DVT - Attachment Lesson

 

Attachment

From the moment a child is born, the child is a social animal, turning its head toward voices and staring at human faces. Forming social bonds is of utmost importance early on in human development. In fact, babies must form a tight social bond with a caretaker during the critical period for attachment in order to be capable of normal caring relationships later in life. Having a responsible, accessible caregiver (or several caregivers!) gives the child a basic understanding of trust and the confidence to explore the world.  

For many years, psychologists assumed that it was the process of nursing that created strong bonds between mothers and children. Harry Harlow decided to put this theory to the test with rhesus monkeys. Harlow separated these monkeys from their mothers at birth and placed them alone in wire cages so they could not see any other monkeys. In their cages, the baby monkeys were exposed to a soft terrycloth monkey-shaped figure and a cold wire monkey shaped figure that had a bottle of milk attached to its chest area. Most psychologists would have assumed the babies would attach to the mother-figure that offered milk, but all the babies clung tightly to the soft mother, heading over to the wire mother only when desperate for food.

The monkeys craved the feeling of snuggling. Human babies, too, crave physical touch. In studies, infants who are cuddled frequently versus infants who are rarely handled (like in orphanages) show definite differences in intelligence levels and relationship strength later in life.

 

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