Summary of John Bowlby's "Attachment: Attachment and Loss Volume One"

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Attachment: Attachment and Loss Volume One, John Bowlby 1983

Preface

Background:

Author began studying maternal deprivation in children in 1948 with colleague James Robertson
Initially thought it was a limited study, but soon realized it connected to larger psychological theories
Previous work focused on principles of mental health for children and measures to safeguard it

Historical Context:

In 1950, wrote report on mental health of homeless children for WHO
Identified the importance of a warm, intimate relationship between infant and mother for mental health
Realized report had a limitation: lacked understanding of processes causing ill effects of maternal deprivation
Began studying young children's responses to separation from mother in detail with Robertson

Key Findings:

Young children's response to separation from mother includes protest, despair, and detachment
Intense clinging to mother after return from separation is common
Rejection of mother as a love object can be temporary or permanent (detachment)
Loss of maternal figure can lead to anxiety and anger in later life (dependent and hysterical personalities)
Blockage in capacity to make deep relationships (affectionless and psychopathic personalities)
Decision to focus on detailed records of children's responses during and after separation from mother as primary data

Research Strategy:

Emphasis on studying young children's reactions and defensive processes to understand origins of pathological processes
Published papers and films on the topic between 1952 and 1963
Later works (e.g., Brief Separations) provide more systematic data and comparison with non-separated children

Theoretical Context:

Frame of reference is psychoanalysis
Central concepts include object relations, separation anxiety, mourning, defence, trauma, sensitive periods in early life
Some ideas have faced criticism due to being alien to established theoretical traditions, but they are not necessarily foreign to Freud's work.

Preface to the Second Edition

Significant developments in the thinking of biologists studying social behavior of species other than man over the past 15 years
Changes required in:
- Last two sections of Chapter 3 (pp. 53–7)
- Sub-section of Chapter 8 on altruistic behavior (pp. 131–2)
- Opening paragraph of Chapter 9 (p. 141)
Reason for addition: Discussions and guidelines from ideas about attachment
New chapters added to clarify theoretical problems and describe research findings
Appendix reviewing earlier literature on nature of child's tie to mother omitted
Few changes in Part III, but recent findings on non-human primates accounted for
Incidental revisions made in Part IV due to intensive research on early years of human life
References and indexes revised

Part I: THE TASK

Chapter 1

Point of View

Freud's psychoanalytic investigations spanned nearly 50 years, during which he explored various perspectives to understand personality development.
Most psychoanalytic concepts about early childhood are based on historical reconstruction from older subjects' data.
This work adopts a different perspective by observing how very young children behave towards their mother in her presence and absence.
Young children show intense reactions when separated from mothers and either increased anxiety or unusual detachment upon reunions.
Observations of young children may contribute significantly to understanding personality development, as similar patterns of response can be traced in later personality functioning.
In contrast to traditional psychoanalytic theory, this approach starts with a potentially pathogenic event rather than a clinical syndrome or symptom.

Differences between Approaches:

Traditional psychoanalytic theory starts with clinical syndrome or symptom and works backwards.
This approach starts with a class of event (loss of mother-figure) and traces out psychological and psychopathological processes.
Comparison to physiological medicine: studying the effects of a particular pathogenic agent rather than starting with a specific clinical condition.

Criticisms:

This approach may be seen as less clinically relevant since it focuses on early childhood observations instead of directly observing neurotic patients.
It also requires large samples of young children, which can be difficult to obtain and study effectively.
The validity of the findings may depend on the accuracy of observing and interpreting children's behaviors in defined situations.

Some characteristics of the present approach

Approach Differences and the Value of Direct Observation of Behavior:

Approach uses observations of young children's behavior in real-life situations instead of data obtained from psychoanalytic treatment.
Critics view such data as peripheral, superficial, and less valuable than analytic session data.
Direct observation provides insights into the relationship between behavior and mental states.
Behavioral patterns observed in infancy are considered the foundation for later mental states.
Rich and diverse data can be obtained from observing young children's responses to anxiety and distress.
Ethological concepts offer valuable new ideas for understanding human behavior.

Fallacies Regarding Direct Observation of Behavior:

Overrating analytic session data: What we observe are free associations, reports, comments, and behavior, which require interpretation based on theories.
Underrating the diversity and richness of observational data.
Ethology provides a wide range of concepts relevant to psychoanalysis.

The Value of Ethological Data:

Ethology offers insights into social bonding, conflict behavior, displacement activities, and pathological fixations.
Ethological data can help explain phenomena in human behavior.
Man shares anatomical, physiological, and behavioral features with lower species.
Early childhood is a crucial time for understanding the development of neurotic tendencies and personality deviations.

Using Ethology to Enhance Psychoanalysis:

Valuable insights from ethology can be applied in human psychology after careful examination.
Ethological concepts should not be extrapolated directly from one species to another, as humans are a unique species with distinctive characteristics.

Where Freud Stands

Freud's Critique of Retrospective Method and His Stand on Prospective Approach in Psychoanalysis

Four characteristics of the point of view adopted in psychoanalysis: prospective approach, focus on a pathogen and its sequelae, direct observation of young children, and use of animal data.
Reasons given for favoring each characteristic.
Description of Freud's views on each characteristic and the position adopted in this book:

1. Prospective vs Retrospective Method:

Freud discussed the limitations of the retrospective method in a 1920 paper.
He noted that following the chain of events from its final outcome (retrospectively) provides a satisfactory insight, but starting from premises and trying to follow them up to the final result (prospectively) reveals that there might have been another outcome.
Freud cautioned that even with complete knowledge of aetiological factors, it's impossible to predict their relative strengths beforehand and determine the causation chain prospectively.
Limitations of the retrospective method acknowledged in other spheres of knowledge as well.
Historical method is weak in determining the relative parts played by different factors in causation, but scientific method is strong.
Psychoanalysis should add the methods of natural sciences to its traditional method for research purposes.
The material in this book focuses on events and their effects on children and frames theories in a form that lends itself to testable predictions.

2. Study of Particular Pathogenic Agents and Their Sequelae:

To test the developmental theory of psychoanalysis, predictions based on direct observation of infants and young children are indispensable.
Selecting a proposed aetiological factor and testing its effects is necessary when employing this method.

Freud's Views on Aetiological Factors and Trauma:

Freud's views on causative factors for neuroses center around the concept of trauma.
He discusses the nature, vulnerable age range, kinds of traumatic events, and effects on the developing psyche in his late works, Moses and Monotheism (1939) and the Outline (1940).
Trauma is a function of interaction between the event and an individual's constitution.
The ego is particularly vulnerable during the first five or six years of life due to its immaturity and inability to cope with excessive demands, leading to repression or splitting.

Particular Theory: Separation from Mother:

Separation from mother can be traumatic based on Freud's definition of trauma.
It induces intense distress over a long period and results in defensive processes like repression, splitting, and denial.
However, Freud rarely singles out separation as a particular source of trauma, focusing instead on sexual and aggressive experiences or early injuries to the ego.

Methodology:

Freud's approach incorporates data derived from direct observation of behavior.
He occasionally refers to specific instances, such as the cotton-reel incident in Beyond the Pleasure Principle, for understanding complex phenomena like anxiety.
He also emphasizes the importance of psychoanalytic investigation and contemporary observation of children.
Freud values the insights from animal studies and regrets that they had not yet explored the interesting problem presented by human psychical apparatus.

Theories of motivation

Theories of Motivation in Psychoanalysis Background: The approach in this book differs from Freud's on the theory of motivation, which is a significant departure for psychoanalysts.

Freud's Position:

Freud adopted a psychical energy model early in his work, influenced by ideas he learned from teachers before he began practicing psychoanalysis.
This model pictures behavior as a resultant of hypothetical psychical energy seeking discharge.
The model is logically unrelated to central concepts in psychoanalysis such as unconscious mental processes, repression, transference, and the origin of neurosis in childhood trauma.

Abandoning the Psychical Energy Model:

Origin: Freud's model was not derived from his clinical work but from ideas he learned before becoming interested in psychoanalysis.
Science Influence: Freud adopted this model to ensure that his psychology conformed to what he believed were the best scientific ideas of the day, as scientists were making significant strides with the concept of energy and its conservation principle.
Limitations: The psychical energy model is not a necessary one for explaining the data Freud drew attention to in psychoanalysis.

Alternative Approaches: In this book, an attempt will be made to address the gap left by abandoning the dynamic and economic points of view in later chapters. The following are the five points of view identified by Rapaport and Gill for psychoanalytic explanations:

Dynamic: Demands propositions concerning the psychological forces involved in a phenomenon.
Economic: Demands propositions concerning the psychological energy involved in a phenomenon.
Structural: Demands propositions concerning the abiding psychological configurations (structures) involved in a phenomenon.
Genetic: Demands propositions concerning the psychological origin and development of a phenomenon.
Adaptive: Demands propositions concerning the relationship of a phenomenon to the environment.

The structural, genetic, and adaptive points of view will be adopted, while the dynamic and economic will not be used in this book.

Psychoanalysis and Model Interpretation:

Using any promising model for data interpretation is not unscientific.
Freud introduced his psychoanalytic model, which has been employed by himself and others.
Object-relational models have emerged as alternatives or supplements to Freud's energy model.
These models focus on the importance of relationships with other persons or parts thereof.
They are derived from clinical experience and transference material.

Object-Relational Models:

Four influential analysts in this field: Melanie Klein, Balint, Winnicott, and Fairbairn.
Differences between their theories:
- Complexity of theory (Melanie Klein's emphasis on death instinct)
- Purity of object-relational focus (Fairbairn's rejection of non-object-relational concepts)
The new model in this text is derived from object-relations theory but adopts a unique perspective.

Instinct Theory:

Absence of alternative instinct theory to Freud's is a significant shortcoming in current object-relational theories.
New model draws on ethology and other sources for instinct theory.
Central concepts: behavioral systems, control, information, negative feedback, and homeostasis.
Instinctive behavior results from the execution of plans influenced by learned and unlearned components.
No postulated energy except the energy of physics.

Shortcomings of Psychical Energy Model:

Dealing with termination of action: Not explicitly addressed in a psychical energy model.
Testability: Difficult to measure psychical energy and its discharge.
Relation to biological science: Limited connection between psychoanalytic concepts and current biological theories.

Comparison of Old and New Models

Old Model: Psychical Energy

Start and stop of behavior explained as result of accumulation and exhaustion of psychical energy.
Limited testability due to lack of observable or measurable data.
Ignores environmental signals in explaining behavior.
Criticized for its scientific status and link to present-day science.

Problems with the Psychical Energy Model:

Difficulty explaining repeated behaviors not caused by energy accumulation or exhaustion, such as a baby's crying and nest-building by birds.
Lack of testability due to no proposed tests or observable/measurable data.
Outdated assumptions about linking psychology to science as it is now considered unsatisfactory for biological theory.

New Model:

Attention given to conditions that terminate an act as much as initiate one.
Testable due to being closely related to observable data and linked to control and evolution theories.
Can give simpler and more consistent explanations of psychoanalytic data.

Arguments for the New Model:

Addresses conditions that terminate acts, not just initiate them.
Linked to present-day science through control and evolution theories.
Offers simpler and more consistent explanations for psychoanalytic data.

Freud's Reaction:

Freud recognized the tentative nature of his theories and their potential replacement or modification as science evolves.
He emphasized observation as the foundation of scientific theories, allowing for their abandonment when proven inadequate.

Note on the concept of feedback in Freud’s theorising

Renewed interest in Freud's neurological model presented in his Project for a Scientific Psychology (1895)
Neurophysiologist Pribram highlights sophisticated features, including negative feedback
Strachey points out resemblances between Freud's early ideas and modern concepts, such as feedback in perception
In the Project, Freud believed that actions were started and stopped based on external perceptions (Strachey's communication)
Feedback concept present in Freud's instinct aim and object:
- Aim of an instinct: satisfaction obtained by removing stimulation at source
- Object of an instinct: thing allowing instinct to achieve its aim
Feedback evident in the relationship between aim and object, but often excluded in psychoanalytic theorizing
Danger of reading modern concepts into Freud's work
Discussion on the legitimacy of equating Freud's principle of inertia with homeostasis or constancy:
- Principle of inertia: tendency for level of excitation to be reduced to zero, conceived in terms of physics and entropy
- Principle of homeostasis: tendency to maintain levels between positive limits, set mainly by genetic factors, working towards survival
- Principle of constancy: more promising concept resembling homeostasis

Chapter 2

Observations to be Explained

Mother-child separation: Observations on how infants and young children behave when separated from their mothers have only been systematically recorded in the last few decades.
Early observations: First observations were made during the Second World War by Dorothy Burlingham and Anna Freud (1942, 1944) in Hampstead Nurseries. They reported on children aged from birth to about four years who experienced separation due to wartime conditions.
Study findings: Children showed signs of distress, anxiety, and clinging behavior. Some developed a "stranger anxiety," fearing unfamiliar people. They also had difficulty sleeping and eating.
Second series of observations: René Spitz and Katherine Wolf (1946) studied around 100 infants in a penal institution. Their findings were limited to the first twelve months of life due to the nature of the institution. Children showed similar distress during separation from their mothers but with longer-lasting effects, such as decreased responsiveness and failure to thrive.
Further studies: James Robertson (1952-1954) observed children aged between eighteen months and four years who were in residential nurseries or hospitals for various lengths of time. He recorded observations during their stay away, as well as before and after their separation.
Heinicke and Westheimer's studies: In the 1950s and 1960s, Christoph Heinicke and Ilse Westheimer conducted two studies on children aged between thirteen months and three years placed in a residential nursery. They also included a contrast group of children observed at day care or living at home for comparison.
Findings: Studies show that young children experience distress during separation from their mothers, as evidenced by increased anxiety, clinging behavior, decreased appetite, sleep disturbances, and stranger anxiety. The effects may last longer when the child is older and the separation duration is extended.

Separation and Response of Children: Differences in Studies:

Subjects vary in age, home background, institution type, care received, health status, and observers' expectations.
Despite these differences, findings on children's responses to separation from mother show remarkable uniformity.

Theoretical Background:

Observations mainly based on James Robertson's work, focusing on children aged 15-30 months in residential nurseries or hospitals.
Child is removed from familiar environment and cared for by unfamiliar people.

Phases of Response:

Protest:
- Begins immediately or may be delayed.
- Distressed at mother's absence; seeks to recapture her.
- Strong expectation that she will return.
- Rejects alternative figures but may cling to a nurse.
Despair:
- Preoccupation with missing mother.
- Increasing hopelessness; quiet stage.
- No longer rejects nurses; accepts care and toys.
- Striking absence of strong attachment when mother visits.
Detachment:
- Child seems recovered but shows no real interest in humans.
- Preoccupied with material things.
- Sociability is superficial.

Variables Affecting Response:

Isolation and confinement increase protest intensity.
Familiar environment and single mother-substitute reduce distress.
Length of separation is associated with increased disturbance.

Other Variables:

Strange environment, mother's condition, and previous relationship with mother have been suggested as alternatives to explain behavior.
Good evidence supports the importance of absence of familiar mother-figure.

Conclusion:

Findings show remarkable uniformity despite many variables.
Loss of mother is considered most important in determining children's response to separation.

Studies on Anaclitic Depression:

Some studies show that children's behavior is affected by both strangers and a strange place (Robertson's studies)
However, there are studies where the children remained in the same institution during their mother's absence, and their behavior returned to normal upon her return (Spitz and Wolf)

Effects of Mother Absence:

Helene Deutsch's report: A little boy showed signs of anaclitic depression when his first nurse left, despite staying at home with his mother every evening
Boy refused to eat or let the new nurse take care of him, and was disturbed daytime behavior for several days
Spiro's report: A little boy from a kibbutz was upset by his parents' absence, even though he remained in his familiar environment and with his familiar nurse
Mother's account: Yaakov cried at night, did not recognize her upon return, and had deep fears about being left alone again
Boy reacted angrily when his father went on a trip

Conclusion:

The sequence of behavior concerning anaclitic depression cannot be attributed solely to a change in environment
The presence or absence of the mother-figure is the primary variable influencing a child's reaction

Additional Evidence:

Family holidays: Young children generally enjoy changed surroundings when accompanied by their mothers
Hospital observations: Young children's behavior in hospitals is typically not seriously disturbed if they are with their mothers.

Maternal Presence in Hospital:

Children accompanied by mothers show less disturbed behavior in hospitals than those without (Robertson, 1958; MacCarthy, Lindsay, Morris, 1962; Mićić, 1962).
Case study of a 13-month-old girl named Dzanlic: listless, didn't eat or resist examinations without mother, but cried and became happy, smiling, and playful upon her arrival (Mićić, 1962).
Systematic study by Fagin (1966) found that accompanied children exhibited no signs of separation distress.

Factors Influencing Separation Distress:

Hospital environment does not cause the primary distress; it exacerbates the absence of mother (Fagin, 1966).
Mother's pregnancy and expectation of a new baby are minor factors (Heinicke and Westheimer, 1966).
- Children from homes with excellent family relationships can still be distressed during separation.
- In Heinicke and Westheimer's study, no significant differences were found in behavior between children whose mothers were pregnant or not.
Distress is not only seen in children with unfavorable mother-child relationships before separation.

Bond Between Child and Mother:

Absence of fretting during separation is typically seen in children with unsatisfactory relationships with their mothers (Robertson and Bowlby, 1952).
More affectionate the relationship, greater a child's manifest upset during separation.

Problems to be Addressed:

Why young children are so distressed by the loss of their mother?
Why do they become apprehensive upon return home?
What psychological processes account for their distress and detachment?
Understanding the nature of the bond that ties a child to his mother.

Alternative Model of Instinctive Behavior:

The text implies that an alternative model to Freud's energy model is being used in understanding the child's behavior.
The specifics of this alternative model are not discussed in the provided text.

Part II: INSTINCTIVE BEHAVIOUR

Chapter 3

Instinctive Behaviour: An Alternative Model

Freud expressed the need for a well-founded theory of instincts in psychology (Freud, 1915a, 1925)
Progress has been made in understanding instinctive behaviour through analytical biology and control theory (ethology, experimental psychology, neurophysiology)
Behaviour that is environmentally stable and predictable, following a recognisably similar pattern in most members of a species

Introduction

Instinctive behaviour has four main characteristics: species characteristic, follows a predictable pattern, not simple response to a single stimulus, contributes to preservation and continuity
Discussion of instinctive behaviour often bedevilled by arguments over innate vs. acquired
New terminology introduced: environmentally stable vs. environmentally labile

Environmentally Stable vs. Environmentally Labile Behaviour

Environmentally stable behaviours are little influenced by variations in environment (e.g., colour of eyes, nest-building)
Environmentally labile behaviours are much influenced by environment (e.g., body weight, immunity reactions, show-jumping)
Instinctive behaviour is environmentally stable or at least stable within the range of a species' usual environment
Man's behaviour also exhibits instinctive patterns despite cultural variations and individual differences

Prototypes of Instinctive Behaviour

The search for prototypic structures of instinctive behaviour is comparable to the search for a prototypic pelvic girdle by a comparative anatomist
Control systems theory holds high promise in understanding prototypic structures of instinctive behaviour in less and more elaborated forms

Control Systems Theory

A body of knowledge that has grown significantly in the past 25 years, with applications in engineering and physiology
Useful for understanding simple movements and promising for casting light on more complex sequences
Presentation begins with simple systems to demonstrate basic features and gradually introduces increasingly elaborate sequences.

Limitations

Sceptical readers may dismiss the idea that control systems theory can help understand human behaviour due to its focus on simple, restricted performances initially.

Some principles of control systems

Control Systems:

Purposiveness and Feedback: Once considered a vitalist concept, attributing purposiveness to behavior is now recognized in control systems, which use feedback to achieve predetermined goals.
Feedback: A process whereby actual performance effects are reported back to a central regulating apparatus for comparison with initial instructions, leading to goal-directed actions.
Regulator:
- Maintains some condition constant (e.g., room temperature) by comparing the actual condition with set goal and adjusting accordingly.
- Requires an initial setting and continuous information about current conditions.
- Can be simple or elaborated, with features like multiple settings, various control actions based on discrepancy size, and duplicate machinery for redundancy.
Servomechanism:
- Sets are repeatedly changed, and the task is to bring performance in line with each new setting.
- Examples include power steering and anti-aircraft gun systems.
Setting: Can be set manually by a human or derived from another system (e.g., radar tracking aircraft for gun systems).
Set-goal: Objective of achieving a specific goal, such as hitting a ball or seizing a bird.

Control systems and instinctive behaviour

Instinctive behavior conforms to the criteria of a recognizable pattern, appears without learning opportunities, and is of survival value.
Development of instinctive behavior can be explained by integrated control systems, which are no more inexplicable than the development of physiological systems.
Instinctive behavior may appear environmentally stable, but it can be influenced by the environment during development.
Environment influences on behavioral development do not make it any less instinctive.
Behavioral systems develop from a genetic potential to form specific behaviors based on environmental conditions.
The degree of stability or lability of behavioral systems varies between species and even within a single species.
A balance between stability and lability in behavioral design is necessary for maximum survival chances.
Adaptation of behavioral equipment to an environment is crucial for understanding instinctive behavior and psychopathology.
Anatomical, physiological, and behavioral equipment all have prescribed limits of adaptation.
The term "environment of adaptedness" refers to the specific environment in which a system functions efficiently.

Environment of Adaptedness

Each species and each system within a species has an environment of adaptedness.
A system's efficiency depends on operating within its environment of adaptedness.
An environment of adaptedness can be narrowly or broadly defined based on various variables.
Man-made control systems are designed with explicit assumptions about their environments of adaptedness.
Biological systems develop structures based on the environments in which they have evolved, which may not always align with future operating environments.

Adaptation in Biology:

Difficult concept due to behavioral equipment and human behavior.
Central to argument of book is the term "environment of adaptedness."

Behavioral Equipment:

Instinctive systems promote survival of species within their environment.
Different systems concern specific parts of environment:
- Habitat recognition and retention.
- Food acquisition.
- Social relations.
Recognition of environment can be based on simple or complex patterns.
Organisms have a copy of pattern in Central Nervous System (CNS) for special reactions.
Environment's influence on pattern varies: stable vs labile.
- Mallard duck example: stable.
- Goose imprinting: labile.

Perception and Learning:

Members of all but most primitive phyla possess equipment to organize information into schemata or maps.
Animals require perception and effector equipment to achieve set-goals and build up a map of the environment.
Humans have greater capacity to represent and predict the world than other species.

Effectors and Control Systems:

Effectors include anatomical, physiological structures, and control systems.
Animals need techniques of locomotion and specialized behavioral techniques.
Reproduction involves a series of complex behaviors for each bird requiring timing and adaptation to locality.

Adaptation, Adapted, Environment of Adaptedness:

Adaptation: an animal's ability to respond effectively to its environment.
Adapted: suited or appropriate to the environment.
Environment of adaptedness: specific environment in which an organism is best able to survive and reproduce.

Organization of Behavior:

Necessary principles for organization:
- Structure and activation of behavioral systems.
- Dovetailing behaviors of different systems.
Discussion of these problems will follow clarification of adaptation, adaptedness, and environment of adaptedness concepts, especially as they apply to man.

Adaptation: system and environment.

Adaptation and Adaptedness:

Adaptation and adaptedness are crucial concepts in understanding systems and their relationship with their environments.
The environment within which a system operates, termed the "environment of adaptedness," is essential to consider when examining its structure.
In man-made control systems, the environment of adaptedness is explicitly designed, whereas for biological systems it's the environment in which they evolved.

