The Nature of the Child's Tie to His Mother (Bowlby)

Flashcards cover key concepts from Bowlby's The Nature of the Child's Tie to His Mother, including Primary Object Sucking/Clinging, component instincts, monotropy, ethology concepts (sign-stimuli, social releasers), and cognitive/perceptual development related to early attachment.

What are the five instinctual responses that Bowlby identifies as the quintet underpinning attachment behaviour?

Sucking, clinging, following, crying, and smiling.

Fill in the Blank: The theory of Primary Object Sucking posits an in-built need to relate to a human , to suck it and to possess it orally.

breast

What is Primary Object Clinging?

An in-built need to be in touch with and to cling to a human being; a non-oral component of attachment.

Fill in the Blank: The theory of Primary Return-to-Womb Craving is regarded by Bowlby as and biologically improbable.

redundant

What does the theory of Component Instinctual Responses propose?

Attachment is made up of several relatively independent instinctual responses (sucking, clinging, following, crying, smiling) that mature at different times and integrate to form attachment.

How does Bowlby define attachment Behaviour?

The integrated set of component instincts binding baby to mother, with reciprocal binding of mother to child.

What does 'monotropy' mean in Bowlby's framework?

A tendency for the infant's attachment responses to be focused on a single, primary mother-figure.

What is a social releaser in ethology?

A signal from the infant (e.g., crying, smiling) that reliably elicits care from the mother.

What is a sign-stimulus?

A simple perceptual cue that elicits a species-specific instinctual response (e.g., a red spot on beak, a pair of dots as eyes).

Name a key Hungarian figure associated with emphasis on non-oral components of early object relations.

Balint (also associated with Hermann and Ferenczi in the Hungarian school).

What is an 'anaclitic' object relation?

An early object relation to the caregiver who provides nourishment and care; emphasizes dependence on others for love and protection.

What is 'Secondary Drive' in Bowlby's discussion?

The theory that the infant's tie to the mother arises from satisfying physiological needs, learned through instrumental conditioning; the cupboard-love view.

Which theorist is associated with the concept of 'anaclitic depression'?

Robert A. Spitz

According to Piaget, when does a child typically construct a world of permanent objects?

Not before about 9 months; prior to that, perception is piecemeal and 'here and now'.

What is Spitz's 'pre-object relation' as described by Bowlby?

A phase in which the infant responds to gestalt signals (like a smile) rather than to a full object, preceding true object relations.

What is the role of 'transitional objects' in Winnicott's theory?

Objects that help bridge the infant to the external world and mothering, illustrating the 'technique of mothering' and contiguity between self and others.

What does Bowlby mean by the 'depressive position' in Klein's framework?

A developmental stage characterized by ambivalence and integrated experiences of love and hate toward the mother; discussed in the context of early infancy.

What is the primary issue in the debate between primary narcissism and object-love?

Whether early attachment is best explained by Freud's primary narcissism or by earliest object-relating needs (object-love) as emphasized by later Klein and Balint traditions.

What does the term 'perceptual and cognitive aspects' of the child's tie refer to in Bowlby's notes?

How the infant moves from no differentiation to recognizing parts of objects, relating to fragments, and eventually constructing a concept of 'mother' and 'human being'.

What evidence supports early sensitivity to human faces and voices in infants, according to ethology?

Observations that infants respond distinctly to human faces/voices even in the first weeks, suggesting in-built predispositions rather than purely learned behavior.

What is the overall aim of Bowlby's ethological approach to infant attachment?

To catalogue instinctual responses, study their activation/termination, and understand how these components integrate to form attachment, with systematic empirical testing.