Infant Attachment & Love
Over fifty years ago a speech called “The Nature of Love” was presented at the American Psychological Association (APA) conference. The presenter was Harry Harlow, then president of the APA. In that speech, Dr. Harlow shared the preliminary results of some very basic, but revolutionary, experiments on infant attachment done with baby rhesus monkeys at the University of Wisconsin. Harlow’s research is a prime example of how the practice of Clinical Psychology integrates research, theory and practical application.
At the time of Harlow’s tenure, a predominant theory was that an infant reaching for mother was the result of nothing more than the learned association between mother and nutrition. This led to the popularization of the idea that responding to a baby’s cries would result in the development of a dependent adult and should, therefore, not be practiced.
Harlow’s experiments provided the hard science to support the theories of Mary Ainsworth and John Bowlby who had begun to challenge the theories of such behaviorists as John Watson and B. F. Skinner. Bowlby and Ainsworth believed that the attachment which existed was distinct from the association between mother and food.
To test the importance of the nurturance that was provided by mothers, Harlow removed newborn monkeys from their mothers and housed them with surrogate mothers of either terry cloth or wire. Given the choice between a wire mother who dispensed milk and a milk-free terry cloth mother, infant monkeys preferred terry cloth mothers.
When exposed to a moving toy or a strange room, babies with cloth mothers rushed to them, buried their faces in the soft fabric and relaxed. Babies with wire mothers shook in terror against the wall.
For infant monkeys that were totally isolated during critical periods in the development of maternally directed affection, the introduction of either the wire or the terry surrogate mother not only gave them no security, but instead appeared to serve as a fear stimulus.
Harlow’s researchers observed that infant monkeys raised by monkey mothers and then separated from them became uninterested in exploration and became listless; and that the monkeys who were put in total isolation became despairing and depressed. He concluded that infant monkeys are very vulnerable to loss of what he described as “contact comfort”.
Harlow also found that, like monkeys separated from their mothers, monkeys left alone with wire mothers for a long period of time appeared lifeless and stared away.
Harlow found that this mother-infant bond is highly resistant to forgetting and is retained for very long periods of time by relatively infrequent contact reinforcement. He also found, however, that extreme deprivation intensified the tie to the mother and the need for contact comfort so much that it overwhelmed the exploratory behaviours one would expect of the monkeys.
Harlow's paper not only created a major shift in the thoughts about and practices of child rearing in institutions, but also greatly impacted the practice of Clinical Psychology and the greater culture as a whole.
By asserting the importance of interactions and relationships, Harlow provided support for the psycho-dynamic theories and techniques used in the diagnosis and treatment of many child and adult problems. The resulting clinical application emphasizes the positive impact of relationships, putting into practice Harlow's findings about healing trauma.
A positive relationship in therapy is established through the same processes by which a healthy primary attachment is formed: establishing and maintaining a connection; experiencing the relationship as a safe and secure base; coping with separation and loss; and the successful processing of emotions.
Since abnormal behavior, high anxiety, severe depression, or bad relationships could each be the result of early experiences which were pre-verbal and unconscious, and if those early experiences can be deciphered, then making that re-enactment with a therapist conscious makes it accessible to change. Furthermore, if the non-verbal part of an attachment bond can impact a person so profoundly, and if a therapeutic treatment relationship is very much akin to a primal attachment, the non-verbal parts of a therapeutic treatment relationship can have a major effect as well.
Subsequent research has in fact found evidence to support these specific ideas about the great importance that a positive therapeutic relationship has in the ultimate outcome in therapy. In order to get good results, it is crucial to work with a therapist who can successfully integrate the research with the theory into clinical practice.
At the time of Harlow’s tenure, a predominant theory was that an infant reaching for mother was the result of nothing more than the learned association between mother and nutrition. This led to the popularization of the idea that responding to a baby’s cries would result in the development of a dependent adult and should, therefore, not be practiced.
Harlow’s experiments provided the hard science to support the theories of Mary Ainsworth and John Bowlby who had begun to challenge the theories of such behaviorists as John Watson and B. F. Skinner. Bowlby and Ainsworth believed that the attachment which existed was distinct from the association between mother and food.
To test the importance of the nurturance that was provided by mothers, Harlow removed newborn monkeys from their mothers and housed them with surrogate mothers of either terry cloth or wire. Given the choice between a wire mother who dispensed milk and a milk-free terry cloth mother, infant monkeys preferred terry cloth mothers.
When exposed to a moving toy or a strange room, babies with cloth mothers rushed to them, buried their faces in the soft fabric and relaxed. Babies with wire mothers shook in terror against the wall.
For infant monkeys that were totally isolated during critical periods in the development of maternally directed affection, the introduction of either the wire or the terry surrogate mother not only gave them no security, but instead appeared to serve as a fear stimulus.
Harlow’s researchers observed that infant monkeys raised by monkey mothers and then separated from them became uninterested in exploration and became listless; and that the monkeys who were put in total isolation became despairing and depressed. He concluded that infant monkeys are very vulnerable to loss of what he described as “contact comfort”.
Harlow also found that, like monkeys separated from their mothers, monkeys left alone with wire mothers for a long period of time appeared lifeless and stared away.
Harlow found that this mother-infant bond is highly resistant to forgetting and is retained for very long periods of time by relatively infrequent contact reinforcement. He also found, however, that extreme deprivation intensified the tie to the mother and the need for contact comfort so much that it overwhelmed the exploratory behaviours one would expect of the monkeys.
Harlow's paper not only created a major shift in the thoughts about and practices of child rearing in institutions, but also greatly impacted the practice of Clinical Psychology and the greater culture as a whole.
By asserting the importance of interactions and relationships, Harlow provided support for the psycho-dynamic theories and techniques used in the diagnosis and treatment of many child and adult problems. The resulting clinical application emphasizes the positive impact of relationships, putting into practice Harlow's findings about healing trauma.
A positive relationship in therapy is established through the same processes by which a healthy primary attachment is formed: establishing and maintaining a connection; experiencing the relationship as a safe and secure base; coping with separation and loss; and the successful processing of emotions.
Since abnormal behavior, high anxiety, severe depression, or bad relationships could each be the result of early experiences which were pre-verbal and unconscious, and if those early experiences can be deciphered, then making that re-enactment with a therapist conscious makes it accessible to change. Furthermore, if the non-verbal part of an attachment bond can impact a person so profoundly, and if a therapeutic treatment relationship is very much akin to a primal attachment, the non-verbal parts of a therapeutic treatment relationship can have a major effect as well.
Subsequent research has in fact found evidence to support these specific ideas about the great importance that a positive therapeutic relationship has in the ultimate outcome in therapy. In order to get good results, it is crucial to work with a therapist who can successfully integrate the research with the theory into clinical practice.