Biological Adaptation and Adaptedness:

The terms "adapt," "adapted," and "adaptation" can have multiple meanings, leading to confusion.
In biological systems, the condition of being adapted is achieved through unique mechanisms that may be hindered by the concept of teleology.
Modern humans have a remarkable ability to change their environment to suit themselves, adding to the complexity.

Condition of Being Adapted:

To define adaptedness, three terms are required: an organized structure, a specified outcome, and an environment.
A structure is considered adapted if it attains the specified outcome within a specific environment.

Process of Becoming Adapted:

The process of becoming adapted refers to a change in structure.
Two distinct kinds of change can occur:
- Structural changes that allow for the same outcome in different environments.
- Structural changes resulting in different outcomes within the same or similar environments.

Illustration:

A car is well-adapted to London streets, meaning it attains a specified outcome (convenient transport) in a certain environment.
The car's environment of adaptedness may be limited and can be extended by adapting the structure for other environments.
Adaptations can change the car's ability to provide transportation or offer a new function, such as powering an electric generating set.

Modifying Environments:

The distinction between adapting a system and modifying its environment is important.
Modifications refer to any changes made in the environment for a system to operate more effectively.

Biological Structures and their Environments of Adaptedness:

Understanding biological structures and their environments of adaptedness requires careful consideration, as the process of evolution involves both internal adaptations and external modifications.

Biological Adaptation

Biological Adaptation

Animals and plants have complex structures adapted for specific environments (ecological niche)
Detailed study reveals every feature, morphological, physiological, or behavioral, contributes to survival in that environment
Darwin's studies on orchids showed how structures are adapted for specific insect pollinators
Survival is the ultimate outcome for all biological structures
Behavior is as important as structure for species welfare
Theories of supernatural intervention or teleological causation were once dominant, but natural selection solves the problem of adaptation
Natural selection leads to successful reproduction and preservation of more adapted variants, less adapted variants drop out

Natural Selection

Process by which more adapted variants are preserved and less adapted variants are dropped out
Applied systematically to behavioral equipment by ethologists
Ethologists focus on understanding behavior in relation to survival in natural habitat

Ethology

Branch of zoology focusing on animal behavior
Darwin recognized the uniqueness of each species' behavioral repertoire
Ethologists study behavior to understand its contribution to survival and welfare in natural habitat

Adaptation

Process by which organisms become better suited to their environment
Can be morphological, physiological, or behavioral
Ultimately leads to increased chances of survival for the organism and its kin

Teleological Causation

Theory that living things have a purpose or goal in nature
Previously held belief before natural selection explained adaptation

Supernatural Intervention

Belief that a deity or other supernatural entity interferes in natural processes
Once widely believed explanation for adaptation before natural selection was proposed.

The Biological Unit that is Adapted

The Revolution in the Study of Biological Adaptation:

During the 1960s, there was confusion about the identity of the biological unit that is adapted.
Darwin's phrase "the welfare of each species" suggested that the whole species is adapted.
Some scientists proposed the interbreeding population as the unit of adaptation.
Others believed in the social group as the unit of adaptation, such as termite colonies, ant and bee societies, schools of fish, and herds of mammals.

Discredited Ideas:

Whole species
Interbreeding population
Social groups

Neo-Darwinian Theory:

Developed by Ronald Fisher, Jack Haldane, and Sewall Wright in the 1930s.
Central concept: individual genes as the unit of natural selection.
Evolutionary change due to differential breeding success of individuals with certain genes.
Adaptedness defined as an individual's ability to contribute more than average genes to future generations.

Unit of Biological Adaptation:

Individual gene and its carrier (an organism)
Ultimate criterion: survival of the genes an individual is carrying

Proximate Outcomes:

Blood supply efficiency: cardiovascular system
Freedom from infection: immunological system
Nutrition maintenance: feeding behavior systems
Food-intake, self-protection, sexual union, or defense of territory

Conclusion:

Ultimately, the survival of an individual's genes is the goal of biological adaptation.
Proximate outcomes are considered for convenience when assessing the adaptedness of specific systems within organisms.

Note on Literature

Biological Adaptation and Control Theory:

Biological adaptation can be understood through control theory, as explained by Sommerhoff in "Analytical Biology" (1950)
Control theory applies to biology in general, with works such as "Living Control Systems" by Bayliss (1966), "Control Theory and Biological Systems" by Grodins (1963), and the symposium on Self-organising Systems edited by Yovits and Cameron (1960)
In behavioral science, control theory is applied in works like Young's "A Model of the Brain" (1964) and McFarland's "Feedback Mechanisms in Animal Behaviour" (1971)

Genetical Theory of Natural Selection:

The genetical theory of natural selection is described in Williams' "Adaptation and Natural Selection" (1966), demonstrating how social behavior can be understood through gene selection
Popular account: Dawkins' "Selfish Gene" (1976)
Wilson's "Sociobiology: The New Synthesis" (1975) is comprehensive and of interest, but some comments on human social behavior have been controversial

Sources for Understanding Animal Behavior:

Hinde's "Animal Behaviour" (1970) integrates ethology and comparative psychology
Tinbergen's "Study of Instinct" (1951)
Thorpe's "Learning and Instinct in Animals" (1956, 2nd edition 1963)
Hediger's "Studies of the Psychology and Behaviour of Captive Animals in Zoos and Circuses" (1955)

Chapter 4

Man’s Environment of Evolutionary Adaptedness

The environment plays a crucial role in the effective operation of any system.
Humans have remarkable versatility and capacity for innovation, allowing them to live in various environments.
However, understanding man's instinctive behavior requires identifying the environmentally stable components and their environment of evolutionary adaptedness.
Man's environment is unique due to his versatility, capacity for innovation, and modifications to his environment.
Primeval Environment: Man's environment two million years ago is considered the likely environment of evolutionary adaptedness as it presented the difficulties and hazards that acted as selective agents.
Identifying man's primeval environment does not imply it's superior or that ancient man was happier.
To understand man's instinctive behavior, we need to consider the primeval environment and how various parts of his behavioral equipment might contribute to population survival in that environment.
Man's present-day environments pose new questions about the adaptedness of his behavioral equipment, but research is necessary to answer these questions.
Man's environmental modifications are different from those made by other species since they are not instinctive but cultural and subject to rapid change.
Understanding man's instinctive behavior requires knowledge of the primeval environment, which can be studied through anthropological studies of human communities, archaeological studies of early man, and field studies of higher primates.
Fox argues that man's basic social unit is a mother, her children, and perhaps her daughter’s children, with differences being in the degree to which fathers become attached to this unit.
Man's primeval way of living can be fruitfully compared to those of other large ground-living species of higher primates.
Understanding man's instinctive behavior requires reference to his primeval environment, just as understanding an orchid flower required knowledge of its environment of adaptedness.

Social Organization of Ground-Living Primates:

Large ground-living primate species form social groups of various sizes (from a few to over 200 members) consisting of both sexes and all ages.
Groups remain stable throughout the year, with occasional divisions and reformations; individuals generally do not change groups.
Humans are unusual in having a larger proportion of meat in their diet compared to other primates, but few societies rely on meat for more than 25% of their food intake.
Social groups protect members from predators such as leopards, wolves, jackals, and birds of prey by combining efforts when threatened.
Sexual relations vary greatly among primate species; humans have a high degree of monogamy and an incest taboo.
Ground-living primates share behaviors like:
- Large repertoire of communication signals (calls, postures, gestures)
- Tool use
- Long period of immaturity for learning social customs

Behavioral Features Unique to Humans:

Speech
Protected home base for caring for the sick and sharing food
Adult males hunting cooperatively for food animals
Tool-making

Man's Environment of Evolutionary Adaptedness:

Organized social group serves the primary function of protection from predators.
Social groups facilitate co-operative hunting as a secondary function, developed much later.
The term 'man's environment of evolutionary adaptedness' refers to the specific environments that shaped human adaptation and behavior.
Understanding human behavior requires constant reference to this environment.

Chapter 5

Behavioural Systems Mediating Instinctive Behaviour Background

In the 1930s, scientific study of behaviour was considered to be impossible without experimental intervention.
Ethologists studied natural behaviour instead of contrived behaviour and discovered natural behaviour structures or episodes.

Types of Behavioural Systems

Goal-corrected/goal-directed behaviours:
- Controlled by systems that take account of discrepancies between initial instruction and current performance.
- Pride of place due to their complexity and significance in both animal and human behaviour.

Simple Behavioural Systems: Fixed Action Patterns (FAPs) A structured pattern of movement initiated by specific stimuli, highly stereotyped, and follows a typical course to completion.

Threshold of activation varies according to the organism's state.
Examples include nest building movements in canaries and social displays in birds and fish.
FAPs operate without feedback from the environment via exteroceptors.
Two principles of operation:
- Dependent entirely on a pre-set programme within the Central Nervous System (CNS).
- Partly dependent on proprioceptive feedback derived from sense organs in the musculature.
Vary in complexity, from simple reflexes to elaborate rituals.
Human interest: play important roles in controlling facial expressions and social interactions during infancy.

Behaviour more flexible than FAPs:

Combination of FAP with a simple sequence of movements dependent on feedback from the environment.
Examples include goose's response to rolled egg.

Issues Raised

Directedness of Behaviour and Achieving it:
- Goals and goal-corrected behaviours.
Problem of Goals:
- Intrinsic difficulties.
- Terminological problems.

Two Sorts of Predictable Outcome

Terminology and Predictable Outcomes

Discussion on whether to use the term "goal" for predictable outcomes in animal behavior
Reasons against using the term "goal":
- Goal may suggest a temporally finite end (contrary to ongoing conditions)
- Commonly used to refer to an object in environment, not a condition or event
Proposed term: "set-goals"
- Denotes either a time-limited event or ongoing condition brought about by behavioral systems
- Not an object in the environment but a specified motor performance or relation between animal and environment
Adjectives to describe behavior:
- Goal-directed: behavior structured to take account of discrepancies between instruction and performance
- Goal-corrected: behavior constantly corrected by reference to discrepancy between current performance and set-goal
- Goal-object: constituent part of a set-goal
Two sorts of predictable outcomes:
- Set-goals: conditionally predictable outcome, brought about by goal-directed or goal-corrected behavior
- Not set-goals: no agreed term, but can be referred to as "predictable outcomes" (conditionally predictable)
Importance of precise terminology in understanding animal behavior.

Goal-corrected Behaviour

Characterized by non-random selection of movements from a repertoire to progressively reach a set-goal
More sophisticated and economical than other behaviours
Requires complex system with two vital components: instruction reception and storage, comparison of performance with instructions

Components of Goal-Corrected System:

Instruction Reception and Storage:
- Instructions come from development in a specific environment
- Difficult to imagine how they 'reach' the organism
Performance Comparison:
- Changing performance based on comparison with instructions
Types of Specifications in Instructions:
- Single specification: pitch, volume (human singer)
- Multiple specifications: prey size, shape, movement, proximity, interception (peregrine's stoop)

Additional Requirement for Goal-Corrected Systems:

Having a schematic representation of the environment (cognitive map) to quickly navigate through it

Relationship between Cognitive Map and Goal-Corrected Systems:

Essential for some goal-corrected systems that involve locomotion
Not every goal-corrected system relies on a cognitive map

Other Behavioural Systems:

Simpler lines but may require reference to a cognitive map for successful operation

Maintenance of Spatial Relations over Time

Neglected behavior in past discussions of instinctive behavior due to time-limited outcomes and difficulty in understanding with concepts like 'drive' or 'energy discharge.'
Important for animals: brooding behavior, territorial behavior, alarm behavior.
Two main issues: set-goals and orientation of behavior.

Set-Goals:

Behavior resulting in maintenance of specified distance over time.
Simple version: system leading to movement towards a goal-object when distance increases and ceases when distance is zero.
Result: oscillation between systems.
More sophisticated version: system organized to maintain set-goal with an exact (though not constant) distance from the object.
Equilibrium point: set-goal is an exact distance from goal-object.

Orientation of Behavior:

Spatial axes on which behavior is organized, reference points are environmental objects or components.
All behavior has some orientation.
Random vs non-random orientation.

Non-Random Orientation:

Goal-corrected behavior: stoop, homing principle.
Animal does not move but turns towards an object: tracking principle.
Aimed movement: man-aimed gun principle.
Navigatory principle: reference to other items in the environment, cognitive map required.
Predictable outcome when items used for navigation bear a fixed relationship to spatial component of predictable outcome.
Different means of orientation: homing, tracking, navigational principles.

Conclusion:

Modern instinct theory gives full weight to features of behavior like orientation, predictable outcome, and set-goal while remaining a scientific discipline.
Discussion continues in next section about principles by which behavioral systems are organized and coordinated over time, followed by activation and termination of behavioral systems (Chapter 6).

Co-ordination of behavioural systems

Different ways to coordinate activities of behavioral systems
Simplest method: chain system, where each link is a behavioral system
Behavior proceeds in correct sequence due to feedback inhibition and activation of next system

Chain System:

Dependent on proprioceptive or exteroceptive feedback
Example: walking (proprioceptive) and honey bee behavior (exteroceptive)
- Honey bee sequence: visual cue (yellow/blue), olfactory stimuli, tactile stimuli
Behavior of one system leads to situation terminating it and activating next in series
Limitations: fails if environment does not conform to evolutionary adaptedness
Flexibility: alternative links at any point in chain
Any link can be a goal-corrected system, but sequence as a whole need not be

Hierarchical Organization:

Another principle of organization for behavioral systems
All systems share common causal factor (hormone level or environmental object)
Understanding requires discussion of activators and terminators, postponed to next chapter

Plan Hierarchy:

Another hierarchical form of organization
Organized on different principle from Tinbergen's causal hierarchy
Following Miller, Galanter, and Pribram (1960)
Capable of greater flexibility than chain or causal hierarchies

Miller's Plan Hierarchy Theory:

Miller and associates introduce the concept of a "plan," an overall goal-corrected behavioral structure made up of a hierarchy of subordinate structures or "sub-plans."
Each sub-plan can be goal-corrected, but this is not essential to the concept.
The distinctive feature is that the overall structure is goal-corrected.

Features and Merits of Plan Hierarchy:

Can organize complex and flexible sequences of behavior.
Applicable to behavior that is environmentally labile or stable.
Applicable to simple or sophisticated maps of the environment.

Examples:

Human Behavior: Routine activities from getting up in the morning, like leaving bed, washing, dressing, breakfasting, and traveling. Each activity can be further specified down to the finest movements, but the overall goal is "arrival at work."
Animal Behavior: Rats running a maze with interfered locomotor coordination can still make error-less runs using novel locomotory movements, demonstrating an unimpaired master plan.

Advantages of Plan Hierarchy:

Allows for flexibility and adaptation to changing circumstances within limits.
Simplifies the master plan while enabling more detailed plans to be developed and executed by those with local knowledge.

Limitations:

Cannot cope with deviations that greatly exceed what was presupposed by the master plan.
Most behavior in simpler animals is unlikely to exist in such a degree of elaboration as in humans, but some evidence suggests that elements of causal or plan hierarchies are present.

Mixing Methods:

Behavior can be organized using a combination of methods (chains, causal hierarchies, and plan hierarchies) depending on the species and developmental stages.
Phylogenetically and ontogenetically, behavior progresses from organization by chain to hierarchy.
Biological success has been founded on environmentally stable behaviors in insects, but higher vertebrates exhibit more labile behaviors with a greater likelihood of causal or plan hierarchies.
In man, these trends have been carried further.

Higher Processes of Integration and Control

Animals require a map and a working model of their environment for effective planning
A map is a coded representation of selected aspects of the environment, but a working model is more dynamic and interactive
Brains provide models that help make predictions and manipulate information for achieving set-goals
Models are constructed from unit components with specific characteristics, such as dendritic branches
Evidence comes from studies of octopuses and cats
Both environmental and organismic models (working knowledge of behavioral skills and potentialities) are necessary for an individual
Models must be built from available data, extended imaginatively, and tested for internal consistency
Both working models require continuous updating, but major changes may occur due to environmental or organismic factors
Inadequate or inaccurate models can lead to psychopathology
Conscious reflection on model building, revision, and checking is important for effective functioning.

Working Models of the Environment

A map is a static representation of topography, while a working model is an interactive tool for manipulating information
Brains provide more or less elaborate models to understand complex behaviors, especially human behavior
Models are constructed from unit components with specific characteristics
Evidence comes from studies of octopuses and cats
Models must be built based on available data, extended imaginatively, and tested for internal consistency
Radical changes of model may be necessary due to major environmental or organismic changes.

Working Knowledge of Behavioral Skills and Potentialities (Organismic Model)

An individual requires knowledge of their own capabilities in addition to the environment
Working knowledge of behavioral skills and potentialities is referred to as the organismic model
Someone's ability to make plans depends on their physical abilities and limitations
Both environmental and organismic models require continuous updating.

Language

Language:

Unique feature of human behavioral equipment
Enables individuals to draw on models built by others (sharing environmental and organismic knowledge)
Used for organizing individual behavior through plans, sub-plans, and sub-sub-plans
New complex plans are thought out in words and can be written down
Facilitates joint plans among individuals
Enables hierarchy of behavioral systems to be organized at great lengths

Benefits of Language:

Shared environmental models
Shared models of skills
Complex plan hierarchies

Behavioral Systems:

Organized hierarchically by language
Incorporate earlier, simpler design features
Evidence suggests early infancy behavior is simple and integrated as chains
Development leads to goal-corrected systems and plan hierarchies

Neural Equipment:

Central nervous systems of higher species build on earlier designs
New systems added to modify and override old ones
Likely that the same applies to behavioral equipment

Condition of Behavior:

Discussion about what causes an animal to behave in a particular way at a given moment
Instinctive behavior initiation and organization closely connected

Psychoanalysis:

Ontogenesis of human behavioral equipment of special interest
Later chapters will discuss theme further
Much psychopathology originates in early life.

Chapter 6

Causation of Instinctive Behaviour Activation and termination of behavioural systems

Animals possess a varied behavioral equipment, composed of stable and environmentally labile systems.
One part of an animal's behavioral equipment is always in action.
The question is not why an animal behaves but why it behaves in a particular way at a given time and with what intensity.
Physiological Systems: Most are constantly active; some activities within the same system have issues of starting and stopping due to incompatibility.
Reciprocal inhibition occurs, where activation of one response requires inhibition of another (e.g., extensor and flexor muscles).
Behavioral systems exhibit similar episodic activity for compatibility reasons (e.g., building a nest vs searching for food).
Determinants of Behaviour: At least five classes of causal factors influence the activation of behavioral systems.

Behavioral System Organization within CNS: This specific factor determines which system is activated based on its organizational structure in the central nervous system (CNS).
Special Objects in the Environment: The presence or absence of specific objects can trigger the activation of certain behavioral systems (e.g., food stimulating feeding behavior).
Hormones: Hormonal influences are specific to particular behavioral systems, acting as triggers for instinctive behaviors.
Current State of Activity in the CNS: The current state of activity in the CNS can influence which system is activated based on its level of arousal or readiness.
Total Stimulation Impinging at the Time: The total stimulation an animal receives from its environment can also determine which behavioral system is activated (e.g., fear response to a loud noise).

Each class of factor interacts with all others, making the causal conditions intricate.
Some theories favor a limited number of general drives, but Hinde argues against it, details presented in Chapter 8.

Roles of Specific Causal Factors

Hormonal Factors in Behavior:

Hormones play a significant role in determining sexual behavior in birds and mammals.
High levels of sex hormones make certain activities more probable and others less probable.
In three-spined sticklebacks, the presence of high male hormone levels increases the likelihood of fighting, nest-building, and courting behaviors.
Hormonal influences can determine which behavioral systems become active, but not all potentiated behaviors are executed at a given time.

Interplay of Hormonal and Environmental Factors:

Behavior is determined by both hormone levels and environmental stimuli acting together.
Different roles for hormones and environmental stimuli in the causal hierarchy: hormones act at a higher point, potentiating or depotentiating behavioral systems; environmental stimuli activate particular systems.

Causal Hierarchy:

The organization of behavior by means of causal hierarchy.
High-level factors like hormone levels determine which lower-level behavioral systems are active.

Behavioral Systems and Environmental Stimuli:

Behavioral systems in animals are designed to fit particular environments.
Certain complex behaviors cannot occur without the right environmental stimulation.
Sometimes, behavior can occur even without the right environmental stimulation, known as vacuum activities.

Interaction of Factors:

Multiple classes of factors contribute to an animal's disposition to behave in a certain way.
Hormone output is influenced by environmental stimuli and autonomous processes in the CNS.
Environmental stimuli are encountered due to behavior initiated by hormones or other changes in the CNS.
Behavioral systems in the CNS come to be organized based on both developmental hormone levels and encountered environmental stimuli.

Effects of Hormones on Behavior:

Hormones can act directly on parts of the CNS, making some behavioral systems more responsive.
Hormones can also act on peripheral organs, increasing sensitivity to certain stimuli from the environment.

Examples:

Nest-building and egg-laying in canaries: hormonal influences (high levels of testosterone) increase the likelihood of nest-building and egg-laying behaviors. Environmental stimuli, such as the presence of a suitable nest site, further enhance the occurrence of these behaviors.
Maternal behavior in rats: high levels of prolactin hormone are necessary for maternal behavior to occur. However, environmental factors like the presence of pups and nesting materials also play a role in the expression of maternal behavior.

Causal Factors Leading to Nest-Building and Egg Laying in Female Canaries

Hinde (1965b) identified the following factors contributing to nest-building and egg laying:
- Changes in environment: Increased light and/or raised temperature
- Female associates with a male
- Male stimuli accelerate oestrogen production
- Nest building ensues
- Male presence is essential
- Defeathered, vascular, and sensitive breast
Effects of tactile stimulation from nest-cup on female behavior:
- Immediate influence on nest-building movements
- Minutes: Influences visit frequency and nest material selection
- Longer period: Causes further endocrine changes leading to earlier egg laying
Role of stimuli from nest and eggs during incubation
Behavioral systems activation and inactivation over several weeks
- Endocrine levels cause some system activations
- Environmental stimulation causes others
- Endocrine levels result from environmental stimulation
- Complex interactions between hormones, environment, and CNS

Maternal Behavior in Laboratory Rats

Beach (1965) studied reproductive behavior and contributed to understanding sexual behavior
Rosenblatt (1965) analyzed causal factors influencing maternal behavior during offspring development
Three main components of maternal behavior: nest-building, nursing, retrieving
Cycle of maternal behavior lasts about four weeks
- Final days of pregnancy: Minimal nest-building
- Parturition and following days: All components displayed; mother initiates interactions with pups
- First fortnight: Full repertoire of maternal behavior, mostly mother's initiative
- Third and fourth weeks: Mother leaves interaction initiative to young; nest-building, retrieving, and nursing decrease until they disappear.

Maternal Behaviour Cycle in Rat: Phases of Maternal Behaviour:

First two weeks: blind and deaf pups, rely on contact stimulation, crawl but cannot walk
Two weeks old: more independent, start leaving the nest, initiate suckling and social interaction with litter-mates
Four weeks old: can fend for themselves

Maternal State vs. Maternal Behaviour:

Maternal behaviour is sensitive to environmental stimuli
Maternal state refers to the condition of the mother that determines maternal behaviour

Research Questions:

What causal factors account for a mother rat's developing a maternal state?
What causal factors account for the subsequent changes in and ultimate disappearance of maternal state?
To what extent are these changes due to hormonal changes occurring in the mother irrespective of environmental stimuli, and to what extent to stimulation coming from the pups?

