278
See also: Konrad Lorenz 77 ■ Sigmund Freud 92–99 ■ Abraham Maslow 138–39 ■
John Bowlby 274–77 ■ Mary Ainsworth 280–81 ■ Michael Rutter 339M
any psychologists have
suggested that an infant
becomes attached to its
caregiver simply because that
person fulfils its need for food. John
Bowlby challenged this “cupboard
love” idea theoretically, but Harry
Harlow set out to prove it.
Harlow took infant macaque
monkeys from their mothers, placing
them in cages with surrogate
“mothers”—one made of wire with
a feeding bottle attached; the other
made of soft, cuddly, terry cloth, but
with no bottle. If the “cupboard
love” theory was correct, the baby
monkeys would remain with the
mother that provided food. But in
fact, they spent most of their time
with the cloth mother, using her as
a secure base, and clinging to her
for safety when frightening objects
were placed in the cage. Later
tests, in which the cloth mother
was also able to rock and provide
food, showed this attachment was
even stronger. Harlow, therefore,
suggested that the main function
of nursing might even be to ensure
body contact with the mother.Harlow’s work was enormously
important, because contemporary
advice from psychologists and
doctors had warned parents
against rocking or picking up a
crying child. The results of his
experiments were so conclusive
that they changed the approach to
parenting in the Western world. ■IN CONTEXT
APPROACH
Attachment theoryBEFORE
1926 Sigmund Freud’s
psychoanalytic theory of
“cupboard love” suggests that
an infant becomes attached
to a caregiver because that
person is a source of food.1935 Konrad Lorenz states
nonhumans form strong bonds
with the first moving object
they meet—often the mother.1951 John Bowlby argues that
human mothers and infants
are genetically programmed to
form a uniquely strong bond.AFTER
1964 UK psychologists Rudolf
Schaffer and Peggy Emerson
show that infants are attached
to people who do not perform
feeding and caretaking duties.1978 Michael Rutter shows
that children bond with a
variety of attachment figures,
including inanimate objects.CONTACT COMFORT
IS OVERWHELMINGLY
IMPORTANT
HARRY HARLOW (1905–1981)
Infant macaque monkeys in
Harlow’s experiment formed a
strong attachment to their cuddly,
cloth, surrogate “mother,” despite her
inability to provide any nourishment.