supplies the child with a secure base from
which to operate in.
• The world/environments can be investigated and
explored, all the time in the knowledge that the
parent present will supply safety when required.
This allows the infant to explore opportunities for
learning.
• A sense of safety is required if social skills and
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Attachment
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cognitive abilities
areCh31toInfant
develop.
Effects of Deprivation: Monkey experiments
• In a variation of Harlow's
monkey experiment.
• An infant was denied
access to a cloth mother.
As a result they developed
into disturbed adults:
• Over-aggressive
All these individuals
• Withdrawn
became Inadequate parents
• Uncommunicative
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Watch this!!!
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Effects of Human Infant
contact Deprivation
• Human infants who have
plenty of food and warmth
but are denied contact
comfort exhibit maladjusted
behaviour.
• Children who suffer social
deprivation (Isolation from
loved ones) don’t develop
social attachments so miss
opportunities to develop
communication skills and
abilities.
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Study of infant attachment:
“Strange Situation”
In order to study infant attachment and determine its type and
quality a method called the ‘strange situation’ was devised.
Each of the following 7 steps lasts 3 minutes each.
1) Carer brings baby into room of unfamiliar toys
2) Stranger enters & tries to play with baby
3) Carer leaves baby with stranger
4) Carer returns & plays with baby, stranger leaves
5) Carer leaves baby alone Allows psychologist to
observed baby with:
6) Stranger returns
• Carer
7) Carer returns
• Stranger
Strange
Situation Video Mrs Smith Ch31• Infant
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Attachment
Alone
17
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Watch this!!!
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Strange Situation: The results
Secure baby
• Major distress
when mother
leaves
• Resists
comfort from
stranger
• Goes
immediately to
mother then
calms down
Perceptive
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mother
Detached (avoidant)
insecure baby
Resistant
insecure baby
• Indifferent/only
slight distress if
mother leaves
• accepts comfort
from stranger
• Ignores mother or
approaches her
looking away
• Major distress
when mother
leaves
• Resists comfort
from stranger
• Both seeks &
resists comfort
Mother lacks
Mother insensitive
Mrs Smith
Ch31 Infant Attachment
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perception
to baby’s needs
The “Strange Situation”
type of attachment
secure
response to the
departure of mother
Displays major
distress
response to the
presence of stranger
in absence of mother
resists offer of
comfort from
stranger
response to the return
of mother
goes to mother
immediately for
comfort and then
clams down and
returns to play
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insecure
detached (avoidant)
resistant
displays
indifference or mild displays major distress
distress
accepts comfort
from stranger if
required
resists offer of comfort
from stranger
ignores mother of
approaches her
looking away
both seeks and resists
comfort (e.g.
approaches her to be
picked up but then
struggles to be
released) 21
Mrs Smith Ch31 Infant Attachment
What makes a baby happy?
If mothers/carers are:
• Sensitive
• Perceptive
• Responsive
=
Happy, secure infants
Infants that are insecure tend to have experienced:
• Lack of normal
social contact
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• Lack of affection
& cuddling
Mrs Smith Ch31 Infant Attachment
Long-lasting
negative
effects
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Development of attachment
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Task: Torrance-TYK pg 252 Qu 1-4
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Task: Torrance AYK
pg253/254 Qu’s 1-3
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