Experiments:

Test pups of various ages placed with mothers at different phases of the maternal cycle
Mother's own pups either remained with her or were removed for periods of days at different phases of the cycle

Conclusions: (a) Stimulation from newborn pups cannot cause onset of maternal state, likely caused by hormonal shift or proprioceptive feedback during parturition. (b) Pup stimulation plays an important role in maintaining maternal state in the first few days after parturition. (c) After a few days, maternal state becomes less dependent on pup stimulation, but is still influenced by it to some extent. (d) In the final phase of the cycle, maternal state wanes inexorably and is not significantly affected by changing pup stimulation.

Factors Terminating Behaviour:

Different sorts of behaviour terminated by one or another different class of factor—hormonal level, exteroceptive stimulation, interoceptive stimulation, etc.
Termination due to a specific signal, called consummatory or terminating stimuli
Distinguish between orienting and terminating stimuli
Inhibitory stimuli prevent behaviour from being started, different from terminating stimuli

Implications:

Behaviour is not perpetual, it has a beginning and an end
Factors that cause behaviour to cease are complex and varied
Consummatory stimuli are signals received by the behavioural systems concerned, which bring a sequence of behaviour to an end.

Roles of Non-specific Causal Factors

Arousal state of the Central Nervous System (CNS) and total level of stimulation are important general causal factors for behavior.
These factors determine:
- Whether a stimulus is responded to
- Degree of sensory discrimination
- Speed of response
- Organisation or disorganisation of response
Mammalian cortex must be in a state of arousal for specific stimuli to elicit behavior.
Condition of the cortex depends on the condition of the brain-stem reticular formation, which is influenced by total stimulation irrespective of sensory mode.
Optimum level of sensory input exists for responsiveness and efficiency.
Some researchers focus on general level of activation or drive as significant variables.

Effects of Total Stimulation:

Up to a certain threshold, more stimulation leads to increased arousal and efficient behavior.
Above a certain level, efficiency may diminish, leading to disorganized behavior or sensory deprivation.

Compatible vs. Incompatible Behavioral Systems:

Multiple behavioral systems can be active at once.
Results depend on the compatibility of the activated systems:
- Compatible systems result in complete behavior sequences.
- Incompatible systems may lead to:
  - Elements of both systems exhibited
  - Elements of only one system exhibited
  - Neither system's elements visible
- Sometimes the resulting behavior is well-suited to the situation, other times not.

Inferring Hidden Tendencies:

When a dominant behavior masks hidden tendencies:
- Ethologists and psychoanalysts use similar methods to infer hidden tendencies based on occasional and incomplete sequences of behavior.

Behavioral Sequences from Two Incompatible Tendencies:

Alternating behavior: different behaviors alternating between systems.
Intention movements: incomplete movements belonging to a tendency that isn't expressed fully.
Compromise behavior: a combination of behaviors from both tendencies.

Behavioural Sequences deriving from only One Tendency are Exhibited

Behavioral Sequences and Conflicting Tendencies:

Behavioral sequences derived from only one tendency during conflict are common.
Inhibition of one tendency may occur due to automatic processes or conscious decision.
Inhibited tendencies may persist even when behavior is unequivocal and survival value.
Some inhibitions may be unstable, inefficient, or result in non-functional behaviors like displacement or redirection.

Displacement and Redirection:

Redirected behaviors are true expressions of one tendency but directed towards an object other than the original elicitor.
Examples include aggression towards symbols or subordinate animals.
Displacement activities can occur in humans as well, often involving symbolic objects.

Displacement Activities:

Occurs when behavior deriving from neither tendency is exhibited and something different happens instead.
Can be explained by disinhibition, aroused autonomic activity, or other theories.
Displaced activities can influence external factors, like rain influencing preening frequency in birds.
Displacement preening occurs when conflicting tendencies are balanced.

Theories on Displacement Activities:

Previously thought to be caused by 'spark-over' of energy from one (or both) conflicting tendencies not expressed.
Now considered more likely due to disinhibition, as previously inhibited behaviors become activated when priority activities cancel each other out.
Other theories suggest it might be due to aroused autonomic activity or unique to humans with neuroses.

Regression:

Adult animals exhibit regressive behavior (juvenile patterns) when adult behaviors are thwarted.
Ethologists explain this phenomenon through two main theories: returning to successful solutions during immaturity and a special form of displacement activity.
Both explanations may be required to fully understand all cases of regressive behavior.

Sensory input and its transformation

Sensory Input and Transformation

Environmental stimuli: Events that activate or terminate instinctive behavior
Stimulus definition: Complex concept; not all events are perceived as stimuli by all animals
Neurophysiological research on sensory input regulation and transformation by CNS
Initial assessment of sensory input: 1) Judged unimportant -> blanked off, 2) Judged relevant -> amplified and interpreted for action
Efferent messages control moment-to-moment responsiveness of sense organs or ganglia
Regulation of receptor events can occur at multiple levels in the nervous system
Examples: Blinding flash vs. sight of an attractive girl
Reflexes, fixed actions, and plans involve various degrees of peripheral/central control
Assessing input is a skilled task requiring interpretation and judgment based on past experiences or relevant information
Discriminated behavior increases with higher levels of CNS processing
Plans require referencing to models of environment and organism (Chapter 5)
Conscious assessment and judgment lead to feelings and emotions: interesting, pleasant, satisfying, etc.

Chapter 7

Appraising and Selecting: Feeling and Emotion

Darwin's perspective on expression and emotion:
- Expressions serve as means of communication between individuals.
- Reveal thoughts and intentions more truthfully than words.
- Intimately related to emotions.
In Clinical Circles, feelings and emotions are crucial for communication with patients and in everyday life.
The proposed view on instinctive behavior and feelings:
- Feeling and emotion are phases of an individual's intuitive appraisals.
- Appraising processes have three roles:
  - Appraising changing environments and organismic states.
  - Providing a monitoring service to the individual.
  - Communicating information to others.
- Appraising processes do not always require consciousness.
The ambiguous concept of 'unconscious feeling':
- Appraising processes are not always felt, providing insight into the idea of 'unconscious feeling'.
Clarification of terminology:
- 'Feeling' as a general term, derived from the verb "to feel".
- 'Affect' used to refer to traditional theories.
- 'Emotion' restricted to feelings connected with specific actions.
Philosophical problems when moving from a purely behavioral account of instinctive behavior:
- Difficulties in understanding how awareness and feeling fit into the theory of instinctive behavior.

Philosophical problems

Philosophical Problems in the Biological Sciences:

Langer (1967) discusses the challenge of understanding how "feelings" emerge from physical events in an animal organism.
Two main schools of thought: mentalist and epiphenomenalist.

Mentalist School:

Postulates two distinct entities, a body and a mind, each of equivalent status.
Derives from Descartes' theory of the mind.
Criticized for being based on a logical fallacy and leading to checkered results in empirical problems.

Epiphenomenalist School:

Treats only the physical world as real, with thoughts and feelings being mere shadows or illusions.
Few scientists find this answer satisfactory due to its exclusion of important human experiences.

Problems with Both Schools:

Mentalism has led to difficulty in formulating testable hypotheses for a science of the mind comparable to physical science.
Epiphenomenalism, while leading to testable hypotheses, has ruled out exciting reaches of human experience and provided little use to clinicians dealing with everyday lives.

Current Perspective:

A pragmatic approach suggested by Langer (1967), taking cues from neurologist Gooddy's considerations on voluntary muscle control.
Feeling is a process within the organism and not a new entity.

Open Questions:

How does the phase of being felt occur?
What are the processes that commonly attain the phase of being felt?

Processes that are felt

Appraisal Processes: A Comprehensive Summary

Overview: Appraisal processes are integral parts of any control system and become more sophisticated as the system becomes more complex. Some appraisals may be felt, while others may remain below the threshold of awareness. (MacLean, 1960; Arnold, 1960)

Interpretation and Appraisal of Sensory Input 2. Sensory input: Two main classes: environmental and organismic. (Arnold, 1960) 3. Assessment and Regulation: Immediate assessment and regulation of sensory data from both sources is necessary before relevance for action can be determined. (Previously discussed in the previous chapter) 4. Interpretation: Sensory messages are assessed and interpreted to transform raw input into perception. 5. Supplementation: Input is supplemented with matching information from memory stores. 6. Value Judgment: Interpreted input is often experienced in terms of value: pleasant or unpleasant, nice or nasty, likeable or unlikeable. (Arnold, 1960) 7. Feeling States: Feeling hot or cold and feeling hungry are not raw sensations but phases of sensory inputs in the process of being appraised. 8. Set-points and Standards: Input is compared to internal set-points or standards. Some remain unchanged through life, while others vary in response to current organismic state and experience (acquired tastes). 9. Behavioral Responses: Appraisals influence behavior; nice input elicits maintenance or pursuit, nasty input prompts reduction or avoidance. (Arnold, 1960) 10. Instinctive Behavior: Many basic standards and behaviors are environmentally stable and promote species survival.

Appraisal of Organismic Input 11. Desire: Some organismic inputs arouse desire (for food, clothing, fresh air, sex). 12. Conceptualization: The nature of desire is discussed below.

Neurophysiological Evidence 13. Methods and Findings: Neurophysiologists have used techniques like ablation, recording from micro-electrodes, and direct brain stimulation to study cerebral organization and activity. (Arnold, 1960; MacLean, 1960)

Emotion and Personality 14. Relevant Literature: Arnold's work on appraisal and her two-volume series, "Emotion and Personality," contain comprehensive reviews of the psychological literature. (Arnold, 1960) 15. Midbrain Nuclei and Limbic System: The role of midbrain nuclei and the limbic system in the organization of behavior and appraisal is clarified by this research. (MacLean, 1960; Arnold, 1960)

Feeling and Emotion 16. Significance for a Theory of Feeling and Emotion: The significance of this work for the understanding of feeling and emotion is discussed in detail by Arnold (1960).

More Refined Appraisals of Persons and Objects: Emotion

Interpreted sensory input is not only sorted into crude categories but also refinedly categorized based on potential activation of behavioral systems
Activation of a behavioral system results in experiencing specific emotions: alarm, anxiety, anger, hunger, lust, distress, guilt, etc.
Emotional feeling might start before or during behavioral activation
Categorizing environment in terms of potential behavior is emotionally colored
- Attractive woman, frightening dog, appetizing meal, hateful man, cuddly baby
- Broad initial class of behavior selected
Deliberation and planning may follow after emotional response
Emotionally coloured dreams suggest that not all processes having an emotional feeling phase originate in the environment

Behavioral Systems and Emotions

Interpreted sensory input, whether from environmental or organismic origin, can trigger behavioral systems
Activation of a behavioral system results in experiencing specific emotions

Appraisal Process

Central regulation of sensory input based on appraisal results may be experienced emotionally
Emotionally colored categorization of environment in terms of potential behavior

Behavioral Responses and Emotions

Emotional feelings are often experienced during behavioral responses
Feedback from voluntary muscles can augment emotional feeling

Dreams and Emotions

Emotionally coloured dreams involve action but the dreamer is usually inactive
Emotional feeling can be experienced during sleep, suggesting non-environmental origins of emotional processes.

Appraisal of Progress of Current Behaviour

Activation of a behavioural system leads to monitoring of behavioural sequence progress
Progress appraised as smooth, halting, or stopped
Qualities of feeling range from pleasurable exhilaration to frustration and utter frustration when behavior is brought to a standstill
Each bit of the behaviour is monitored for progress as well (Gooddy's findings)
Sensory symptoms reported when feedback from voluntary muscles is abnormal, such as feeling numb, clumsy, or stiff
Physical wellbeing is felt when voluntary musculature performs well

Appraisal of Consequences of Behaviour:

Certain consequences of behaviour are monitored and appraised
Immediate changes in environment and organism's state are monitored and appraised as pleasurable-painful, liked-disliked, good-bad
Achievement or non-achievement of a set-goal is monitored and appraised as satisfying-frustrating
Long-term effects may go unnoticed
Monitoring necessary for learning
Strongly felt appraisals lead to quicker and more persistent learning, which can contribute to the formation of affectional bonds that are easy to learn and hard to forget (Hamburg, 1963)

Feeling and Emotion as Causative Factors in Behavior Introduction:

Feeling or emotion is commonly believed to be causative of behavior.
This notion is found in colloquial phrases and psychoanalytic thinking, despite Freud's abandonment of the idea in his later work.

Appraising Processes:

Appraising sensory input is a necessary step in the causation of behavior.
- Environmental or organismic origin
- Combined sources
Appraisal processes play a causal role in producing behavior.

Role of Feelings:

Feelings may be experienced during appraisal processes.
Sympathy, for example, might be experienced when comforting a crying baby.
Feeling is not always necessary for behavior to be elicited.
- Some mothers might comfort a crying baby without particular feeling.
Feeling, attention, and consciousness go together.
The importance of feelings in appraisal processes:
- Reassessment and modification of standards
- Changes in future behavior
- Therapeutic change

Feeling vs. Cause:

Ryle's distinction between cause and reason
- Stone breaking a sheet of glass example
- Cause refers to an event, effect relationship
- Reason describes the 'why' without specifying the cause
Jealousy statement: 'Tom bit his little sister because he was jealous'
- Dispositional adjective: it describes Tom's tendency to appraise situations and act in certain ways under specific conditions.
Inexact conversational shorthand but convenient for communication.

Expressive Role of Feeling:

Importance and less controversial than causal role of feeling. (To be continued in the next chapter)

The communicative role of feeling and emotion

Humans and animals can identify feelings based on facial expressions, posture, tone of voice, physiological changes, tempo of movement, and incipient actions.
Success in identifying feelings depends on the clarity of the situation and the observer's accuracy.
Attributing feeling to someone involves making predictions about their behavior (emotions) or their awareness of feeling (moods).
Emotions are short-term, precise predictions, while moods are more general and refer to longer-term behaviors.
Words descriptive of feeling can be used scientifically for both humans and animals as they predict behavior.
Clues for judging emotion and making predictions come from specific social signals, intention movements, physiological changes, and displacement activities.
Feeling states observed in companions are used to make predictions about their behavior, which is crucial for social life.
Humans and animals develop competence in making accurate predictions due to innate bias and learning from mistakes.
In clinical work, the predictive value of overtly expressed feeling and emotion, as well as a patient's reports of how they feel, are essential for understanding appraisals of situations and activated behavioral systems.
The language of feeling is valuable but can be dangerous if feelings are reified and not seen as indicators of appraisals and behaviors.
Understanding feeling and emotion has fundamental implications for human nature and opens up new fields of study, just like the discovery of electrical phenomena with the invention of the dynamo.

Chapter 8

Function of Instinctive Behavior

The mechanists were correct in rejecting teleological explanations of vitalists, but they failed to recognize the unique manner in which animate matter seems to invite teleological concepts due to the predictable outcomes of instinctive behavior.

Function and Instinctive Behavior

Instinctive behavior is organized to achieve a predictable outcome that contributes to individual or species survival.
Function refers to the special consequence arising from the way a system is constructed, not the immediate causes of its activation.
Functions determine how systems are constructed and can be either active or inactive.

Function vs. Causation

Teleological theories suggest that the future determines the present through finalistic causation and lie outside the realm of science.
A bird building a nest to rear young is an example of a teleological statement.
Function is not unscientific, but it's important to distinguish between the causes of behavior and its function.
In man-made systems, function equals design; in biology, function is the consequence that a system appears to be designed for.
Hormones, CNS organization, environmental stimuli, and predictor-controlled guns are examples of causal factors, not functions.

Evolution of Function

Current structure of behavioral systems is a product of natural selection and the incorporation of genes determining more efficient variants in the gene pool.
Functions are consequences of systems' activity that led to their evolution and continue to remain in the equipment of species.
Many consequences of a system are not functional, but some other consequence may confer an advantage that leads to positive selection despite adverse consequences.

Importance of Distinguishing Function from Causes

In psychopathology theory, it's crucial to draw and maintain the distinction between causes and functions.
Functions stem from a system's structure and have nothing to do with immediate causes of activity.
Understanding how such ingenious structures come into existence in living organisms remains an open question, but evolution is a plausible explanation.

Function Distinguished from Predictable Outcome

Behavioural Systems and Function vs. Predictable Outcome

The importance of understanding adverse consequences of behavioral systems for pathology
In an individual, a behavioral system may be active without its functional consequence occurring
Function vs. predictable outcome:
- Predictable outcome is a property of a particular system in a given individual
- Function is a property of that system in a population of individuals
A population requires sufficient number of individuals with consonant predictable outcomes for function to be fulfilled
Reasons for predictable outcome and functional consequence mismatch:
- Environment deviates from the environment of evolutionary adaptedness (current environment effect)
- Behavioral system itself is not in functionally effective order

Current Environment Effect

Predictable outcome may not lead to functional consequence due to environmental differences
Examples:
- Baby sucking on a dummy instead of a nipple
- Tom-cats unexpectedly meeting without territorial fights

Behavioral System Ineffectiveness

Behavioral system development failures leading to ineffective form or sequence
Environmental factors contributing to development anomalies (virus, chemicals, mechanical trauma)
Flexibility of higher vertebrates and its consequences:
- Adaptation to individual environments
- Potential for functional ineffectiveness when environment falls outside developmental limits

Examples of Functionally Ineffective Behavioral Systems

Homosexual adult's sexual behavior integrated system (predictable outcome: sexual orgasm with a partner of the same sex but no reproduction)
Radar and predictor-controlled anti-aircraft gun firing efficiently but aiming at friendly planes instead of enemies

Implications and Discussion

Distinction between predictable outcome and function is crucial in understanding behavior
Mistakes can occur, especially when structure is environmentally labile
Developmental processes and their potential issues are discussed further in Chapter 10.

Altruistic Behaviour

Historically viewed as problematic in psychology
Psychoanalytic formulations suggest individuals seek only selfish ends and are altruistic when constrained
Biological approach shows this view to be false
Behaviour that has an altruistic function contributes to gene survival

Instinctive Behaviour:

Two patterns: behaviour for individual survival and behaviour for kin survival
Behaviour for individual survival also benefits genes
Behaviour for kin survival: parental care, sibling help, etc.
Helper is often older or in a more favorable situation
Extreme case: worker bees caregiving behaviour towards queen's progeny

Function of Instinctive Behaviour:

Function not always obvious, may be obscure
Contemporary biological thought presumes instinctive behaviour has survival function
Determining precise function requires establishing benefit in species' environment of evolutionary adaptedness
Experimental research necessary for confirmation

Attachment Behaviour:

Example of instinctive behaviour in human child
Function little discussed and still debated
Hypothesis advanced in clinical circles (not specified in text)

Instinctive Behaviour vs. Altruistic Behaviour:

Ultimate function is the same: survival of genes
Distinction between egotistic and altruistic behaviours is real but not fundamental

Determining Function of Instinctive Behaviour:

Establishing benefit in species' environment of evolutionary adaptedness
Experimental research necessary for confirmation.

Problems of terminology

Terminology and Instinct:

The term "instinct" causes confusion due to varied usage
Difficulties arise when the noun "instinct" is employed instead of using it descriptively as an adjective
Instinctive behavior results from activation of integrated behavioral systems in specific environments
Entity to which 'instinct' applies: Behavior itself, behavioral system, causal conditions, predictable outcome or function?
Workers have used term for all these things
Confusion results due to the lack of a clear definition and agreed usage
Two reasons why no standard usage can be agreed upon:
- Difficulty in redefining term with so many uses
- Complexity of integrates of behavioral systems makes it hard to draw a line
The concept of instinctive behavior is useful as a rough and ready term for vital species survival behaviors, but:
- Not all instinctive behaviors are controlled by the same type of system
- Instinctive behavior exists on continua ranging from stable to labile systems
- No clear cut-off point between instinctive behavior and other types.

Behavioral Systems:

Result from activation within a specific environment
Integrated in chains or hierarchies or a mixture of both
Each system achieves survival value when activated
Behavior and behavioral systems, causal conditions, and outcomes can all be referred to as instinct.

Instinct vs. Drive:

The concept of instinct as an entity is abandoned
Instead, focus on the activation of integrated behavioral systems
No need for the concept of drive since behavior is a result of behavioral system activation.

Usage and Misconceptions:

Instinctive behavior is not controlled by only one type of system
Behaviors described as instinctive exist on continua ranging from stable to labile systems
No clear cut-off point between instinctive behavior and other behaviors.

Instinctive Behavior and Psychoanalytic Theorizing:

'Instinctive' refers to behaviors of a certain kind, while 'instinctual' refers to the postulated psychical drive energy discharged by these behaviors (not used in present work)
Terms related to instinctive behavior require clarification: need, wish, aim, purpose, etc.

Need and Instinctive Behavior:

Used to avoid commitment to specific theories of instinctive behavior and indicate the apparently purposive character of behavioral systems
Difficulties with term: implies something required for survival, may lead to teleological thinking
Behavioral systems have functions that meet species needs, but are not causes of instinctive behavior

Wish, Desire, and Instinctive Behavior:

Refers to the set-goal of a behavioral system or integrate of systems that is already in action or alerted for action
Indicates awareness of active behavioral system's set-goal
Misidentification of set-goal may result in unconscious wishes

Predictable Outcome, Set-Goal, and Function:

Terms used interchangeably with predictable outcome or set-goal
Difficulties: carries overtones of teleological causation, fails to distinguish between set-goal and function
Other terms introduced for predictable outcome: focal condition, sollwert
Teleonomic systems achieve a predictable outcome when activated in their environment of adaptedness

Set-Goals:

Two main types: maintaining a variable at a constant value or reaching a limited event followed by cessation of activity
Importance of considering both types in understanding instinctive behavior and human behavior

Attachment Behavior:

Result of activity of behavioral systems with continuing set-goals
Specification is a certain sort of relationship to another specified individual.

Chapter 9

I. Behavioral Development and Life-cycle:

Two aspects of behavioral development: 1) change in behavioral equipment from one phase to another, 2) ontogeny of behavioral systems (discussed in the next chapter)
Importance of an appropriately balanced repertoire of instinctive behavioral systems at each stage of life for individual and gene survival
Cooperation between individuals is essential for survival, leading to complementary behavior patterns

II. Changes in Behavioral Equipment during Life-cycle:

Immutures and adults have different behavioral equipment for the same or different biological functions
Immutable organisms have behavioral equipment that minimizes risk and maintains proximity to parents
Sexual behaviors are not observed in immutures or seen only in an incomplete form
Absence of behavior at a particular phase can result from: 1) underdeveloped neural substrate, 2) dormant systems due to absent causal factors, or 3) partial development with some components present but full functional pattern absent

III. Hormonal Influences on Behavior:

Behavioral changes during life-cycle often linked to shifts in hormone balance
Hormones play a role in the activation of behavioral systems
Sexually dimorphic behaviors can be observed in both sexes but suppressed by typical hormone levels

IV. Regressive Behavior:

Immature behavior patterns may re-emerge in adults: 1) when adult patterns prove ineffective, 2) during conflict or stress, 3) when an adult is sick or incapacitated

V. Integration of Adult and Immutable Behaviors:

Certain behaviors may combine elements from different stages of life, such as courtship feeding in birds where the male's behavior is typical of an adult feeding young while the female's behavior is typical of young being fed by a parent

VI. Regularity and Environmental Influences on Behavior:

Changes in behavior during life-cycle are generally regular but not completely independent of the environment
Puberty onset has advanced in human populations, suggesting an environmental factor, though the cause is unknown
Variations in developmental form of behavioral systems can lead to non-adaptive behaviors and psychopathology.

Chapter 10

Ontogeny of Instinctive Behaviour

Adaptation and Behavioral Development

Paul Weiss emphasizes the importance of obtaining facts before determining the extent of inherited evolutionary prearrangements vs direct adjustive interactions in behavior.
Ratio of adaptedness varies greatly and unpredictably across species, functions, and units.

Changes during Ontogeny of Behavioral Systems

In higher orders, behavioral systems appear primitive and undergo development.
Newborn birds and mammals have limited and simple behavioral equipment, which matures with age.
Human babies demonstrate rapid development of complex behavioral systems.

Instinctive Behavior in Immatures vs Adults

Different objects: Instinctive behavior is initially directed towards various objects, often a larger range than in adults.
Simple structure: Behavioral systems that are functional in infancy tend to be simple and replaced by more complex structures.
Non-functional fragments: Movements that are later parts of complex sequences may first appear as non-functional fragments.

Impact on Instinctive Behavior

Inefficient or failed function.
Source of pathological behavior.

Psychoanalytic Theory and Instinctive Behavior in Immatures

Variable object: Object towards which instinctive behavior is directed varies in infancy.
Pleasure principle: Behavior is primarily driven by the pleasure principle in immatures, later superseded by the reality principle.
Part-instincts: Instinctive behavior is composed of multiple components (part-instincts) that integrate during development.

Environmental Stability vs Lability

In some species and systems, changes during ontogeny are stable.
In others, changes are labile and influenced by environmental variations during critical phases or sensitive periods.

Sensitive Periods

Existence of sensitive periods where instinctive behavior's form is determined in early life.
Represented in psychoanalytic concepts like fixation and libidinal organization.
Modern instinct theory aligns these concepts with animal observation and experimentation.

Restriction of range of effective stimuli

Behavioral Systems and Early Movement Patterns:

Young birds and mammals exhibit well-executed, species-specific movements without prior practice, such as pecking and preening in birds, and sucking and urinating in mammals.
These movements are expression of relatively little environmentally influenced behavioral systems that become activated by appropriate causal factors.
In humans, rooting, sucking, smiling, and walking behaviors can also be included in this category.
Some adult masculine and feminine sexual behaviors may fall into this category as well (e.g., clasping and pelvic thrust).

Range of Effective Stimuli:

Young animals tend to respond differently based on quantitative differences in stimulus intensity, approaching regular, low-intensity stimuli and withdrawing from high-intensity, irregular ones.
Schneirla's generalization: young animals display rough discrimination between different types of stimuli.

Restriction of Effective Stimuli:

Improvement in an individual's ability to discriminate sensory input:
- Undiscriminating vision and hearing lead to a wide range of stimuli being treated as alike.
- Some improvements are due to physiological development, while others result from learning (perceptual or exposure).
- Experience with visual forms can impact the ability to perceive and respond to them.
Processes that restrict the range of stimuli linked to a response:
- Reinforcement: chicks peck at objects that elicit swallowing and cease to peck at those that do not.
- Habituation: young finches show preference for seeds they can de-husk most efficiently after experience.
Approach or avoidance of familiar and unfamiliar objects:
- Hebb's dichotomy: importance of the familiar–unfamiliar has been appreciated only recently, leading to restriction of stimuli linked to a response.

Early Behavioral Development:

Approach behavior exhibited early in young animals, elicited by familiar stimuli within certain ranges
Two processes end approach phase: learning and discrimination between familiar and strange, maturation of avoidance and aggression responses
Resulting organization maintains animal near friendly animals and safe places, keeps away from predators, has survival value

Effects of Environment:

Different behavioral organizations in environments other than evolutionary adaptedness, sometimes bizarre or inimical to survival
Unusual animal friendships: young animals of different species reared together form friendships despite being enemies in nature
Restricted environment: animals either avoid all objects or approach all objects, undiscriminating behavior not well adapted to survival

Behavioral System Development:

Functional behavioral systems present at birth but simpler than those of mature animals
Ontogeny of less organized systems considered in next section
Simple behavioral systems give way to more sophisticated ones as development progresses
Change in goslings: following behavior elicited by any moving object, then by familiar object only and sought when absent
Change in infant monkeys: simple reflexive grasping evolves into complex sequences of following and clinging
Incorporation of simpler systems into more sophisticated ones leads to discriminating control and activation under special conditions
Adult carnivores and primates exhibit goal-corrected behavior, structured in terms of plan hierarchies
Change from simple stimulus-response type behavior to goal-corrected behavior referred to as change from trial and error to insight by Piaget
Human psychological development characterized by supersession of id by ego, increasing awareness and sophistication of plans, ability to relate and prioritize plans.

Human Development and Behavioral Systems: Bladder Control Development:

First two or three years of life marked by changes in bladder control systems (McGraw, 1943)
Reflex mechanism controls voiding during first year, sensitive to a wide range of stimuli
Performance becomes less automatic in second year, infant unaware of act and its consequences
Towards end of second year, control vested in complex behavioral system that inhibits voiding until suitable receptacle found
Behavior structured to achieve set-goal and organized on basis of simple master plan

Human Attachment Behavior:

Comparable succession of increasingly sophisticated systems mediates attachment behavior
Early months consist of reflexive and tracking movements, in second and third years organized in terms of set-goals and plans
Plans become more complex and may include sub-plans to change mother's behavior

Food Intake Behavior:

Neonate's food intake is a consequence of chain of simple fixed action patterns
After a few months, feeding behavior initiated only when conditions conform to certain expected pattern
By second year, many new behaviors enlisted in service of food intake and linkage between different sorts organized as plans
Food-intake becomes a culminating point in master plan that may comprehend an agricultural year

Human Behavior and Instinct:

Humans show no instinctive behavior due to upgrading of control from simple to more sophisticated systems
Systems responsible for instinctive behavior usually become incorporated into complex systems, making typical patterns less recognizable

Brain Development and Behavioral Capabilities:

Brain structure and behavioral structure keep closely in step during human development
Neocortex underdeveloped during first month after birth, behavior is at reflexive level
Some parts of neocortex probably become functional by third month, responses sensitive to pattern and can be delayed
Elaboration areas of neocortex lag behind primary projection areas and cognitive processes/plans remain primitive until second birthday
Prefrontal lobes necessary for inhibiting immediate response and carrying plans to completion underdeveloped before preschool years

Supersession of Simple Behavioral Systems:

During childhood, sophistication of behavioral systems is limited by state of brain development
Advantages in terms of adaptedness and efficiency, but dangers include faulty transitions leading to less efficient behavior.

Integration of behavioural systems into functional wholes

Behavioral Systems Integration

Behavioral systems that are functional from the first and become superseded by more sophisticated ones during ontogeny are well-studied.
However, some behavioral systems start as non-functional and become functional only when integrated with other systems.

Non-Functional Behavior in Young Animals

An example of such behavior is nut-burying in squirrels, which requires practice to perform effectively.
Reproductive behavior in young animals also shows non-functional fragments: great tits exhibit sub-song, nest-building, and copulatory behavior but out of context.
Primate species, including rhesus monkeys and chimpanzees, display sexual behavior in infants towards their mothers or each other, with erections and thrusting occurring at young ages.
Observations suggest that fragments of sexual behavior occur in immature members of many primate species.

Fragmented Instinctive Behavior in Human Infants

Pelvic thrust movements have been observed in human infants starting at eight to ten months old, during moments of security and delight.
Thrusting does not result in orgasm or erection and decreases with the decrease in intimate holding contact.
This behavior has been observed in children over three years of age but does not occur during feeding, dressing, or active play.
Children playing together may enact positions typical of adult coitus without understanding the post-pubertal goal.

Maternal Behavior in Immaturing Children

Young children may display maternal behavior towards dolls or real babies but abandon it when distracted and neglect them for long periods.

Integration of Early Instinctive Behaviors

Processes whereby early-appearing fragments of instinctive behavior come to be integrated into complete sequences with their normal functional consequences are multifarious.
One type of process is the restriction of stimulus objects that activate a behavioral system and terminate or guide it.
For example, in chicks, a number of responses become directed towards a mother hen: following moving objects, seeking safety, and seeking warmth.
In natural environments, these behaviors are usually directed to the mother hen, but in artificial conditions, they can be directed towards different objects.

Behavioral Development and Functional Integration:

Behavioral fragments become functionally integrated through processes such as:
- Integration into chains of behavior
- Integration within causal hierarchies

Integration into Chains:

Behaviors that are simple can become units in one or more chains.
Example: Pecking behavior in great tits and sucking behavior in puppies initially not elicited by hunger or food intake but later become integrated within a system organized in terms of causal hierarchy, contributing to food-intake.

Integration into Causal Hierarchy:

A change in the causal relation between a pattern of behavior and the internal state of an animal can lead to integration within a causal hierarchy.
Example: Sexual behavior in male cats is first organized when androgen level is high and the cat has experience of mating, but later may be exhibited even when androgen levels are low.

Persistence of Organized Behavior:

Once a sequence of behavior has become organized, it tends to persist.
Example: Human sexual behavior reorganizes from a chain to a plan with a set-goal after experiencing consummatory situation.

Reorganization of Instinctive Behavior:

Instinctive behavior in humans often becomes incorporated into flexible behavioral sequences that vary from individual to individual.
Reorganization leads to more efficient behavior, but may have drawbacks such as seeking consummatory situations precipitately and omitting intermediate steps.

Function vs. Form of Behavior:

Function of behavior is sometimes known in humans, but the precise form and sequence within which it is organized can be of great consequence for its future.
Aberrant behaviors include performing behavior but preventing functional consequences (e.g., intercourse with contraception) or fulfilling functions without performing instinctive behavior (e.g., artificial insemination, tube-feeding).

Sensitive periods of development

Behavioral equipment of adults in many bird and mammal species is influenced by the environment during development.
Some systems have consistent sensitivity to the environment, while others show greater sensitivity at certain phases.
Sensitive periods are characterized by sharp and irreversible restriction of stimuli that activate or terminate a system.

Imprinting:

Young birds follow the first moving object they perceive after hatching, a process called imprinting.
Rapid learning of the familiar and following it is crucial for development.
Similar findings occur in young mammals regarding attachment to their mother.

Sexual Behavior:

Range of objects towards which sexual behavior is directed can be restricted during specific phases of life-cycle.
Sexual preferences are influenced by early experiences, but exact information on the determining phase varies between species.

Mallard Ducks:

Male mallards' sexual preference is biased towards birds of their own species but can be influenced by rearing environment.
When reared with birds of another species, they may mate with females of that species.
Rearing with a foster-mother of another species increases the likelihood of a preference for a female of that species.
Male mallards form homosexual pairs when reared exclusively with males from an early age.
Preference for a homosexual partner is stable despite the fact that both partners take masculine roles and copulation is never achieved.

Maternal Behavior:

Objects towards which maternal behavior is directed can be influenced by the environment in many bird and mammal species.
Perverse direction of maternal behavior, such as caring for young of another species, is usually plastic and not permanent.

Maternal Behavior

Mammalian mothers show a sharp restriction of objects towards which they direct maternal behavior during a sensitive phase after parturition.
This was illustrated in an experiment with nanny-goats and their twin kids.
Once established, motor patterns tend to persist, even if non-adaptive.

Sensitive Phases in Behavior Development

Objects towards which sexual behavior is directed also pass through a sensitive phase before puberty.
In primates, motor patterns of sexual behavior undergo a sensitive phase of development.

Impact of Early Experience on Sexual Behavior in Primates

Harlow's research on rhesus monkeys: early experience influences heterosexual behavior.
Monkeys reared without mothering develop normal behavior with play experience but not all are sexually normal as adults.
Male sexual behavior is more labile environmentally than female sexual behavior in rhesus monkeys and even more so in chimpanzees.

Adaptive Social Responses

Social behaviors, including sexual and parental behaviors, need to be exhibited on proper occasions for adaptiveness.
Adaptive social roles require an adult mammal to be discriminating in the manifestation of various social responses.

Sensitive Periods in Non-Human Primates and Humans

The exact conditions and experiences necessary for adaptive development of social responses in non-human primates are uncertain.
Sensitive periods in human development are likely, but much more research is needed to understand them fully.
Deviation from the environment of evolutionary adaptedness (father, mother, and siblings in a social environment comprising grandparents and a limited number of other known families) increases the risk of maladaptive patterns of social behavior.

Imprinting

Imprinting:

Term used in two distinct ways, both derived from Lorenz's studies of goslings and ducklings (1935)

Narrow Usage:

Focused on Lorenz's original ideas about imprinting
Unique properties: critical period, irreversible, supra-individual learning, influences behaviors not yet developed
Occurs during bird's activity of following a moving object

Broad Usage:

Refers to processes leading filial or other attachment behaviors towards specific figures
Recognized in mammals and other animals

Properties:

Development of clearly defined preference
Preference develops quickly, often during a limited phase of life-cycle
Preference remains comparatively fixed
Approach responses elicited by preferred figure
Open to various underlying processes

Shifts in Perspective:

More detailed knowledge shows critical period and irreversibility are not as clear-cut as once thought
Learning of similar kind occurs when young creature is not following a moving object

Bateson's Definition:

Imprinting process that restricts social preferences to specific class of objects (1966)

Usage Today:

Both narrow and broad usages used in standard reviews (Sluckin, 1965; Bateson, 1966)
Term has come to stay due to its descriptive power

Importance of Bird Studies:

Extensive experimental work done with birds sharpened issues and reformulated questions
Practical meaning derived from studies of bird attachment behavior

Imprinting in Birds

I. Behavioral Responses to Preferred Objects:

Young birds show preference for objects they have experienced and remain in contact with them, including following, approaching, and searching when absent (Sluckin, 1965; Hinde, 1961, 1963, 1966).
Changes in call type based on object's presence or absence.
Distress calls in absence and contentment calls in presence.

II. Effectiveness of Stimuli:

Birds can be more effectively imprinted to stimuli with movement or conspicuous pattern (Sluckin, 1965; Hinde, 1963, 1966).
Simultaneous exposure to auditory and visual stimuli increases effectiveness.

III. Duration of Imprinting:

The longer a bird is exposed to an object, the stronger its preference becomes (Hinde, 1966; Sluckin, 1965).

IV. Learning vs. Imprinting:

Imprinting differs from other forms of learning as it's not associative or reinforced (Sluckin, 1965; Hinde, 1966).

V. Sensitive Period:

A sensitive period exists for imprinting, but its onset is developmentally stable and not affected by experience after hatching (Lorenz, 1935; Sluckin, 1965; Hinde, 1963, 1966).
The age at which readiness to imprint declines is more labile, influenced by factors such as fear responses and habituation (Bateson, 1966; Hinde, 1963, 1966).

VI. Imprinting and Fear:

Once a bird has been imprinted to an object, it may respond with fear to new objects and avoid them, hindering further imprinting (Hinde, 1963, 1966).
Forcible exposure to a new object can lead to habituation of the fear response and eventual preference for the new object over the original one (Bateson, 1966; Hinde, 1963, 1966).

VII. Reversibility of Imprinting:

Preferences established through imprinting can be reversible to some extent, depending on factors such as species, length of exposure, and behavior being considered (Sluckin, 1965; Hinde, 1963, 1966).

VIII. Imprinting vs. Individual Differences:

Lorenz's original hypothesis that imprinting is supra-individual learning of a class of objects rather than individual differences has some evidence in certain species (Sluckin, 1965; Hinde, 1963). However, a young bird's preference for its parent is a clear example of individual learning.

IX. Imprinting in Mammals and Humans:

Discussed further in subsequent chapters, particularly Chapter 12.

Comparison of old and new theories of instinctive behaviour

Background:

Account of current instinct theory and its relation to psychoanalytic theory
Similarities and differences at empirical and abstract metapsychological levels
Descent from Darwin's theory in The Origin of Species

New Theory: Instinctive behaviour as outcome of behavioural structures:

Activated by certain conditions
Terminated by other conditions Complex sequences of behaviour:
Sequential activation and termination of behavioural units
Controlled by a superordinate behavioural structure: chain, causal hierarchy, plan hierarchy, or integration

Relation to Freud's Ideas:

Part-instincts and differentiation of instinct aim and function
Objects towards which instinctive behaviour is directed are labile
Rejection of psychical energy as redundant
Embraces a wide range of phenomena, internally consistent, precise predictions, practicability of testing

Differences from Freud's Later Theories:

Organism starts with structured behavioural systems (some active at birth, some later)
No need for psychical energy to account for animal behaviour or instinctive human behaviour
Maladapted behaviour and substitution behaviours can be explained by other ways

Merits of New Theory:

Range of phenomena it embraces
Internal consistency
Precise predictions and practicability of testing
Opportunity for extensive research into social responses, conflicts, and sensitive periods in human development

Future Implications:

Hope that more precise concepts and rigorous methods will lead to an increase in reliable data
Alternative theoretical formulations can be judged based on these data.

Part III: ATTACHMENT BEHAVIOUR

Chapter 11

The Child’s Tie to his Mother: Attachment Behaviour Freud's Observations

Freud noted the significance of the mother-child bond and its lasting impact on personality development.
He observed that a child's strong attachment to their father is often a continuation of their earlier strong attachment to their mother.

Understanding the Child's Tie to a Mother-Figure

The nature and origin of the child's tie to a mother-figure have been subjects of debate among psychoanalysts and psychologists.
Traditional theories discussed in terms of object relations.
Terms like "attachment" and "attachment-figure" preferred in new theories.

Four Principal Theories 1. Theory of Secondary Drive (Cupboard Love):

Children become attached to a human figure due to the figure's ability to meet their physiological needs, primarily for food and warmth.
This theory underlies much psychoanalytic writing and learning theories.

2. Theory of Primary Object Sucking:

Infants have an inborn propensity to relate themselves to a human breast and to suck it.
In due course, they learn that the mother is attached to the breast.

3. Theory of Primary Object Clinging:

Infants have an innate propensity to be in touch with and to cling to a human being.
There is an independent need for an object besides food and warmth.

4. Theory of Primary Return-to-Womb Craving:

Infants resent their extrusion from the womb and seek to return there.
This theory is dismissed as biologically implausible.

Hypothesis: Attachment Behaviour as a Product of Instinctive Systems

The child's tie to his mother is a result of the activation of specific behavioural systems that have proximity to mother as an outcome.
These behavioural systems develop within the infant due to their interaction with their environment, particularly their mother.
Food and eating play a minor role in their development.

Comparison to Animal Behaviour and Natural History

Attachment behaviour is significant in human and animal social behaviour.
Understanding its biological function can provide valuable insights into personality development.

Attachment behaviour and its place in nature

Characterized by maintaining proximity to another animal and restoring it when impaired
Specific to certain individuals: young can recognize their parents and vice versa
Common in birds and mammals, including humans
Terminology: attachment behaviour (any behaviour resulting in proximity), caregiving behaviour (reciprocal behaviour of parents)
Can be influenced by species-specific factors

Features of Attachment Behaviour:

Young animals remain close to their mothers soon after birth or hatching
Maintained through individual recognition and differentiated behaviour
Both parent and young exhibit special behaviours towards each other
Developmental anomalies (rare in natural conditions) include attachment to non-parents or inanimate objects

Types of Attachment Behaviour:

Vocal calls attracting parents
Locomotory movements taking the young towards their mothers

Variations in Duration:

Birds: attachment behaviour ceases when young are ready to pair (varies by species)
Mammals:
- Ungulates: females stay attached to mother until old age, forming flocks
- Young males break away during adolescence and form groups with other males
- Monkeys and apes: attachment behaviour strong during infancy and childhood, but persists into adult life in some species
Humans: attachment behaviour evident due to slow development and recent study focus

Caution:

Attachment behaviour evolved independently in birds and mammals
Behavioural mechanisms mediating attachment may differ between the two groups
Argument from analogy with bird behaviour has a lower status compared to argument from mammal or primate behaviour

Implications for Human Attachment:

Human attachment behaviour is an extension of behaviour seen in many other species
Study of attachment behaviour in non-human primates provides valuable insights into the human case
The growth and development of human attachment are still not well understood

Attachment behaviour in non-human primates

At birth or soon after, primate infants cling to their mothers.
Infants continue to have close proximity to their mothers throughout early childhood.
Proportion of day spent in direct contact with mother decreases as they grow older but continue to sleep with her at night.
Female young are less active and adventurous than males.
Differences in attachment behaviour between groups may be due to habitat or social tradition.

Rhesus Monkeys:

Live in bands, stable over long periods.
Reach puberty at about four years and full-growth at six.
Infants remain close to mother until about three years old, females probably for longer.
Detailed account of infant–mother interaction during first two and a half years of life.
Infants cling to mother immediately after birth, gripping with hands, feet, and mouth.
Initiate contact and separation.
Mothers carry infants on their backs or under bellies.
Infants give squeaking calls when away from mother.
Bond may persist and play a role in determining adult social relationships.

Baboon:

Terrestrial species, live in large groups with dominant males and females.
Young remain close to mothers until adolescence.
Females stay in the center of the group, males at the periphery or on their own during adolescence.

Chimpanzee:

Live in communities with matriarchal social structure.
Infants have strong attachment to mother and continue to seek contact throughout life.
Mother's behaviour influences development of infant attachment.
Play an important role in socialization of offspring.

Gorilla:

Live in groups with dominant silverback males and females.
Strong maternal attachment lasts into adolescence and may persist into adulthood.
Infants spend most time in close proximity to mother, especially during first few years of life.
Mothers protect infants from other group members.

Selection Criteria:

Four species are adapted to terrestrial existence.
Good field studies and experimental data available for all four.
Two species, rhesus and chimpanzee, have extensive research on attachment behaviour.

Attachment Behaviour in Baboons

Chacma baboons live in bands, which can range from a dozen to over a hundred individuals.
Baboons reach puberty at around four years for females and nine or ten years for males.
Infants have close contact with their mothers throughout the first year of life and up to the second and third years with some interruptions.
During the first month, babies spend all their time clinging to their mother in a ventro-ventral position.
From five weeks to four months, infants begin to ride on their mother's back and engage in social play with peers.
By six months, infants spend most of their time with peers, but they still sleep with their mothers.
At one year old, females go through their first sexual cycle and reject their infant, causing anxiety.
Mothers protect their infants from harm and seek them out when alarmed.
By the end of the second year, infants continue to spend time near their mother but may also sleep with a new baby.
Adolescent females join adult groups at four years old, while males take another four or five years to mature.

Attachment Behaviour in Chimpanzees:

Chimpanzees live in ever-changing temporary sub-groups instead of stable social groups.
Female chimpanzees reach puberty at around nine years and begin reproducing a few years later.
Males reach sexual maturity at around nine but take several more years to reach full growth.
Infants spend their entire infancy in close proximity to their mother.
During the first four months, babies cling to their mother in the ventral position and rarely venture far from her.
Between six and eighteen months, infants travel jockey-fashion on their mother's back but spend less time physically clinging to her.
By the end of the second year, infants are out of physical contact with their mother for up to 75% to 90% of the day but still sleep with her.
Between ages four and seven, infants are weaned but continue to spend time with their mother and travel with her.
Close relationships between mothers and offspring, as well as siblings, persist throughout the life-cycle.

Attachment Behaviour in Gorillas

Gorillas are mostly terrestrial primates living in social groups composed of both sexes and all ages
Membership of groups is unstable, with members leaving at adolescence or later
Mothers play a significant role in ensuring infants stay close during early stages

Infancy (Up to 3 Years) in Gorillas

Infants spend little time with adults other than their mother
Interaction with mothers continues even after birth of another baby
As juveniles mature, they spend more time with adult animals

Relationships Between Young Monkeys/Apes and Other Animals in Their Groups

Infants spend most of their time away from adults other than mother playing with peers
Adult females may seek to "mother" infants, but this is usually disliked by the real mothers
Adult males take interest in mothers with babies but rarely carry them themselves
Some species, like Japanese macaques and gorillas, exhibit paternal behavior among high-ranking males

Infant-Mother Relationship

Mothers ensure infants remain close through support and protection
Infants display intense attachment to their mothers
Accounts of infants raised away from their mothers illustrate the strength of their attachment

Later Stages of Development

As juveniles grow older, they spend more time with adult animals
Associations between juveniles and adults vary among species
Males may spend more time with certain infants, suggesting potential paternity recognition in some species

Discrimination of Mother by Infant

Defined as seeking and maintaining proximity to another individual
Rhesus infants develop attachment to a specific mother within the first week or two of life (Harlow and Harlow, 1965)
Non-human primates have some degree of pattern vision at birth (Fantz, 1965), enabling early recognition of individuals
Human foster-parents report infants discriminating caregivers soon after arrival:
- Patas monkey preferred Bolwig and became extremely clingy (Bolwig)
- Baboon recognized Rowell and became insistent on her presence after ten days (Rowell)
Chimpanzees develop preference for caregiver more slowly, but it is equally strong once established
Attachment behaviour is exhibited in response to alarm or separation

Conditions that intensify attachment behaviour:

Hunger
Caregiver moving away
Short separations

Waning of Attachment Behaviour:

Primates spend less time with mothers and more time with peers/adults as they grow older
Mother's role in promoting change varies among species: baboons rebuff infants, while chimpanzees and gorillas do not
Decrease in attachment behaviour may be due to changes in behavioural systems or increase in exploratory behaviour
Factors affecting the rate of waning include frequency of alarming events and enforced separation at too early an age
Humans raised primates show strong interest in humans, sometimes directing sexual behavior towards them. The long-term effects of attachment behaviour during infancy are significant. (Note: The text does not provide enough information on the role of attachment behaviour in adult life for firm conclusions to be drawn).

Attachment Behaviour in Man and Non-human Primates: Differences from and Similarities to that seen in Non-human Primates

Differences:
- In man, infant becomes aware of mother and seeks company after mobility, while in non-human primates, clinging by infant to mother is present from birth or soon afterwards.
- Human infants are carried by mothers for longer periods, leading to later discrimination between mother and others.
Similarities:
- Continuum exists from least advanced primates to man.
- Infant continues to cling but needs mother's assistance for proximity.

Growth of Attachment Behaviour during the First Year: Heading: Infant-Mother Relations in Primates

Inferior primates: infant must do all clinging, no support from mother.
Advanced Old World monkeys: infant does most clinging but receives some assistance.
Advanced primates (gorilla and man): infant continues to cling but not strong enough to support himself for long, mother keeps them in proximity.

Heading: Differences between Man and Non-human Primates

Human infants are able to discriminate mother before attachment behaviour develops.
Attachment behaviour criteria: perceptual discrimination and proximity-maintaining behaviours.

Heading: Ainsworth's Study on African Infants

Observed Ganda infants in Uganda from three months to one year old.
Infant's responses to mother: smiling, vocalising, following, crying, and attempts to follow.
Proximity-maintaining behaviour: occurs between six and nine months with increasing vigour.
Clinging behaviour becomes evident after age nine months.
Attachment behaviour towards other familiar adults is less consistent and strong than towards mother.
Four infants did not show attachment behaviour by the end of study (reasons discussed in Chapter 15).

Heading: Schaffer and Emerson's Study on Scottish Infants

Similar findings to Ainsworth, with development of attachment behaviour around six months.
Criteria restricted to responses to being left by mother.
First-hand observations limited; greeting responses not taken into account.

Scottish and Ganda Infants' Attachment Development

Scottish infants were slower to develop attachment behavior than Ganda infants, but this may be due to different criteria and methods of observation.
Ainsworth observed directly, while Schaffer and Emerson relied on mothers' reports.
Both studies agree on:
- Individual variation in age of first showing attachment behavior (from before 4 months to after 12 months).
- Attachment behavior directed towards figures other than mother (often towards father or older siblings).
Intensity and consistency of attachment behavior can vary greatly.

Factors Influencing the Intensity of Attachment Behavior

Organismic variables: hunger, fatigue, illness, unhappiness.
Environmental variables: alarm, absence of mother.
Alarm increases attachment intensity (especially for strangers).
Absence of mother increases attachment intensity upon return.
Both human and non-human primate infants show similar short-term intensity factors.

Infant's Role in Attachment Development

Infants take an active role in seeking interaction, initiating contact, and influencing the form it takes.
Infants dictate their parents' behavior through demands and reinforcements.
Pattern of interaction between infant and mother is a resultant of both parties' contributions.

Subsequent Course of Attachment Behaviour in Man

During the second and third year, attachment behaviour intensity and frequency do not decrease
Increase in perceptual range leads to changes in circumstances eliciting attachment behaviour
Infants become increasingly aware of impending departures
By 11-12 months, infants can anticipate departure and protest before it happens
Change occurs around age 2.9 years
Children exhibit less distress upon mother's departure in nursery school settings after this age
Increased ability to feel secure with subordinate attachment figures (familiar people)
Security is conditional: familiarity, health, awareness of mother's whereabouts
Change seems abrupt, suggesting maturational threshold

Children's Responses to Separation

Children aged 2.5-5.5 years respond differently to separation from mother
Younger children (<3 years) refuse to go unless mother comes and show clinging behaviour
Older children (>4.5 years) accept mother's assurances and go alone
Children in study were primarily from skilled artisan and professional white families with conservative upbringing

Attachment Behaviour in English Children:

Newson and Newson studied attachment behaviour in 700 four-year-olds from the English Midlands (1966, 1968).
Occurrence and Incidence: 16% of mothers reported their child often clinging, 47% sometimes.
Reasons for attachment behaviour include illness and jealousy of younger sibling.
Most mothers described themselves as responsive to children's demands but some reluctantly so.
Attachment behaviour still prominent in early school years (children hold parent's hand, return to them when distressed).

Attachment Behaviour During Adolescence:

Bond to Parents Changes: Other adults become important and sexual attraction develops.
Individual variation increases; adolescents may cut off from parents or remain intensely attached.
Bond to mother more evident in daughters than sons (Young and Willmott, 1957).
Attachment behaviour can be directed towards groups and institutions during adolescence and adult life.

Attachment Behaviour in Adult Life:

Attachment behaviour continues into adult life and affects behaviour in various ways.
Bond to Parents Persists: In many societies, the bond between daughter and mother is strong.
Attachment behaviour can be directed towards members of younger generations in old age.
Attachment behaviour in adult life is not regressive; it plays a natural role from childhood to old age.
Circumstances like sickness or danger elicit attachment behaviour in adults.
Misleading to label all attachment behaviour in adult life as 'regressive'.

Forms of Behaviour Mediating Attachment

Five responses listed as leading to attachment behaviour: crying, smiling, following, clinging, and sucking (discussed later)
Sixth response, calling, important for hailing mother by short sharp calls and later by name

Criteria for Growth of Attachment Behaviour:

Two main criteria:
- Crying and following when mother leaves
- Greeting and approach when mother returns
Other criteria:
- Differential smiling at mother (fourth month)
- Movement to mother and clinging when alarmed
- Confident exploration in presence of mother, return to mother if frightened or mother moves away

Exploration and Attachment:

Infants make little excursions to explore objects and people but return to mother for assurance
Exploration ends if child is frightened, hurt, or mother moves away
Youngest Ganda child observed showing pattern of behaviour at 28 weeks, majority showed it by eight months
Children more confident and ready to explore in presence of mother, more timid and distressed in her absence

Emotional Aspects of Attachment:

Attachment behaviour accompanied by strong feelings: love, joy, security, anxiety, sorrow, anger
Threat of loss creates anxiety, actual loss causes sorrow and anger

Chapter 12

Nature and Function of Attachment Behaviour

Theory of Secondary Drive:

Origin
- Assumption that attachment behaviour is a result of being fed by others
- Dollard and Miller: feeding experience establishes sociability
- Freud: love originates from attachment to satisfied need for nourishment
Present Status
- Long held as self-evident truth
- Challenged by Lorenz's findings on imprinting in the 1950s
- Attachment behaviour develops without food or other rewards in ducklings, goslings, guinea-pigs, dogs, sheep, and rhesus monkeys
- Supporters must present convincing evidence to maintain theory's validity

Lorenz's Work on Imprinting:

Young creatures follow moving objects after hatching
Once followed, they prefer that object to others and follow no other
Process of learning characteristics is known as imprinting
Shows attachment behaviour can develop without food or rewards

Experimental Evidence:

Guinea-pigs: respond to white wooden shape with social responses like following, sniffing, licking, and contact-seeking (Shipley, 1963)
Baby guinea-pigs in darkness responded to model with approach, following, and social responses after removal from mother (no possibility of visual generalisation or effect of previous contact)

Scott's Experiments with Puppies:

Puppies approached and followed a human being despite no prior association or food reward, starting from three weeks of age.
Those first exposed to a man before four weeks old immediately approached, while older puppies were more afraid.
Scott's associate Fisher conducted experiments with isolated puppies fed mechanically, who still followed a walking man, even when punished earlier.

Cairns' Experiments with Lambs:

From about six weeks of age, lambs developed attachment to objects and companions with visual and auditory contact, without physical interaction.
Isolated lambs maintained proximity to a television set and sought it upon separation.
Lambs treated cruelly by their companion still sought them out upon separation.

Harlow's Experiments with Rhesus Monkeys:

Contact comfort led to attachment behavior, while food did not.
Infants spent more time on the cloth model regardless of which provided food.
Infants showed typical attachment behavior towards non-feeding cloth models and no such behavior towards feeding wire models.
Infants reared with a nursing wire mother showed no affection or comfort from her presence.

Additional Findings:

Monkeys cling more intensely in the face of punishment.
Baby baboons directed their behavior towards a dummy or foster-mother instead of a bottle, which only held interest when hungry.
Food seemed to make one model slightly more attractive but had minimal effect overall.
Attachment behavior is elicited by anything alarming.

The Case of Man

Attachment Behavior in Humans: A Summary Background:

Secondary drive theory for sub-human mammals seems not applicable to humans due to inconclusive evidence.
Human infants are born with a capacity for clinging and have a strong inclination towards social stimuli.

Human Infant's Capacities:

Born with a capacity for clinging or grasping-instinct (Freud, 1905).
Quieted by social interaction, such as being picked up, talked to, or caressed.
Respond intensely to human attention (Brackbill, 1958; Rheingold, Gewirtz, and Ross, 1959).
May become attached to infants of their own age or older ones (Schaffer and Emerson, 1964a; Anna Freud and Sophie Dann, 1951).

Determinants of Attachments:

Factors that determine attachments: speed of response and intensity of interaction.
Rewarding a child with greeting responses can enhance their performance in tasks (Bower, 1966; Stevenson, 1965).

Oral Symptoms and Attachment Theory:

Secondary drive theory may not fully explain oral symptoms in humans as it does for other species.
Alternative explanations:
1. Oral behavior can develop from attachment behavior that is not dependent on food but still connected to sucking.
2. Symbolic substitution, where oral symptoms represent a relationship with a person.
3. Displacement activity, which occurs when another activity is frustrated and seems to happen out of context.
Infra-symbolic processes may be responsible for the development of oral behaviors in humans and nonhuman primates (Nissen; Harlow).

Persistence of Oral Gratification:

Anna Freud and Sophie Dann reported that concentration camp children exhibited increased thumb sucking when their object relationships were unstable.
This persistence of oral gratification fluctuated based on the children's relationship with their environment.

Implications for Understanding Oral Symptoms:

Attachment theory can provide an alternative explanation for oral symptoms, requiring further research to determine its validity.

The question of imprinting

Background:

Question of imprinting in man and nonhuman mammals
Lorenz's early denial of imprinting in mammals, but later changes in perspective
Broadening concepts of imprinting

Attachment Behavior in Nonhuman Mammals: Commonalities with Birds:

Wide range of effective objects for responses at first
Narrowing down of effective objects due to exposure learning and reinforcing properties
Preference for selected figure tends to be stable
Fear responses limit possibility of attachment development as animal grows older

Fear Responses:

Puppies: older puppies are more likely to fear humans (Scott, 1963)
Rhesus monkeys: infant monkeys become increasingly fearful of new animals and objects after a certain age (Harlow and Zimmermann, 1959; Griffin and Harlow, 1966; Mason and Sponholz, 1963)

Imprinting in Man: Similarities with Nonhuman Mammals:

Social responses elicited by a wide array of stimuli, later narrowed to preferred individuals
Bias towards responding socially to certain kinds of stimuli
Stronger attachment to a person with more experience of social interaction
Exposure learning plays a role in attachment development
Development of attachment behavior during the first year of life (sensitive period)
Increasing fear responses to strangers towards the end of the first year and beyond
Preference for preferred figure tends to persist despite separation

Conclusion:

Human infant's attachment behavior development is similar to that in nonhuman mammals and birds
Use of term "imprinting" is legitimate as long as it's used in its current generic sense, to avoid creating an unwarranted gap between human and other species cases.

Function of attachment behaviour

Attachment Behaviour:

Distinction between causes and functions of behavior
Causes: hormone levels, stimuli from environment (e.g., male mating behavior caused by androgen level and presence of female)
Function: contribution to survival

Child's Tie to Mother:

Traditional discussions lack distinction between causation and function
Secondary drive theory of child's tie to mother, originally proposed by Freud
- Based on the infant's inability to deal with excessive stimulation from unsatisfied physiological needs
- Mother's presence ensures the infant's safety from deranged psychical apparatus due to excessive stimulation
Criticisms of secondary drive theory:
- Evidence suggests it is mistaken
- Food plays only a marginal role in development and maintenance of attachment behavior

Function of Attachment Behaviour:

Protection from predators (Bowlby, 1964)
- Infant remains close to mother for safety
- Elaborated during development through learning
- Persists into adulthood and especially in females
- Elicited at high intensity during alarm situations
Opportunity for the infant to learn from mother necessary skills for survival
- Young animals learn from imitating mother's behavior and directing it towards similar objects (e.g., food)
- Questionable explanations for its persistence into adulthood and intense elicitation during alarm situations

Determining Biological Function:

Biological function is the consequence that led to the behavior's incorporation into a species due to advantages in terms of survival and differential breeding success
In case of attachment behavior, the question is: what advantage does it confer on individuals endowed with ability to develop it?

Arguments for Protection from Predators as the Function of Attachment Behavior:

Isolated animals are more vulnerable to predator attacks than those in groups.
Attachment behavior is elicited particularly easily and intensely in young, pregnant females, and sick animals that are especially vulnerable.
It is always elicited at high intensity during situations of alarm, which often involve the presence of a predator.
The attachment behavior of juveniles towards a dominant male who threatens or attacks them may be explained by this theory. The juvenile seeks proximity to an adult animal for protection from danger.

Doubts about Predation as the Main Function:

Field studies of sub-human primates suggest they live in environments with little predator presence due to human disturbance and focus on diurnal behavior.
The importance of predation on primates may be underestimated due to difficulties in observation.

A note on terminology: ‘dependence’

The terms "dependence" and "dependency" are avoided due to their misleading connotations and different meanings from the term "attachment."
Dependence refers to the extent to- which one individual relies on another for existence, while attachment refers to a form of behavior that maintains proximity.
Dependence is maximum at birth but diminishes steadily until maturity, while attachment is not present at birth and becomes stronger after six months.

Distinctions between terms:

Dependence and attachment are not synonymous.
Dependency in personal relations is often viewed negatively, while attachment is admired.
Other terms proposed for attachment include "cathexis of object," "affiliation," and "succorance."

Issues with alternative terms:

"Cathexis" has drawbacks due to its connection to Freud's energy theory.
"Affiliation" is a broader concept than attachment, as it covers friendliness towards others in general rather than specific figures.
"Succorance" was proposed by Murray as an additional need related to affiliation, but it does not cover the specificity of attachment behavior.

Uses of Attachment Theory:

Freud and Anna Freud used the term "attachment" despite their adherence to secondary drive theory.
Attachment theory is important in understanding relationships between individuals, particularly mother-child bonds.

Attachment and other systems of social behaviour

I. Attachment Behavior and Sexual Behavior: Distinct Systems but with Close Linkages

In the new schema, attachment behavior and sexual behavior are considered as distinct systems, but they have close linkages.
Freud's theories on infantile sexuality recognized clinical phenomena like abnormal sexual development and influence of childhood experiences on adult sexual behavior.
The new theory explains these phenomena by focusing on the differences between the two forms of behavior and their influences on each other.

II. Reasons for Keeping Attachment Behavior and Sexual Behavior Conceptually Distinct

Variation in Activation: Both systems have different activation patterns.
Different Classes of Objects: Each system may be directed towards different objects.
Sensitive Phases: The developmental phases for each system can occur at different times.

III. Differences between Attachment Behavior and Sexual Behavior

Attachment behavior matures early in the life cycle, remains active throughout, and is typically directed towards a specific attachment figure (e.g., mother).
Sexual behavior matures later, becomes episodic, and is typically directed towards members of the opposite sex for reproduction.

IV. Examples of Distinct Patterns and Sensitive Phases in Different Species

Ungulates: Attachment behavior remains strong throughout life, while sexual behavior is episodic and directed towards members of the same species.
Ducks: Following behavior has a sensitive phase during the first 48 hours, while sexual behavior's sensitive phase occurs later (3-8 weeks).
Primates: Affectional systems include infant-mother, mother-infant, infant-infant, sexual, and paternal systems, each with unique maturational stages and underlying response patterns.

V. Linkages between Attachment Behavior and Sexual Behavior

Shared Components: Some behaviors are common to both systems (e.g., clinging, kissing).
Overlapping Eliciting and Controlling Mechanisms: These mechanisms may be shared between attachment, sexual, and even parental behaviors.
Adult Sexual Partners Taking Parental Roles: This behavior could result from persistent attachment behavior in adults that is easily elicited (not typical).

Chapter 13

A Control Systems Approach to Attachment Behaviour

Attachment behavior poses challenges for a secondary drive theory but an interesting opportunity for a control systems approach
Instinctive behaviors maintain animals in certain relationships with their environment (e.g., brooding, territorial)
Proposed theory: attachment behavior is organized to maintain proximity to a specific goal-object (mother)

Components of Mother–Child Interaction: Mother's and child's behavior:

Observed patterns include behaviors that increase or maintain proximity, irrelevant behaviors, antithetic behaviors, and negation behaviors
Distance between mother and child is maintained within certain stable limits despite various behaviors exhibited by both parties

Classes of Behavior in Mother–Child Interaction:

Attachment behavior (child): seeking proximity to the mother
Exploratory behavior (child): behaviors irrelevant to maintaining proximity, may inhibit attachment behavior when mother is absent
Caregiving behavior (mother): behaviors that elicit or maintain attachment behavior in the child, response to child's needs
Behavior antithetic to parental care (mother): behaviors not related to maintaining proximity or caring for the child

Function of Each Class:

Homogeneous classes: attachment behavior (child) and caregiving behavior (mother)
Heterogeneous classes: exploratory behavior (child) and behavior antithetic to parental care (mother)

Interactions between Behavior Classes:

Presence or absence of one class affects the others, leading to elicitation or inhibition of behaviors from other classes

Conclusion:

A child's attachment behavior is just one component of the four classes that make up mother–child interaction
Understanding these classes and their interactions is crucial for understanding attachment behavior.

Exploratory Behaviour and Play

Exploration and investigation have become widely accepted as distinct and important classes of behavior.
Forms of exploratory behavior:
- Orienting response: head and body turn to better position sense organs and prepare for action.
- Bodily approach: enables all senses to obtain more information about the stimulus object.
- Manipulation or experimentation: investigation through interaction with the object.
Common in birds and mammals, especially crows and primates.
Young creatures exhibit more exploratory behavior than older ones.
Elicited by novel and complex stimuli; interest wanes once familiarity is achieved.

Properties of Exploratory Behavior:

Takes precedence over feeding and sexual behavior.
Transforms the novel into the familiar.
Elicits both interest and alarm.
Balance between interest and alarm shifts in favor of interest.
Process accelerated by presence of a friend or mother.

Relation to Play:

Exploratory behavior is a prerequisite for play.
Social exploration begins as an extension of object exploration.
Play with peers starts as individual activity involving complex use of physical objects.
Precursors of multiple and complex interactive play responses.

Attachment Behavior:

Exploratory behavior and attachment behavior are antithetic: taking child away from mother, exploratory behavior and play; taking mother towards child, maternal behavior is reciprocal to attachment behavior.

Maternal Caregiving

In all mammals, maternal behavior includes various kinds: nursing, nest-building, retrieving
Retrieving is bringing young to the nest or close to mother
Primates use hands and arms for retrieval, while rodents and carnivores use mouths
Retrieval behavior in humans referred to as "mothering," "maternal care," or "nurturance"
Retrieval behavior is important for reducing distance between infant and mother

Retrieving Behavior:

Defined as behaviors that bring young close to mother
Primates gather infants into their arms and hold them
Mediated by various behavioral systems
Activated/terminated by organismic and environmental variables

Organismic Variables:

Hormone levels of the mother play a role in retrieving behavior

Environmental Variables:

Whereabouts and behavior of the infant: strays beyond certain distance, cries, or is carried off by others

Maternal Response:

Mothers make immediate efforts to recover infant when activated
Behavior ceases when infant is safely in her arms
Mother may be alert and watchful even when infant is near but not in her arms

Attachment and Recognition:

Similar processes lead to the selection of figures towards whom retrieving behavior and attachment behavior are directed
Recognition of infant occurs within hours or days of birth, and only that particular infant is mothered
Maternal retrieving behavior serves a protective function against dangers such as predators, falling from height, and drowning

Cultural Variations:

In primitive societies, mothers remain near infants, but in more developed communities, some mothers may appoint deputies for shorter or longer periods of time.
Despite these variations, most mothers experience a strong pull to be close to their babies and young children.

Maternal Behaviour Antithetic to Care of Infant

A mother's behavior towards her infant goes beyond care and includes other activities that compete or are incompatible with it.
Household duties are among the competing behaviors, but most can be set aside when necessary for mothering.
Intractable demands from other family members, especially husband and older children, can lead to conflict and may interfere with care.
Dislike of contact or infant's crying can cause a mother to withdraw from her baby, which is more problematic in emotionally disturbed mothers.
Mother-child interaction involves various behaviors that complement attachment behavior, such as exploration and play.
Both mother and child experience intense feelings and emotions during interaction, with positive feelings favoring attachment development.
The standards of appraisal for the consequences of behavior are strongly favorable towards attachment in both mother and child.

Shifting Responsibility for Proximity:

In higher primate species, including humans, responsibility for maintaining proximity between mother and young shifts from mother to child as they develop.
Initially, infants cannot consistently maintain proximity due to their lack of strength or mobility, so mothers take full responsibility.
In the next phase, infants become mobile but are incompetent at maintaining proximity, so mothers continue to play a significant role.
In the subsequent phase, infants' attachment behavior becomes more efficient and they take on more responsibility for maintaining proximity.
Mother's role shifts to encouraging independence and keeping an eye on their child's safety.
The transitional phase lasts longer in humans due to societal norms and conditions.
Eventually, children are able to maintain their own proximity, and mothers play a minor role in maintaining it.

Forms of behaviour mediating attachment and their organisation

In infants, attachment behavior is mediated by various forms of behavior including crying and calling, babbling and smiling, clinging, non-nutritional sucking, and locomotion.
Each behavior has a predictable outcome of proximity to the mother.
Later in development, each behavior becomes organized within one or more superordinate and goal-corrected systems.
Orientational behavior is essential for attachment behavior as it keeps infants informed of the mother's whereabouts.

Orientational Behavior:

Infants orient towards the mother through discrimination and tracking her movements visually and aurally.
Orientation is necessary for attachment behavior to be directed towards the mother.

Signalling Behaviour:

Signalling behavior includes crying, smiling, babbling, calling, and gestures.
Crying is elicited by hunger or pain and has different forms and effects on maternal behavior.
Smiling and babbling occur in different circumstances and have different effects on maternal behavior.
Each signalling component of attachment behavior is distinctive and complementary to each other.
Smiling and babbling elicit maternal loving behavior, which prolongs social interaction between mother and infant.

Crying:

Crying builds up slowly from hunger or is sudden and loud from pain.
Pain cry is more effective in bringing the mother to the child.
A mother's response to crying depends on its intensity and type.

Smiling and Babbling:

Smiling and babbling occur when the infant is awake and content.
They elicit maternal loving behavior, which prolongs social interaction.
Smiles have a long-term effect on maternal behavior, making her more responsive to the infant's signals.

Babbling:

Babbling by an infant often elicits babbling back from the mother and creates a chain of interchange.
Babbling tends to stop when the baby is picked up or ignored.

Gestures:

The gesture of raised arms in infants is a homologous movement that serves as a signal for being picked up.
It is similar to the monkey movement of stretching arms to grip mother's flanks.

Goal-corrected Signalling Behavior:

Trying to catch and hold the mother's attention is a form of goal-corrected signalling behavior.
Infants exhibit this behavior from around 32 weeks old and intensely seek attention until it is obtained.
It is adaptive in man's environment of evolutionary adaptedness for the mother to know where her child is and be ready to intervene when necessary.

Approach Behaviour

Behavior that Brings Infant to Mother:

Approach: seeking and following using available means of locomotion
Clinging: able to cling from birth, more efficiently during first month, declines after 18 months but improves again
Non-nutritional sucking or nipple-grasping: maintains contact with mother, more common than nutritional sucking, has separate functions for nutrition and attachment, movements differ

Behavioral Systems:

Goal-corrected: change direction to reach set goal (proximity to mother)
Organized in terms of a plan: overall objective is constant, techniques are flexible

Factors that Elicit Clinging:

Being naked or undressed
Changes in gravity (jumps, stumbles)
Later, especially when alarmed

Function of Human Infant's Clinging:

Similar to infant clinging found in monkeys and apes
Serves the same function: maintenance of contact with mother

Non-nutritional Sucking:

Grasping or sucking a nipple or nipple-like object
Maintains close contact with mother, especially when upset or alarmed
Two separate functions: nutrition and attachment
More time spent on non-nutritional sucking than nutritional
Movements used are different: shallower in non-nutritional sucking

Objects of Non-nutritional Sucking:

In primitive communities, mother's breast
In other communities, thumb or comforter
Likely to become more content and relaxed with ability to engage in non-nutritional sucking.

Intensity of Attachment Behaviour

Intensity of attachment behaviour varies, with different forms evoked at different levels of intensity.
Low intensity: smiling, relaxed locomotion, watching, touching.
High intensity: rapid locomotion, clinging, crying (present in both low and high intensity).

Organisation of Behavioural Systems Mediating Attachment: Principles of Organisation:

Goal-corrected vs non-goal-corrected systems.
Goal-corrected systems take continuous account of discrepancies between set-goals and performance, leading to a predictable outcome.
Examples: peregrine's stoop, restoration of egg to nest by goose.
Non-goal-corrected systems have no set-goal, leading to a predictable outcome through specific actions in certain settings.
Examples: baby's smile, crying (early stages).

Goal-Corrected vs Non-Goal-Corrected Attachment Systems: Smiling:

Fixed action pattern elicited by sight of mother's face.
Predictable outcome: greater proximity to mother.
No tendency for smile to vary based on mother's location or approach/departure.

Crying:

Predictable outcome: mother goes to infant.
No tendency for cry to vary based on mother's location or approach/departure (early stages).

Later Development:

Infant keeps close eye on mother, insists on following her when she moves.
Governed by a system that remains inactive as long as mother is in sight or touch but becomes activated when conditions change.
Once activated, approach continues with goal-correction until child is within sight or touch of mother, whereupon the system is terminated.

Calling:

Begins during second year of life.
Variation in way infant calls based on estimate of mother's whereabouts and movements.
Predictable outcome: physical contact between child and mother.

Chains of Behaviour:

Succession of goal-corrected behaviours followed by other attachment behaviours (e.g., locomotion, calling, arms-up gesture, hand-grasp).
Activation of second behaviour depends on narrowing distance between child and mother.

Behaviour typical of two-year-olds in different situations

Behavior when Mother is Present and Stationary:

Children can play and explore with a stationary mother as a base, maintaining proximity through orienting towards her, keeping her whereabouts in mind, and locomotion.
Clinging, sucking, and crying are absent.
Exchange of glances, smiles, or touches assures awareness of each other's presence.

Study by Anderson (1972):

Of 35 children observed, 24 remained within a distance of about 200 feet from mother.
Children could maintain mother-orientation while establishing some distance.
Mother followed when attracted by swings or interests, and occasionally had to retrieve children who wandered too far.
Children moved directly away from or towards mother in short bouts, with longer hops and faster returns.
Halts near mother were infrequent but of relatively long duration; those at a distance were more frequent and much briefer.
Return moves could halt at various distances, with contact made by climbing on lap, leaning against knee, pulling hand, or remaining at a distance.
Children and mothers engaged in little vocal communication when distant.

Additional Information:

When playing near a stationary mother, children often seek her attention and are dissatisfied without it.
Some children interact more with mothers through tactile interchange than visual interaction.
Mother's whereabouts and familiarity of the situation are principal ways to define situations for two-year-olds.

Behaviour when Mother is Present and Moving

Children around three years old cannot maintain proximity to a moving figure through goal-corrected locomotion.
At this age, children depend on parental transport.
Children may have instinctive behavior to demand or manipulate being carried.
Mother's sudden movement can cause children to stumble or fall.
Transport is common in both developed and undeveloped communities.
Children under three years old comprise a large proportion of those being carried.
After the third birthday, children start developing efficient goal-corrected systems.
Older children may still hold parent's hand or grasp pram handles for comfort.

Child Behavior when Mother Departs:

Children protest and attempt to follow mother from around one year old.
Younger children cry more, older ones try to follow.
Mother's departure behavior influences the child's reaction.
Familiar settings make separation easier for children.
Children may play alone after protesting upon mother's departure.

Child Behavior when Mother Returns:

After a short absence, children orient towards and approach their mother.
Stop crying and cling tightly when picked up.
After a longer absence, children may be unresponsive or withdrawn.
Resist being put down and exhibit non-nutritional sucking.
Separation lasting days or longer can cause excessive intensity or absence of attachment behavior.
Some parts of the behavior are goal-corrected while others might not be.

Activation and termination of systems mediating attachment behaviour

Goal-Corrected Systems: A type of system that mediates attachment behavior, where terminating conditions vary according to the intensity of activation.

Activation of Attachment Behavior:

Distance from mother
Elapsed time
Child's condition: fatigue, hunger, pain, cold, ill health
Whereabouts and behavior of mother: absence, departing, discouraging proximity
Other environmental conditions: alarming events, rebuffs by others

Intensity of Activation: The level of activation of attachment behavior, which determines the stringency of terminating conditions.

Terminating Conditions: Physical contact with mother when systems are intensely active; sight or sound of mother or proximity to an attachment figure when systems are less intensely active.

Stringent vs. Relaxed Terminating Conditions: Depending on the intensity of activation, terminating conditions range from requiring physical contact with mother to just sight or sound of her or proximity to a subordinate attachment figure.

Effects of Child's Condition: A tired, hungry, cold, ill, or in pain child exhibits attachment behavior at high intensity and requires stringent terminating conditions.

Effects of Mother's Behavior: Maternal behavior that discourages proximity or threatens it can elicit strong attachment behavior at high intensity with correspondingly stringent terminating conditions. On the other hand, maternal behavior that shows readiness to maintain proximity allows the child to relax his own efforts and exhibit less intense attachment behavior.

Effects of Other Environmental Conditions: Alarming events or rebuffs from others can elicit strong attachment behavior at high intensity with stringent terminating conditions.

Mother's Presence: The mere sight of mother holding another baby in her arms is enough to elicit strong attachment behavior in older children, as they may feel neglected or unattended to otherwise.

Protective Function: Attachment behavior fulfills a protective function by ensuring proximity to mother when she seems unlikely to maintain it and relaxing efforts when she shows readiness to do so.

Control Theory of Attachment Behavior

In Chapter 11, it is discussed how attachment behavior in children reduces after their third birthday (Bruner, 1934).
Changes in attachment behavior:
- Less urgently and less frequently activated.
- Intensity decreases.
- Terminating conditions become more relaxed.
- Elicited by a wider range of conditions, some symbolic.

Factors Affecting Attachment Behavior's Activation

Experience: Familiarity reduces alarm.
Endocrine balance: Likely plays a significant role in changes with age.
Sex differences: Females may have easier elicitation of attachment behavior than males.

Effects on Termination of Attachment Behavior

Conditions that earlier elicited high-intensity attachment behavior now do so at lower intensity.
Older children are terminated by light touches or reassuring glances instead of close bodily contact.

Changes in Form of Attachment Behavior

Discussed further in final chapters.
Other forms include photographs, letters, and telephone conversations as means to keep contact.

Purposes of Control Theory

Demonstrate its ability to explain known facts about attachment behavior during early human life.
Encourage research: Predictions can be made and tested with precision.

Part IV: ONTOGENY OF HUMAN ATTACHMENT

Chapter 14

Beginnings of Attachment Behaviour

Heredity and Development: According to P.B. Meadow, an infant is not a tabula rasa at birth; instead, they come equipped with several behavioral systems that are biased towards responding to specific stimuli.
Phases in the Development of Attachment: The development of attachment behaviors in a human infant can be divided into several phases.

Phase 1: Orientation and Signals with Limited Discrimination of Figure

From birth to about twelve weeks old, infants exhibit friendly responses towards people but have limited ability to discriminate one person from another.
Infant behaviors include orientation, tracking movements, grasping, smiling, babbling, and ceasing to cry upon hearing a voice or seeing a face.
Lasts until around six months of age in favorable conditions.

Phase 2: Orientation and Signals Directed towards One (or More) Discriminated Figure(s)

Infants continue to behave friendly towards people but do so more markedly towards their mother-figure than others.
Differential responsiveness to auditory and visual stimuli becomes apparent around four weeks and ten weeks, respectively.
Lasts until about six months of age or much later depending on circumstances.

Phase 3: Maintenance of Proximity to a Discriminated Figure by means of Locomotion as well as Signals

Infants become increasingly discriminating in their responses towards people and develop goal-corrected systems to maintain proximity to their mother-figure using locomotion.
Friendly responses to others wane, while some individuals are selected as subsidiary attachment figures.
Strangers may evoke caution or alarm.
Begins between six and seven months of age but can be delayed until after the first birthday.
Probably continues throughout the second year and into the third.

Phase 4: Formation of a Goal-corrected Partnership

Children begin to understand their mother's feelings and motives, leading to the development of a more complex partnership.
Evidence suggests this phase is already well started by the middle of the third year.
A child's picture of the world becomes more sophisticated, and their behavior becomes potentially more flexible.

Behavioural equipment of the human neonate

Myths about neonate's behavior have ranged from undifferentiated and inchoate to advanced for Phase 4 (Osofsky, 1979)
All sensory systems functioning at birth or soon after (Macfarlane, 1975; DeCasper & Fifer, 1980)
Neonates distinguish smells and voices of individuals by preferring their mother's smell and voice (Macfarlane, 1975; DeCasper & Fifer, 1980)
Visually less expert but can fixate a light and track it briefly, perceive pattern, and discriminate stimuli based on preferences (Cohen et al., 1979; Thomas, 1973)

Sensory Capacities:

Infants respond differently to loud versus soft sounds (Hetzer & Tudor-Hart, 1927)
Preference for face-like stimuli from early age (Thomas, 1973; Thomas & Jones-Molfese, 1977)
Discrimination of individual faces not present before about fourteen weeks (Thomas, 1973)

Selective Sensitivity:

Differential responses favor development of social interaction (Sameroff & Cavenagh, 1979)
Behavior is modified by central feedback and consequences (Sameroff & Cavenagh, 1979)

Forms of Behavior Mediating Attachment:

Perceptual Equipment:
- Orients infant towards mother-figure (Sameroff & Cavenagh, 1979)
- Enables familiarity with her
Effector Equipment:
- Hands and feet, head and mouth
- Latch infant in contact with mother when given a chance
Signaling Equipment:
- Crying and smiling
- Babbling and arm gestures (Lipsitt, 1966)

Infant Behavior Development:

During early months of life, infant is still in first phase of attachment development: 'Orientation and signals with limited discrimination of figure'
Discussion of factors influencing courses postponed to later chapter

Consequences of Behavior:

Food is not the only consequence that can augment or diminish behavior (Lipsitt, 1966)
Shape of object sucked also important in reinforcing response (Lipsitt, 1966)
Neglect of other rewards in past has led to speculative theorizing and neglect (not mentioned in text)

Early responses to people. Orientation

Early Responses to People:

Newborns do not respond to people as people, but their perceptual equipment is well-designed to pick up and process stimuli from humans.
Babies have biases to maximize human stimuli:
- Preference for pattern or contour resembling human faces
- Tendency to listen to human voices, especially female ones
- Preference for moving objects over static ones
Mothers also have biases to respond to babies:
- Bringing baby into face-to-face orientation
- Cradling baby in ventro-ventral position to elicit reflex responses
Reciprocal interactions between mother and baby begin early.

Infant's Visual Behavior:

Newborns can only focus on objects eight or nine inches from their eyes.
Once an object is fixated, babies tend to track it with their eyes and head.
Human faces are ideally positioned for fixation and tracking.
Preference for looking at human faces established by four weeks old.
Movement of a face is crucial up to two months old.
From fourteen weeks onwards, infants have a preference for looking at mother's face over others.

Determining Factors in Visual Development:

Inbuilt bias towards looking at certain patterns and things that move.
Exposure learning: familiar objects distinguished from strange ones.
Inbuilt bias to approach the familiar and withdraw from the strange.
Feedback of results: behaviors augmented or diminished based on results.

Mother as an Interactive Object:

Mother is an interesting and rewarding object to watch.
Mother's movements, gestures, talking, singing, patting, and hugging are reinforcing for the baby.
Baby's interest in mother leads to more interaction from her.
Mutually reinforcing vocal and auditory interaction between mother and baby increases.

Infant's Auditory Development:

Babies respond differently to sounds based on volume and clarity.
By the third day, babies can discriminate their mother's voice.
Baby's attention to mother's voice leads to more vocalizations from her.
Baby pays even more attention to the sounds she makes due to feedback and learning.

Head-turning and Sucking

Two main forms of head movements in infants: rooting (fixed action pattern) and directed head-turning.
Rooting: alternative side-to-side movement, evoked by tactile stimuli near the mouth, not influenced by location, appears early in premature babies.
Directed head-turning: regulated by precise stimuli location, shows maturation delay, develops later than rooting.

Rooting (Fixed Action Pattern):

Alternating side-to-side movement.
Evoked by tactile stimuli anywhere in the mouth area.
Not influenced by stimulation location.
Fixed action pattern, stereotyped form.
Appears in premature babies as early as 28 weeks.

Directed Head-Turning:

Regulated by precise stimulus location.
Infant's head turns towards stimulus source.
Developed later than rooting.
About two-thirds of infants show directed head-turning at full term.
Some infants exhibit both behaviors before the onset of regulated movement.

Feeding Sequence:

Head movement leads baby's mouth to nipple.
Tactile stimulus on lips or adjacent areas opens infant's mouth and grasps nipple.
Tactile stimulation in the mouth area elicits sucking movements.
Presence of milk in the mouth elicits swallowing movements.

Development:

Newborns initiate feeding behavior through a chain-linked sequence, leading to sucking before food is obtained.
Sucking strength can be augmented or diminished by factors like food and object shape.
Infants develop anticipatory orientation towards the breast or bottle in anticipation of contact, starting as early as the fourth feed.

Anticipatory Orientation:

Initially elicited by tactile and/or proprioceptive stimuli when infants are placed in the nursing position.
Guided by what they see from their third month onwards.

Directed Head-Turning and Anticipatory Orientation:

Directed head-turning is an integral part of feeding but also orients baby towards mother even without feeding.
Infants respond to stimuli by rotating their heads, bringing them to face the stimulus source.

Grasping, Clinging, and Reaching

Human neonates have the ability to cling and suspend their weight, which is homologous with the clinging behavior of non-human primates.
The development of directed clinging in human infancy comes from primitive responses: Moro response and grasp response.

Moro Response:

First described by E. Moro in 1918 as an embracing reflex.
Elicited when a baby is suddenly shaken, tilted, raised, or dropped.
Traditionally studied with baby's hands not grasping anything, resulting in two phases: extension and adduction of arms and fingers, and extension and flexion of legs.
Prechtl (1965) found that when infant is held and traction is exerted on his hands, the Moro response shows strong flexion and clinging instead.
In primate environment, it prevents young animals from falling off mother's body.
Controversy over nature, sequence of movements, place, and function in infant behavioral repertoire due to studying it outside the human infant's evolutionary adaptedness.

Grasp Response:

Studied by Halverson (1937) and Denny-Brown (1950, 1958).
Three different types of responses: traction response, true grasp reflex, and instinctive grasp response.
Simplest is the traction response, which consists of flexion in response to traction when suspended infant is suddenly lowered.
True grasp reflex is a double-phase response elicited by tactile stimuli in the palm and proprioceptive stimuli arising in muscles engaged in closure.
Instinctive grasp response develops later, is oriented in space, and has two phases: groping and snap closure.
Grasping comes under visual control at a later stage, allowing infant to grip selectively preferred objects.

Reaching and Grasping:

Human infants reach out towards patterns moving objects by four months, but cannot grasp them until six months old.
Development of visually directed grasping relies on integration of visual motor systems of eye-arm and eye-hand, and tactual motor system of hands.
Spontaneous activities in which an infant engages play a role in the development of visually directed reaching and grasping.
Lack of opportunity for active experience could lead to late or imperfect integration of systems.

Smiling

Smiling of human infants is endearing and has a significant impact on parents.
Extensive literature reviewed by Freedman (1964) and critically appraised by Ambrose (1960).

Causes of Smiling: (i) Instinctive motor pattern: an innate response that belongs to the instinctive category. (ii) Biased stimuli: organisms are biased towards certain stimuli, with human voice and face being the most effective from evolutionary perspective. (iii) Learning: effective stimuli become restricted to those of human origin, specifically human voice and face. (iv) Social releaser: a predictable outcome leading to loving response from the mother or caregiver, increasing social interaction and maintaining proximity. (v) Function: increases interaction between mother and baby and maintains them in proximity. (vi) Mother's response: prolongs social interaction and enhances maternal behavior.

Phases of Smiling Development: (i) Spontaneous and reflex smiling: brief, fleeting responses occurring at birth that have no functional consequence. (ii) Unselective social smiling: elicited by human voice and face, response is complete and sustained. (iii) Selective social smiling: infant becomes increasingly discriminating, smiling more readily to familiar voices and faces. (iv) Differential social responsiveness: smiles freely to familiar figures during play or greeting; strangers are treated differently based on age and environment.

Observations:

Wolff (1963) observed eight infants during their first weeks of life, noting spontaneous and elicited smiles.
Freedman (1965) studied twenty pairs of same-sexed twins.

Smiling Development Stages: (i) Spontaneous and reflex smiling: occurs from birth to around five weeks; brief, fleeting responses; can be elicited during undisturbed sleep or when well-fed. (ii) Unselective social smiling: starts around the fourteenth day and is well established by the end of the fifth week; characterized by a brighter, alert baby with broader mouth movements and crinkled eyes. (iii) Selective social smiling: starts around ten weeks and becomes increasingly discriminating, smiling more readily to familiar voices and faces. (iv) Differential social responsiveness: lasts for the rest of life; familiar figures are smiled at freely, strangers are treated differently based on age and environment.

Early Smiling:

Wolff observed infants' spontaneous and elicited smiles during their first weeks of life in hospital and at home.
Spontaneous smiles occur mostly during drowsiness when eyes close and cannot be elicited by wind.
Elicited smiles can be obtained during undisturbed sleep or when well-fed, but response is uncertain and latency long.
Sounds, including human voice, are equally effective during the first week; however, human voice becomes more effective during the second week.

Later Smiling:

By the end of the fourth week, the sound of a female voice can elicit a smile even when baby is crying or sucking.
Visual stimuli play no visible role in smiling until the fifth week, but make human voice more effective.
The most usual and effective stimulus for eliciting smiles from the fifth week onwards is a human face.

Infant Development: The Role of Visual, Proprioceptive, and Tactile Stimuli in Smiling

Around the same age as visual stimuli become central, proprioceptive and tactile stimuli also become important.
During the fourth and fifth weeks, babies go through a phase of intense gaze at faces before visually elicited smiles appear.
By the end of the fifth week, almost all babies are engaging in visual smiling, which is accompanied by babbling, waving arms, and kicking.
Smiling to visual stimuli other than faces is uncertain, but familiarity with objects may play a role.
A human face in movement is the most effective visual stimulus for eliciting smiles.
Familiarity with an object or person may enhance its ability to elicit a smile.

Proprioceptive and Tactile Stimuli:

Proprioceptive and tactile stimuli become more important during the fourth and fifth weeks of life.
Before babies start smiling at what they see, they go through a phase of intently staring at faces without focusing on them.
After about three and a half weeks, babies seem to focus on their companion's face and engage in eye-to-eye contact.
The change in gaze is noted by the mother, who begins spending more time playing with her baby.

Familiarity:

Piaget found that infants smile primarily at familiar images or objects.
Familiarity may be a factor in why people become the primary elicitors of infant smiles.

Biases:

A baby has an inbuilt bias to look at a human face in preference to other objects.
Another bias is to smile at a human face more readily than at anything else, especially at a human face in movement.

Stimuli:

Any stimulus capable of producing even an occasional smile can be considered sufficient.
A good stimulus elicits a quick, long, and strong smile, while a weak stimulus produces a slow, brief, and low-intensity smile.

Schematic Renderings of the Face:

Certain schematic renderings of the face are sufficient to elicit some sort of smile from infants during the first half-year of life.
All these schemata have a pair of eye-like dots in common.
A face in profile is ineffective at eliciting smiles.

Smiling Behavior in Infants: Ahrens' Experiments:

Ahrens (1954) studied smiling behavior in infants using masks of different sorts.
During second month, infant smiles at pair of black dots on a face-sized card.
Six-dotted model is more effective than two-dotted one.
By third month, infant smiles at mask with only eyes and brows.
Older infants require greater detail to elicit a smile, eventually requiring an actual human face.

Discrimination of Real Face:

Polak et al. found that babies discriminate real face from life-sized colored photo by end of third month.
Smiles are quicker, longer, and stronger for human faces than photos.

Smiling in Blind Babies:

Voice and touch elicit smiling in blind babies.
Until six months old, smiles are fleeting and not sustained like sighted babies'.
Before sustained smiling, blind babies go through phase of rapid reflex smiles.
Human voice continues to carry main role in eliciting smiles during later infancy but is insufficient for sustained smiling until six months.

Selective Social Smiling:

Sighted babies smile more consistently at mother's voice than other voices from fourth week.
Babies remain undiscriminating to visual stimuli longer than voice stimuli.
Babies discriminate stranger from familiar face around fifth month, smiling less at stranger.
Mother's loving behavior and presence are likely influences on sustained smiling.

Effects of Smiling:

When baby's smile is responded to in loving sociable way, he smiles stronger (operant conditioning).
Babies orient head and body, wave arms, kick legs, and babble when they smile.

Additional Responses: (To be continued in next chapter)

Human infant enters social communication with companions through two powerful responses: smiling and vocalization.

Babbling

Babbling: the auditory social signal made by babies, similar to smiling in eliciting a sociable response from others and effective around five weeks of age.

Role of Babbling:

Occurs in a social context, predictably leading to engagement from companions
Effective as a social releaser around the same age as smiles (five weeks)
Elicited by both visual and auditory stimuli, with voice being more effective after six weeks
Increases social interaction between infant and companion, maintaining their proximity

Early Babbling:

Begins at around four weeks of age in response to a voice
Initially elicits both babbling and smiling from the same stimuli
From six weeks onwards, mother's voice is more effective than the baby's own in eliciting babbling
Possible for ten to fifteen vocal exchanges between infant and companion

Factors Affecting Babbling:

Inanimate objects are less effective in eliciting babbling due to lack of response
Social rewards like smiling, cooing, and picking up increase babbling frequency
Experiments have shown that immediate responses to babbling can double its occurrence

Development of Babbling:

Infants make a large variety of sounds by the fourth month
Frequently use some sounds more than others
Show selective tendencies towards companions' intonations and inflections during the first year
Important factors include infant imitation and companion reinforcement.

Crying

Crying vs. Friendly Responses:

Crying is not welcomed by baby's companions and they attempt to stop it and reduce its occurrence.
Social stimuli have opposite roles for crying compared to friendly responses: elicitors and reinforcers for friendly responses, terminators and reducers for crying.

Different Types of Crying:

Each type of crying has unique pitch, pattern, causal stimuli, terminating stimuli, and effects on companions.
Mother's ability to recognize her baby's cry: distinctive 'cry-prints'.
Four types of crying described: hunger, pain, anger, and brain damage.

Factors Causing Rhythmic Crying:

Hunger, chilling, or external stimuli.
External stimuli that elicit rhythmic crying include sudden noises, changes in illumination, posture, nakedness, and hunger or cold.

Identifying the Cause of a Baby's Crying:

Mother identifies cause based on type of cry, observed events, circumstances, or trial-and-error methods.

Terminators of an Infant's Crying:

Socially derived stimuli effective in terminating crying: sounds (human voice, rattle, bell), non-nutritive sucking, and being rocked.

Non-Nutritive Sucking:

Quietens a baby and reduces movements and crying.
Effective even for babies unable to receive food by mouth due to conditions like atresia of the oesophagus.

Rocking:

Effective in quietening a baby, long known in nursery lore.

Causes of Crying in Infants:

Loneliness or Desire for Attention: British paediatrician's account
- Baby cries when not picked up or cuddled
- Crying stops when baby is picked up and cuddled
- Mothers often mistake crying for hunger
- Differentiating factor: Crying from loneliness ceases with picking up, while crying from hunger continues
Physical Discomfort: Bantu-speaking community's practices in East Africa
- Infants cry due to discomfort not satisfied by nursing
- Silenced through jostling and shaking
- Effective stimuli: rocking (vestibular stimulation), non-nutritive sucking

Experimental Analysis of Stimuli that Terminate Crying:

Rocking: most effective terminator when baby is not hungry, cold, or in pain
- Vertical motion with a traverse of three inches
- Effective rate: sixty cycles per minute or above
- Decline in heart-rate and more regular breathing
- Day-to-day effectiveness (never habituates)
Non-nutritive Sucking: quietens a baby but less effective than rocking
- Heart-rate remains above resting level
Sound of Voice: effective terminator, but not as effective as rocking or non-nutritive sucking
Comparative Efficacy of Stimuli for Terminating Crying:
- Order: sound of voice > non-nutritive sucking > rocking
- Baby's mother-figure is the most likely agent to provide these stimuli

Rocking as a Terminator of Rhythmic Crying and Delaying Its Onset:

Terminating rhythmic crying:
- Experiment by Ambrose (1969): 50-day old baby in crib on rocker/stabilimeter
- Findings: every baby stops crying when receiving vestibular stimulation from the rocker at sixty cycles per minute or above
Delaying onset of crying:
- Experiment by Gordon and Foss (1966): Quiet babies in a hospital nursery
- Baby who was rocked for half an hour was less likely to cry during observation period than non-rocked babies

Changes in Infant Behaviour as They Grow Older:

Age 5 weeks: Many babies start crying when person leaves visual field and cease each time they reappear
- No significance of particular figure seen
Age 5 months: Specific figure becomes important
- Baby cries when mother leaves the room, but less so after about nine months
Stranger anxiety: Age-related increase in fear of strangers and strange circumstances
- Around same age as crying at sight of strangers, babies may cry in anticipation of unpleasant occurrences (e.g., doctor preparing injection)
Age 12 months: Rapidly increasing grasp of the world leads to more crying at sight of strangers or unfamiliar situations

Nature and nurture

Nature (genetics) and nurture (environment) influence attachment behavior development.
Genetic differences contribute to variations in behavior, such as:
- Girls' preference for looking at faces over non-facial patterns (Lewis, Kagan, and Kalafat, 1966; Lewis and Kagan, 1965).
- Earlier appearance of orientation and smiling in identical twins compared to fraternal twins (Freedman, 1963; Freedman and Keller, 1963).
Environmental variations affect development:
- Institution infants show delayed development compared to family infants:
  - Smiling appears later (Ambrose, 1961).
  - Babble less at three months (Provence and Lipton, 1962).
  - Delayed discrimination between face and mask, different faces, and initiation of social contact.
  - Smaller repertoire of expressive movements.
  - No attachment to any particular person, especially when distressed.
Reasons for retarding effects of institutions:
- Reduction of stimulus input (Casler, 1961).
- Absence of mother-figure and opportunities for exploration (Ainsworth, 1962).
Importance of a mother's role in providing stimulation and exploration opportunities for infant development (Piaget, 1936; White and Held, 1966).
Institution infants suffer from multiple deprivations:
- Lack of stimulus input.
- Lack of opportunity for exposure learning.
- Lack of opportunity for 'self-induced movement in dependably structured environments'.

Chapter 15

Focusing on a Figure Phase 2 and 3 of Attachment Development

Description of the second and third phases of attachment development: Phase 2 - "Orientation and signals directed towards one (or more) discriminated figure(s)", and Phase 3 - "Maintenance of proximity to a discriminated figure by means of locomotion as well as signals"
Sources of data for Phase 2: observations of Irish American infants in Boston by Wolff (1963), infants in Washington, D.C. by Yarrow (1967), and Ganda infants by Ainsworth (1967)
Sources of data for Phase 3: observations of Ganda infants by Ainsworth and Scottish infants in Glasgow by Schaffer and Emerson (1964a)
Comparison of data from Ganda and Scottish studies, noting the difference in criteria used to define attachment behavior
Description of how the range of stimuli that elicit friendly responses or crying becomes restricted in infancy
Discussion of discrimination abilities in infants, including differential vocalization, stopping of crying when held by mother, crying on mother's departure, smiling at visual stimuli, and differential visual-postural orientation
Description of other differential behaviors, such as greeting response, approach, following, climbing and exploring, burying face, use of mother as base from which to explore, and flight to mother as haven of safety.
Emphasis on the development of attachment behavior in infancy and its importance in shaping future relationships.

Key Concepts:

Attachment development phases:
- Orientation and signals with only limited discrimination (Phase 1)
- Orientation and signals directed towards one or more discriminated figure(s) (Phase 2),
- Maintenance of proximity to a discriminated figure by means of locomotion as well as signals (Phase 3)
- Formation of a goal-corrected partnership (Phase 4)
Discrimination abilities: differential vocalization, stopping of crying on being held by mother, crying on mother's departure, smiling at visual stimuli, differential visual-postural orientation
Behaviors related to attachment: greeting response, approach, following, climbing and exploring, burying face, use of mother as base from which to explore, flight to mother as haven of safety.
Comparison of data from different studies and settings
Importance of attachment behavior in infancy for future relationships.

Figures towards whom attachment behaviour is directed

Children often direct attachment behavior towards more than one figure from an early age.
Attachments do not develop simultaneously; some infants may show multiple attachments almost from the start, while others may add figures later.
Attachment-figures are not treated equally; discrimination and hierarchy are observed.
Principal attachment-figure can be filled by someone other than a natural mother.

Principal and Subsidiary Attachment-Figures

Majority of infants have multiple attachment-figures by their second year of life, but they do not treat all figures alike.
Discrimination is shown in the intensity of protest when leaving each figure and focus of behavior.
A child may select one special figure as a principal attachment-figure while still having other subsidiary attachments.
Natural mother is most likely figure for principal attachment, but exceptions exist.

Factors Influencing Principal Attachment-Figure

Who cares for the child and household composition play significant roles in determining whom a child selects as his principal attachment-figure.
Observed in both Scottish and Ganda studies: natural mother is most common principal figure, but exceptions exist.
Substitute mothers can effectively fill the role of principal attachment-figure if they behave in a "mothering way."
A mother-substitute may face challenges in eliciting strong and consistently elicited mothering responses due to hormonal and experiential limitations.

Attachment Figures vs. Playmates:

Attachment figures are sought when a child is tired, hungry, ill, alarmed, or uncertain of their whereabouts. They provide comfort and security.
Playmates are sought when a child is in good spirits and confident of the attachment figure's whereabouts. They facilitate playful interaction.
Distinction between attachment figures and playmates is important, as they serve different functions and can be filled by different individuals.

Subsidiary Figures:

Subsidiary figures are additional favored figures in a child's life, distinct from the principal attachment figure.
Common subsidiary figures include father, older siblings, grandparents, and neighbors.
The number and identity of these figures change over time and reflect availability.

Social Behavior Towards Subsidiary Figures:

It is unclear whether social behavior towards subsidiary figures begins at the same time as it does towards a principal attachment figure or a little later.
Schaffer and Emerson suggest that attachment behaviour towards subsidiary figures may occur earlier, while Ainsworth believes it occurs a little later.
Neither study provides definitive evidence on this matter.

Number of Attachment Figures:

Contrary to popular belief, having multiple attachment figures does not weaken a child's attachment to their principal figure or make them less attached overall.
Instead, a strong bias towards attaching to one particular person is observed in young children.

Terminology:

The term "monotropy" has been proposed to describe the strong bias for attachment behavior to become directed mainly towards one particular person.

The Role of Inanimate Objects

Attachment behavior can be directed towards inanimate objects, such as non-nutritive sucking and clinging
Non-nutritive sucking and clinging are often directed towards the mother's body in simple societies where infants spend most of their time in contact with her
In modern societies, non-nutritive sucking may be directed towards dummies or thumbs, and attachment to soft objects (cloth, blanket, cuddly toys) may develop later in childhood
These attachments are common; a study of 28 Scottish children found that over a third were attached to a special object and a third also sucked their thumb (Schaffer & Emerson, 1964b)
Children who have cuddly objects and suck their thumb enjoy being cuddled by their mothers (Stevenson, 1954)
The onset of attachment to soft objects varies: some before 12 months, some between 1st and 2nd birthdays, and some after 2nd birthday.

There is no evidence that in any of these respects boys differ from girls.

Attachment to Inanimate Objects in Child Development:

Importance of attachment objects: A child's attachment to a particular object can provide peace of mind and comfort, even if it coexists with satisfactory relationships with people. (Stevenson, 1954; Provence and Lipton, 1962)

Examples of attachment to inanimate objects:

Thumb sucking and blankets: Mark, an eldest child, sucked his thumb up to the age of four and a half and drew up his blanket as a 'cloak.' He also had a wooden squirrel that he swathed in the end of his cloak. (Stevenson, 1954)
Aversion to soft objects: Some children may not become attached to cuddly objects, which could be a sign of concern for their social development. (Provence and Lipton, 1962; Stevenson, 1954)
Inanimate objects in later childhood: Prolongation of attachment to an inanimate object into later childhood is common and does not necessarily indicate insecurity. (Stevenson, 1954)
Preference for inanimate objects over people: If a child prefers an inanimate object to a person during infancy or early childhood, it may have negative implications for future mental health. (Harlow and Harlow, 1965; Winnicott, 1953)
Transitional objects vs. substitute objects: Theoretical significance of inanimate objects as 'transitional' or 'substitute' objects is debated. Some consider them as occupying a special place in the development of object relations, while others view them as simple substitutes for unavailable attachment figures. (Winnicott, 1953; more parsimonious theory)

Evidence from studies and observations:

Human infants: Boniface and Graham (1979) and other studies support the more parsimonious view that inanimate objects are simply substitute attachment figures.
Non-human primates: Baby monkeys and apes take readily to bottle for food, comforter and thumb for non-nutritive sucking, and a dummy mother-figure or piece of cloth as something to cling to. (Harlow, 1958; Hayes, 1951)

Processes leading to selection of figures

Processes leading to Selection of Attachments:

Inborn bias: Infants have an innate preference to orient towards, look at, and listen to certain classes of stimuli, leading them to pay special attention to humans caring for them.
Exposure learning: Infants learn the perceptual attributes of their caregivers and discriminate them from others.
Familiarity bias: Infants approach familiar figures once they have learned to discriminate them.
Social reinforcement: Particular consequences of attachment behavior lead to its augmentation.

Reinforcers of Attachment Behavior:

Responsiveness to crying: Mothers who respond quickly to infant's cries are more likely to have intensely attached eighteen-month-old infants.
Initiation of social interaction: Mothers who initiate social interaction with their babies also tend to have stronger attachment bonds.

Studies on the Relevance of Social Interaction:

Schaffer and Emerson's study: Findings from observations of Scottish children revealed that a mother's readiness to respond to crying and her initiation of social interaction were significant factors influencing attachment intensity.
Ainsworth's study: Similar findings were observed among Ganda children in Uganda.
Israeli kibbutzim studies: Infants select figures based on their responsiveness to crying and initiation of social interaction, regardless of availability or physical care given.

Conclusion: Evidence from natural observations suggests that the way a baby's companions respond to his social advances is one of the most effective reinforcers of attachment behavior. Infants become more intensely attached to caregivers who are responsive to crying and initiate social interaction.

Ainsworth's Analysis of Ganda Children's Attachment:

Ainsworth drew cautious conclusions from her data on Ganda children due to observation deficiencies.
Subsequent study of white infants in Maryland led to more systematic records and clearer conclusions.

Factors Influencing Attachment Development:

Sensitivity of mother: Responding promptly and appropriately to baby's signals
Amount and nature of interaction: Frequent social exchange between mother and baby

Israeli Kibbutzim Findings:

Parents are primary attachment figures despite limited care time
Children have strong attachments to parents, not metapeleth (caregiver)
Metapeloth have less time for individual attention due to multiple children

Comparison of Traditional Theory and New Theory:

Traditional theory predicts strong attachment to caregiver in communal setting
Findings from Israeli kibbutzim not easily understood by traditional theory
New theory emphasizes social interaction in attachment development
Consistent with results of few experiments reported earlier

Experimental Studies on Attachment Development:

Brackbill (1958): Increased smiling in babies through social response
Rheingold, Gewirtz, and Ross (1959): Increased babbling in babies through social interaction

Delay in becoming Attached

Attachment Development:

Some infants show delayed signs of attachment behavior beyond nine months.
This delay is often linked to reduced social stimulation from mother figures.
Institutionalized infants, such as those studied by Provence and Lipton (1962), showed no differential attachment behavior at one year old.
Ainsworth (1963, 1967) observed delayed attachment in four Ganda infants, who had mothers with low care ratings.
Social interaction is crucial for attachment development, not just routine care.

Modes of Interaction:

Visual, auditory, tactile, kinaesthetic, and olfactory stimulation are effective in promoting attachment.
Discussions on the subject reveal two trends: earlier literature emphasized tactile and oral stimulation, while later studies highlight the importance of visual contact.
Eye-to-eye contact is essential for bonding between infant and mother.
A study by Schaffer and Emerson (1964b) found little difference in attachment development between infants who resisted being cuddled and those who enjoyed it, but they received different types of tactile stimuli.
Blind infants' attachment development is ambiguous: weaker and more slowly formed yet potentially more intense and persistent.

Conclusion:

Distance receptors (sight, sound) play a more significant role than hitherto acknowledged but do not exclude the importance of tactile and kinaesthetic stimuli.
When an infant is distressed, bodily contact seems crucial for comfort and survival.
All modes of social interaction likely contribute to attachment development.

Sensitive phases and the fear of strangers

Attachment behavior development is most likely to occur during specific phases in human infants, as observed in other species.
Period of Low Readiness (Birth to Six Weeks): Infants are not yet ready for attachment behavior due to underdeveloped perceptual capacities and disorganized behavior.
Phase of Increasing Sensitivity (Second and Third Months): Infants become more able to discriminate what they see, hear, and feel, making social interaction more effective, leading to the development of attachment behavior.
High State of Sensitivity (Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Months): Most infants are in a high state of sensitivity for developing attachment behavior during these months, although there's no conclusive evidence regarding which month is most sensitive.
Degree of Sensitivity Persists (First Year): Some degree of sensitivity persists beyond the first six months, as some infants do not show attachment behavior by six months old and later develop it.

Schaffer's Study:

Institutionalized Infants: All infants in the study spent prolonged periods (10 weeks or more) in institutions without opportunities for making a discriminated attachment.
Delayed Onset of Attachment: Upon returning home, some infants took significantly longer than others to develop attachment behavior, with variations from three days to fourteen weeks.
Factors Affecting the Development of Attachment: Two factors affecting the development of attachment were identified: (i) conditions in the institution and (ii) experience after return home.
- Infants cared for in a baby home showed attachment faster than those in hospitals due to higher levels of social interaction.
Minimal Conditions, Security, and Stability: Many questions remain unanswered, including what minimal conditions are necessary for attachment development, if a late attachment is as stable and secure as an early one, and how long into the second year readiness to develop attachment can be maintained.
Growing Complexity of Conditions (Six Months Onwards): After six months, conditions for developing attachment become more complicated due to the growing ease and strength of fear responses.

Fear of Strangers and Reduced Sensitivity

Infant response to strangers: Initially shows no fear, then positively responds, sobs and stares, and finally shows typical fear behaviors like orientation away, whimpering or crying, and facial expressions of dislike.
Age of first unmistakable fear: Varies from 26 weeks to second year.
Fear on sight vs touch: Fear on touch occurs earlier than fear on sight.
Variables affecting fear of strangers:
- Late attachment development: Correlated with late onset of fear (Freedman, 1961; Ainsworth, 1967).
- Number of people infant encounters: The more people an infant meets, the later onset of fear (Schaffer, 1966).
Age of peak intensity: Varies from seven to second year, with marked increase at nine or ten months.
Conditions affecting fear: Depends on distance, approach, surroundings, health, fatigue, and whether infant is on mother's knee or away from her.
Reactions to being moved from one caregiver to another: Infants show increased disturbance with age, including reduction in social responses and increase in crying, clinging, apathy, disturbed eating and sleeping, and loss of abilities (Yarrow, 1963).

Conclusion

Sensitive Periods and Attachment Development:

Caldwell emphasized the complexity of sensitive periods in attachment development. (Caldwell, 1962)
Hinde suggested that each response might have its own sensitive period. (Hinde, 1963)
Established attachments are vulnerable after the first birthday. (Hinde, 1963)
Infants are sensitive and ready to make discriminated attachments during the second quarter of their first year. (Hinde, 1963)

Spitz's Position on Object Relations:

Spitz believed true object relations were not established until eight months. (Spitz, 1950, 1955, 1965)
Spitz based his argument on "eight-months anxiety" or "fear of strangers."

Observations Regarding the Age at which Withdrawal from Strangers Occurs:

Spitz held that withdrawal from strangers begins in most infants around eight months.

Assumptions about Fear of Strangers:

Spitz assumed fear of strangers could not be due to fear, as the stranger had caused no pain or unpleasure.

Theory of Withdrawal from Strangers:

Spitz suggested that withdrawal from strangers was a form of separation anxiety.

Inference about Age of Discrimination and Object Relation Development:

Spitz assumed that a child's ability to identify strangers indicated the establishment of true object relations.

Critique of Spitz's Position:

Flaw in Spitz's theory: fear of strangers is not always indicative of separation anxiety. (Morgan and Ricciuti, 1969)
Overlooking the fact that strangeness itself can cause fear.
Distraction from observations of discrimination and attachment behavior occurring before eight months.
Conflation of fear of strangers and separation anxiety.

Fear of Strangers, Separation Anxiety, and Attachment Behavior:

Separation anxiety and fear of strangers are distinct behaviors. (Meili, 1955; Freedman, 1961; Ainsworth, 1963, 1967; Schaffer, 1963, 1966; Tennes and Lampl, 1964; Yarrow, 1967)
They develop independently of one another.
Separation anxiety precedes fear of strangers in some infants (Schaffer).
Fear of strangers peaks before separation anxiety in others (Benjamin).

The Distinction Between Fear and Anxiety:

Freud considered that anxiety is not the same as being afraid of an object or situation.
Attachment behavior is a response to feeling secure, while fear is a response to alarming objects or situations.

Chapter 16

Patterns of Attachment and Contributing Conditions

François Mauriac quote: "We are moulded and remoulded by those who have loved us; and though the love may pass, we are nevertheless their work, for good or ill."

Problems to be Solved in the Study of Attachment:

Descriptive range of variation in attachment behavior:
- What dimensions best describe variations?
Antecedent conditions influencing development:
- What factors promote favorable vs unfavorable patterns?
Stability of each pattern at different ages:
Relation to subsequent personality development and mental health:

Complexities in the Study of Attachment:

Previous research limitations:
- Inadequate theoretical framework (dependency concept)
- Empirically flawed studies (retrospective data, indirectly related variables)
Necessity for first-hand accounts of mother-child interactions
Importance of considering larger system of interaction between mother and child

Findings from Recent Studies:

Wide range of variation in amount and kind of interaction observed in different mother-child couples
Each mother-child couple develops a highly characteristic pattern of interaction by the first birthday
Patterns persist in recognizable form for at least two or three years
Mother's and child's behaviors shape each other, creating a fit between them

Contributing Factors to Attachment Development:

Sensitivity of the figure in responding to the baby's signals
Amount and nature of interaction between the couple (mother and child)

Criteria for describing patterns of attachment

Protests on Mother's Departure: The strength of a child's attachment can be initially determined by their protest behavior when mother leaves. However, this criterion is insufficient as some securely attached children may not display strong protests.

Forms of Behavior:

Initiating Interaction: Greeting behavior like approaching, touching, embracing, smiling, etc.
Maintaining Interaction: Watching, responding to mother's initiatives.
Avoiding Separations: Following, clinging, crying.
Reunion Behavior: Avoidant, rejecting, ambivalent responses in addition to greeting.
Exploratory Behavior: Orientation with reference to the mother-figure and intensity of attention to items in environment.
Withdrawal (Fear) Behavior: Orientation with reference to the mother-figure.

Conditions:

Mother's whereabouts and movements: mother present, departing, absent, returning.
Other persons: familiar or strange present or absent.
Non-human situation: familiar, a little strange, very strange.
Child's condition: healthy, sick, in pain, fresh, fatigued, hungry or fed.

Additional Considerations:

Detached children and autistic children may not respond to mother during pain or illness.
A child's attachment behavior can be described by a profile of their behavior in select conditions.
Complementary profiles for the mother's behavior are necessary to understand the pattern of interaction between them.

Some patterns of attachment seen at the first birthday

This section discusses common variations in attachment patterns observed around the first birthday for children raised at home with a stable mother-figure.
Studies, such as Ainsworth's in Baltimore, have been conducted to assess individual differences in attachment behavior towards mothers using the Strange Situation procedure.

Strange Situation Procedure:

Consists of a series of three-minute episodes lasting twenty minutes to assess attachment behavior in a strange situation.
Infants are observed with their mother, then without her, and upon her return.
Provides opportunity to study individual differences in exploration, comfort seeking, and attachment-exploration balance.

Findings from the Strange Situation Procedure:

During initial three minutes, infants explore and keep an eye on their mothers with minimal crying.
Advent of a stranger reduces exploring but still minimal crying.
When mother leaves, over half the children show differential responses:
- Securely attached infants (majority) can explore using mother as a secure base, are not distressed by strangers, and greet their mothers upon return.
- Insecurely attached infants (minority):
  - Anxiously attached and avoidant infants (approximately 20%): avoid mother during reunion, treat strangers more friendly, and show disinterest or avoidance of mother upon her return.
  - Anxiously attached and resistant infants (approximately 10%): oscillate between seeking proximity and contact with their mothers and resisting contact and interaction. Some are more angry or passive than other infants.

Security of a Child's Attachment:

Ainsworth found the security of a child's attachment to be an essential dimension for understanding individual differences in attachment behavior.
A securely attached child shows organized sequences of goal-corrected behavior upon reunion with their mother.
Other children may show apparent disinterest or avoidance, or ambivalent responses during reunion.

Importance and Validity of the Classification:

The classification derived from an infant's performance on the strange situation procedure may have general psychological significance.
Differences in behavior observed at home between securely attached (Group B) and anxiously attached infants (Groups A and C) are most striking.

Characteristics of Group B Infants:

Happy balance between exploration and attachment
Kept track of mother's movements but explored independently
Less likely to cry than infants in Group A or C
Cheerful greeting when mother returns
Developed more varied communication methods
Cooperative in meeting mother's wishes and commands
Less prone to express anger

Distinguishing Features of Group A Infants:

Approach-avoidance conflict regarding close contact with mother
Halts or veers away when near mother
Tends not to touch mother, if so, only peripheral parts
Unlikely to relax in mother's body but protests when put down
More likely to follow mother when she leaves the room
Prone to angry behavior, rarely directed towards mother
Conflict between wanting and resisting contact with mother
Passive in situations where other children are active

Significance:

Findings provide confidence in Ainsworth's attachment classification criteria
Security-insecurity dimension relates to 'confidence', 'introjection of the good object', and 'basic trust' (Benedek, Klein, Erikson)
Relevant to mental health as it assesses an infant's relationship with caregiver.

Conditions of the first year contributing to variation

Attachment Behavior and Initial Biases

The pattern of attachment behavior in infants is influenced by their initial biases and the way they affect each other throughout the partnership with their mothers.
Bias of Baby:
- Variations in sleeping and crying patterns affect mother's behavior (Moss, 1967).
  - Boys tend to sleep less and cry more than girls.
  - Receive more social attention and contact from mothers.
- Neurophysiological damage from prenatal and perinatal hazards can lead to unfavorable tendencies (Ucko, 1965).
  - Infants with asphyxia show increased sensitivity to noise, disturbed sleep patterns, and higher rates of apprehension and clinginess.
Bias of Mother:
- Native endowment and interpersonal relations within family and cultural values influence maternal behavior.
- Maternal response to baby's crying during the first three months can be predicted by her ideas and feelings two years earlier (Moss, 1967).
- Experience in family of origin can also predict maternal behavior (Wolkind et al., 1977).
Circular Processes:
- Differential development between babies based on maternal responsiveness further influences the way mothers behave.

Examples of Initial Biases

Boys vs. Girls:
- Boys sleep less and cry more, receive more social attention from mothers (Moss, 1967).
Neurophysiological Damage:
- Infants with asphyxia show increased sensitivity to noise, disturbed sleep patterns, apprehension, clinginess, and difficulty in school (Ucko, 1965).
Maternal Biases:
- Acceptance of nurturing role and positive feelings about having a baby correlate with responsiveness to crying (Moss, 1967).
- Experiences in family of origin influence maternal behavior.

Interactions between Baby and Mother

Infant's initial biases can affect the way mothers respond, which further influences the infant's development.
Maternal response can be influenced by her own biases and experiences, leading to complex, circular processes.

Mother-Child Interaction at the First Birthday:

Each mother-child couple has a unique pattern of interacting.
Differences in interaction amount and quality are vast.
Mothers play a larger role than infants in determining interaction quantity.
Responsiveness of mothers to infant's initiatives varies greatly.
Patterns of interaction affect attachment development.

Findings from Studies:

David & Appell (1966, 1969): Variation in mother responsiveness.
Bishop (1951): Mother responsiveness influences interaction patterns and attachment.
Yarrow (1963): Maternal behavior affects infant development.

Factors Affecting Attachment:

Frequent physical contact and ability to soothe.
Sensitivity to signals and timing of interventions.
Predictable social responses and successful initiatives.
Mutual delight in each other's company.

Importance of Mother-Infant Interaction:

Principal occasion for interaction during early months.
Opportunity to gauge maternal sensitivity, timing, and attentiveness.
Predictive of attachment behavior development.

Unproven Hypotheses:

More research needed to confirm the conditions' relevance to attachment development.
Hypotheses are better established today than when first formulated.

Persistence and stability of patterns

Patterns of Interaction between Mother and Child:

By the first birthday, mother and infant have established a characteristic pattern of interaction.
The stability of this pattern depends on satisfaction for both partners.
Unsatisfying patterns may lead to instability and seeking change.
Example: Maternal personality disturbance leading to unstable pattern (Sander, 1964).
Satisfying or unsatisfying patterns tend to persist during next two or three years.
Expectations and customary responses contribute to the stability of the pattern.

Factors Affecting Interactional Pattern:

Accident or chronic illness can alter behavior of child or mother.
Maternal distraction or depression can reduce responsiveness.
Rejection or threats of separation can increase clinging behavior in child.
Birth of a new baby or separation from mother creates disequilibrium.

Limitations of Characteristic Pattern:

Misconception of autonomous stability in children at 12 months.
Extremely little is known about the stability of behavioral organization in young children.
Lability decreases as years pass, but favorable or unfavorable patterns can pose challenges.

Significance for Child Psychiatry:

Interactional patterns are significant problems arising from relationships between family members.
Diagnostic skill lies in assessing these interactional patterns and biases that perpetuate them.
Therapeutic skill involves enabling changes to occur concurrently among all family members, leading to a new stabilized pattern of interaction.

Chapter 17

Developments in the Organisation of Attachment Behaviour

Attachment behaviour continues throughout life, with older individuals selecting and maintaining proximity or communication with attachment figures through increasingly diverse means.
More sophisticated elements of attachment behaviour become organized as plans with set-goals.

Development of Set-Goals:

During the first year, a child makes no planned attempt to bring about conditions that terminate attachment behaviour; behaviour is not yet goal-corrected.
As a child approaches his first birthday, he discovers what conditions terminate distress and make him feel secure, and begins to plan behaviour accordingly.
The set-goals selected by a child vary according to the intensity of attachment behaviour elicited and the necessary conditions for its termination.
Goal-corrected attachment plans can range from simple to elaborate, depending on the set-goal, subject's estimate of the situation, and skill in devising a plan.

Variations in Attachment Plans:

Simple plans may not require any planned action by the child to change his attachment figure's behaviour.
More complex plans may involve measures designed to ensure the attachment figure behaves in a desired way.
Early attempts by a child to change his partner's behaviour are primitive, but as he grows older and understands that others have goals and plans, his behaviour becomes more sophisticated.

Framing Plans:

To frame a plan with a set-goal of changing another's behaviour requires cognitive competence and model-building skills.
A child must be able to attribute goals and plans to others, infer their goals from clues given, and frame a plan likely to effect change in their goals.
Grasping what another's goals are requires the ability to see things through their eyes, which develops slowly.

Egocentrism:

Concept introduced by Piaget to describe the difficulty young children have in seeing things from a viewpoint other than their own.
Children under six years old make limited attempts to suit their communication to the needs of their listeners.
They assume that all listeners are as cognizant as they are of context and characters.
Studies by Flavell (1961) showed three-year-olds struggled with tasks requiring perspective taking, while six-year-olds were successful.
Children in this age range are elaborating their "picture" of their mother and developing their capacity to grasp others' viewpoints.

Impact of Egocentrism:

Incomprehensible communication: young children assume listeners have the same contextual knowledge, leading to ineffective verbal interactions.
Practical difficulties: young children struggle to understand how the world looks to others and what their goals may be.

Examples of Egocentrism:

Three-year-olds selecting unsuitable gifts for their mothers (e.g., toy trucks)
Failing to adjust communication based on audience perspective (offering a teddy bear instead of a knife)

Influence of Mother's Perspective Taking:

A recent study by Light (1979) showed that a mother's consideration of her child's viewpoint can influence the rate at which her child develops the capacity to grasp another's perspective.

Egocentrism vs Egotism:

Egocentrism is a cognitive developmental concept, unrelated to egotism.
Children may express concern for others and genuinely try to help them but fail due to limited understanding of their needs or perspectives.

Child's Development of Internal World:

A child constructs working models of the physical world, significant persons (including mother), self, and how they interact.
These models influence perception, evaluation, planning, and attachment behavior as children grow older.
Understanding these processes raises giant problems and controversies and will be addressed in volumes 2 and 3 of the work.

Collaboration and Conflict

Collaboration and Conflict in Mother-Child Relationships

Once a child's attachment behavior becomes goal-corrected, interactions between mother and child become more complex.
Collaboration and conflict become possible as they can share common goals and plans (partnership).
Partnership requires each partner to relinquish or adjust their set-goals for the other.
Factors determining which partner adjusts vary.
In a happy mother-child partnership, there is constant give and take but also minor conflicts until set-goals align.
Mothers often try to change child's set-goals regarding attachment behavior through encouragement, discouragement, punishment, or bribes.
Children attempt to change their mothers' behavior and proximity to them using similar methods.

Child Development

As a child gets older, demands ease and attachment behavior can be terminated in novel ways due to increased cognitive competence.
A child may feel content and secure in mother's absence with increasing duration and knowledge of her availability.
At the second birthday, information about mother's availability carries little meaning, but at the fourth birthday it is significant.

The Regulation of Mothering

The Regulation of Mothering: A Discussion on the Impact of Excessive and Insufficient Attachment Behavior Impact of Mothering on Child Development:

Mothering vs. Food Intake: Similar questions arise regarding mothering as with food intake for children.
Child's Ability to Regulate: Children can regulate their own mothering needs during the early years, provided their metabolism is normal.
Impact of Mothering on Child Independence: Giving in to a child's demands for attention does not necessarily lead to spoiling or dependency issues.

Mothering and Child Development:

Following the Child’s Lead: A mother can safely leave the initiative to her child regarding mothering during early years.
Pattern of Interaction: When a mother responds appropriately to her child's signals, their relationship thrives.
Disturbances in Attachment Behavior: Disturbances can result from too little or too much mothering, or distortions in the pattern of mothering.
Impact of Culture: There may be varying pressures towards self-reliance and independence based on cultural norms.

Effects of Overmothering:

Mother Compulsion: A mother who overmothers insists on being close to her child and occupying their attention, similar to a mother overfeeding a child.
Impact on Attachment-Caregiving Relationship: Overmothering can lead to inverted attachment relationships, with negative consequences (see Volumes 2 & 3, Chapters 16, 18; Volume 3, Chapters 11, 12, 19).

Additional Disturbances of Attachment Behavior:

Distortions in Patterns of Mothering: Other attachment disturbances can result from various factors, not solely related to excessive or insufficient mothering.

Impact of Mothering on Human Development:

Significance of Early Childhood: The first three years of life are crucial for the development of human capacities such as language use, planning, collaboration, and strife.
Exploring the Uncharted Waters: The processes that shape attachment behavior during the second and third years are significant but still not fully understood.

Recent Discoveries:

Explorers in the Field: Numerous and gifted researchers have made strides in understanding the development of attachment behavior during this period.
Outlining Some Discoveries: In the following chapters, the author attempts to summarize some of these discoveries.

Part V: OLD CONTROVERSIES AND NEW FINDINGS

Chapter 18. Stability and change in patterns of attachment

Introduction: George Eliot's quote emphasizes the significance of early relationships with caregivers to a child's development.
Assessment of infants' attachment patterns: Mary Ainsworth devised a procedure to assess an infant's attachment pattern at 12 months based on their behavior during the "Strange Situation" test.
- Confidence in this classification system comes from its correlation with clinical dimensions such as trust-distrust or quality of object relations, and its association with how mothers treat their children.
- These patterns are likely to persist during the second year of life and correlate with social and play behavior with adults and other children.
Stability of attachment patterns: Studies by Connell (1976) and Waters (1978) found that the pattern assessed at 12 months was the same for 81% and 96% of infants, respectively, when reassessed at 18 months.
Predictive validity: Infants' attachment patterns at 12 months predict their social and exploratory behavior many months later. For example:
- Securely attached infants engage in longer and more intense play episodes, show more attention to detail, and are more cooperative with others (Main, 1973; Main and Townsend, 1982).
- Secure infants also show concern for adults' distress and are more effective in nursery school settings (Waters, Wippman, and Sroufe, 1979).
Longitudinal studies: Similar differences between securely attached and anxiously attached children continue to be present during their fifth and sixth years (Arend, Gove, and Sroufe, 1979).

Assessing Ego-Control and Ego-Resilience

Description of the two dimensions: Jack and Jeanne Block propose two stable dimensions of personality – ego-control and ego-resilience.
- Ego-control varies from over-control, through moderate-control to under-control, with the optimum in the middle.
- Ego-resilience varies from high to low or brittle, with the optimum at the high end.
Characteristics of the over-controlled and under-controlled persons: Over-controlled individuals have constrained responses, reduced expression of emotion, and narrow processing of information. Under-controlled individuals are impulsive, distractible, open in expressing emotions, and process too much information.
Ego-resilience refers to a person's capacity to modify their level of control according to circumstances. Highly resilient individuals are resourceful, flexible, and able to process competing and conflicting information effectively, while brittle individuals show little flexibility and respond rigidly or disorganized to changing situations.
Procedures for assessing ego-control and ego-resilience: The Blocks use data from teachers' Q-sorts and a large battery of laboratory tests to derive their indices. They pool data of similar types to make their indices more representative and valid than any single measure derived from a single source.
Predictive validity: Longitudinal studies suggest good predictive powers for assessments made at age three with those made four years later when children are seven. A study by Arend and others (1979) bridges the period from 18 months to five years, showing that securely attached children have higher ego-resilience scores than anxiously attached children on both Q-sorts and laboratory procedures. Securely attached children also score significantly higher on measures of curiosity in a nursery school setting.

Organization of Attachment: From Lability to Stability

During the first year or two, the stability of attachment is more determined by the couple's relationship than by the child's behavior.
The inner organization of attachment becomes increasingly stable over time, leading to resistance to change.

Evidence for Initial Instability of Attachment

In disadvantaged families, where parental care is less consistent, attachment patterns are more likely to change.
A study by Vaughn et al. (1979) found that one-third of attachment patterns had changed six months after assessment.
Stressful life events experienced by the mothers during the period of change were a significant factor in some cases of attachment pattern change.

Individual Differences in Attachment with Different Parents

In a study by Main and Weston (1981), infants showed different patterns of attachment with each parent during the first 18 months.
Children with secure relationships with both parents were most confident and competent.
Children with no secure relationship with either parent were least so, and those with one secure relationship came in between.

Maternal Sensitivity and Attachment Development

Maternal sensitivity during the early months plays a crucial role in determining attachment pattern at 12 months (Ainsworth et al., 1978; Egeland et al., 1982).
Infant temperament measures during the neonatal period do not account for differences in attachment patterns.

Impact of Early Experiences on Attachment and Personality Development

Children who have experienced physical abuse or spent their early years in institutions show disturbed social behavior (George and Main, 1979; Tizard and Hodges, 1978).
Adopted children's attachment development depends on how they are treated by their new parents.
The quality of care received influences the pattern of attachment developing but does not exclude the infant's role.

Sensitive Period for Attachment Development

There is a sensitive period in early life when the capacity to make secure and discriminating attachments becomes progressively more difficult (Rutter, 1981).
The pattern of attachment tends to persist and modify less easily as the child grows older.

Development of conceptual perspective taking

Refers to a child's capacity to understand that their mother has separate goals and interests (Chapters 14 and 17)
Developed by age five, but not common among children at third birthday
Main development period is fourth and fifth years of life

Limitations of Piaget's Work:

Concerned with visual perspectives and impersonal scenes
Relying on group differences from cross-sectional studies
Does not cover conceptual perspective taking fully

Light's Study:

Tested 56 children immediately after their fourth birthday
Wide range of scores, from 9 to 37 with a mean of 22
No correlation with sex, social class, or time spent with peers
Strong correlations with mother's perception and treatment of child

Mothers of High Scores:

Consider children's feelings and intentions
Make concessions and propose bargains
Less likely to resort to punishment

Mothers of Low Scores:

Focus more on actual behavior
Take a more authoritarian line
More likely to resort to punishment

Children Given Physical Punishment:

Notably low on conceptual perspective taking

Findings from Bretherton and Beeghly-Smith's Study:

Children interpret mental states of self and others in third year
Ability to analyze goals and motives develops early
Encourages speculation that attributing internal states is natural for humans and primates

Conclusion:

Variance in children's scores reflects their awareness and adaptation to perspective differences
Parental influence plays a role in perspective taking development
Natural for humans and possibly primates to attribute internal states to self and others.

Chapter 19

Objections, Misconceptions, and Clarifications

Misunderstandings due to lack of distinction between attachment and attachment behavior
- This omission clarified by Ainsworth, Bischof, Sroufe & Waters, Bretherton
Attachment: strong disposition for a child to seek proximity to and contact with a specific figure
- An enduring attribute that changes slowly over time
Attachment Behavior: various forms of behavior used to attain/maintain proximity
- Dependent on conditions at the moment
Attachment theory attempts to explain both attachment behavior and enduring attachments
Uses concept of behavioral control system or behavioral system
Unfamiliar concept for developmental psychologists and clinicians
Comparable to physiological control systems, explaining homeostasis in relation to environment
Maintenance of child-attachment figure relationship: example of environmental homeostasis
Alternative methods of locomotion to attain proximity are of little consequence
Control System: organization within the child that maintains attachment behavior
- Equipped with sensors and continuously monitors/appraises events
- Two classes of events monitored: potential danger/stress, whereabouts of attachment figure
- Based on symbolic representations (working models) of attachment figure, general environment, self
- Influences pattern of attachment development
Structural Properties: similar to other structural theories (psychoanalysis, Piagetian theory), different from behaviorism
- Enables extension and explanation of defensive processes, beliefs, and activities (Chapter 4, Volume 3)

Proximity-keeping behaviour of other kinds

Attachment Behavior vs. Proximity-Seeking Behavior:

Attachment behavior is not synonymous with seeking or maintaining proximity to another individual.
Attachment behavior is output of a safety-regulating system, designed to reduce risk and increase security.
Proximity-seeking behavior can be observed in various contexts (playmates, shared interests) and is distinguishable based on:
- Elicitation and termination in different situations
- Different moods and expressions of affect
- Embedded in sequences of different behaviors

Function of Attachment Behavior:

Protective function in the context of evolutionary adaptation, particularly against predation
Ethologists acknowledge its importance; clinicians and developmental psychologists may overlook it
Recognizing attachment behavior as a natural response to separation/loss leads to respectful approach and effective interventions
Learning theories fail to explain attachment behavior effectively
- Traditional learning theories view attachment responses as irrelevant or pathological
- Rajecki's objection that attachment behavior can be directed towards inappropriate objects is not a valid argument against its protective function
- Ethological approach provides better understanding of clinical phenomena related to attachment.

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Summary of John Bowlby's "Attachment: Attachment and Loss Volume One"

EDITORS NOTE

Contents

Preface

Preface to the Second Edition

Part I: THE TASK

Chapter 1

Some characteristics of the present approach

Where Freud Stands

Theories of motivation

Comparison of Old and New Models

Note on the concept of feedback in Freud’s theorising

Chapter 2

Part II: INSTINCTIVE BEHAVIOUR

Chapter 3

Some principles of control systems

Control systems and instinctive behaviour

Adaptation: system and environment.

Biological Adaptation

The Biological Unit that is Adapted

Note on Literature

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Two Sorts of Predictable Outcome

Goal-corrected Behaviour

Maintenance of Spatial Relations over Time

Co-ordination of behavioural systems

Language

Chapter 6

Roles of Specific Causal Factors

Roles of Non-specific Causal Factors

Behavioural Sequences deriving from only One Tendency are Exhibited

Sensory input and its transformation

Chapter 7

Philosophical problems

Processes that are felt

More Refined Appraisals of Persons and Objects: Emotion

Appraisal of Progress of Current Behaviour

The communicative role of feeling and emotion

Chapter 8

Function Distinguished from Predictable Outcome

Altruistic Behaviour

Problems of terminology

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Restriction of range of effective stimuli

Integration of behavioural systems into functional wholes

Sensitive periods of development

Imprinting

Imprinting in Birds

Comparison of old and new theories of instinctive behaviour

Part III: ATTACHMENT BEHAVIOUR

Chapter 11

Attachment behaviour and its place in nature

Attachment behaviour in non-human primates

Attachment Behaviour in Baboons

Attachment Behaviour in Chimpanzees:

Attachment Behaviour in Gorillas

Relationships Between Young Monkeys/Apes and Other Animals in Their Groups

Discrimination of Mother by Infant

Subsequent Course of Attachment Behaviour in Man

Forms of Behaviour Mediating Attachment

Chapter 12

The Case of Man

The question of imprinting

Function of attachment behaviour

A note on terminology: ‘dependence’

Attachment and other systems of social behaviour

Chapter 13

Exploratory Behaviour and Play

Maternal Caregiving

Maternal Behaviour Antithetic to Care of Infant

Forms of behaviour mediating attachment and their organisation

Approach Behaviour