The Nature of the Child's Tie to His Mother (Bowlby)
Background and Aims
Bowlby notes broad agreement that infants form a strong libidinal tie to a mother-figure within 12 months, with debate focusing on its development and dynamics.
He aims to outline four existing psychoanalytic/psychological views and propose a fifth, which he believes better fits empirical data.
The discussion incorporates insights from Piaget's cognitive development and recent instinct theory, acknowledging the paper's brevity on some complex topics.
Grounded in ethology (inspired by Hinde and Ambrose), the author emphasizes instinctual roots of infant-mother attachment over purely ego/Superego explanations.
The Four Theoretical Views on the Positive Aspects of the Child’s Tie
i) Secondary Drive (Cupboard-Love): Attachment arises from meeting physiological needs (e.g., food, warmth); the mother becomes associated with gratification.
ii) Primary Object Sucking: An in-built need to suck the breast, leading the infant to relate to the mother attached to it.
iii) Primary Object Clinging: An in-built need to remain in physical contact/cling to a human, forming a primary object relationship independent of food.
iv) Primary Return-to-Womb Craving: Infants resent birth and seek to return to the womb.
Note on terminology: Primary vs. secondary distinguishes between built-in/inherited responses and learned ones. Bowlby seeks to synthesize these, excluding the return-to-womb craving.
A Fifth View and the Author’s Position
This hypothesis integrates Primary Object Sucking and Primary Object Clinging.
It proposes that a ~12-month-old's attachment behavior consists of several component instinctual responses, initially independent, maturing over the first year, and binding both child to mother and mother to child.
Identified components: sucking, clinging, following (child as active partner); crying, smiling (child's behavior activating maternal responses).
Attachment behavior emerges as these components integrate and focus on a single mother figure.
This theory aligns with Freud’s view of adult sexuality emerging from integrated early instincts.
The author considers primary return-to-womb craving biologically improbable and redundant.
The approach emphasizes the instinctual basis of attachment, distinct from ego or superego development.
The Ethological Turn and Theoretical Context
This hypothesis draws heavily on ethology, particularly concepts of species-specific instinctual responses and social releasers.
It contrasts with Secondary Drive theory by positing multiple built-in responses organized for social bonding.
Bowlby notes a shift among some psychoanalysts (e.g., Balint, Ferenczi, Hermann, Winnicott) toward non-oral bases for attachment, though tensions with dominant Kleinian and Freudian frameworks persist.
Anna Freud, while generally a Secondary Drive advocate, hinted at non-oral attachment components in her Hampstead Nursery observations.
Melanie Klein's views varied, sometimes emphasizing oral aspects, other times non-oral dynamics, and later even a pre-natal unity/return-to-womb concept.
The Hungarian school (Balint, Ferenczi) emphasized primitive object relations and non-erotic components, highlighting a more active infant role.
Non-analytic theorists like Erikson (basic trust), Sullivan (relational needs), and Spitz (primacy of social contact) also are discussed, aligning with broader ethology-inspired perspectives.
Perception and Cognition in Infancy: A Brief Cognitive Sketch
Infant perception and cognition progress (in Piagetian terms) from an undifferentiated state to relating to 'part-objects' before forming a cohesive human concept.
Around 9 months (or later), infants construct a world of permanent objects (Piaget's conservation).
Provisional map of perceptual/cognitive development for attachment:
Early predispositions: attraction to specific stimuli (lip contact, eyes) not implying a 'human being' concept.
By 5–6 months: integrating perceptual fragments and cross-modal recognition; recognizing an external source with past/future attributes.
Piaget's timeline is probabilistic, showing clear intermediate phases before full object permanence.
Instinct Theory and Ethology: Core Concepts
Core ethological ideas applied to attachment:
Instinctual responses: species-specific behavior patterns, activated by environmental cues, relatively independent of physiological needs, evolved for survival.
Activation/termination: governed by internal states and external sign stimuli (activation); ended by consummatory stimuli (internal proprioceptive or external social cues).
Responses link into adaptive sequences (e.g., following).
Key terms:
Instinctual responses: species-specific behaviors for survival/reproduction.
Sign-stimulus: simple perceptual cue triggering a fixed action pattern.
Social releasers: infant cues (crying/smiling) activating caregiving in others.
Consummatory stimuli: cues terminating an instinctive response.
Bowlby uses these to argue attachment is built from multiple instinctual responses, not a single drive.
The Five Component Instinctual Responses (and Monotropy)
The five proposed instinctual responses building attachment:
Sucking (oral/food-related)
Clinging (physical contact)
Following (keeping mother in sight/nearby)
Crying (emotional signaling for maternal care)
Smiling (social signaling for maternal care)
These mature independently at different rates, then integrate into attachment focused on one mother-figure.
They are viewed as species-specific, survival-related responses ensuring parent-infant proximity and care.
Monotropy: The infant's instinctual responses tend to center on a single mother-figure, not multiple caregivers, capturing the integrating role of this primary figure in shaping the attachment system.
While some responses (sucking, crying, clinging, following) can transfer to non-mother objects, the mother most effectively provides consummatory stimuli and social releasers.
The mother's role is crucial in directing and consolidating these responses into a coherent attachment system.
Comparative and Developmental Evidence: Ethology and Human Infancy
Infant attachment repertoire contrasts with non-human animals:
Primates/birds show sign-stimuli-driven following, clinging, and crying largely independent of feeding.
Primate neonates may cling before sucking; following seen in many species; crying for parental recruit.
Human infants show a later, single-mother focus, but multiple responses contribute to early bonds.
Human developmental trajectory:
Crying: earliest effective mother-oriented response, terminated by social cues (touch, voice).
Smiling: emerges ~6 weeks, a social releaser; evolves from simple to complex.
Clinging/following: mature over first months/years; wax/wane with anxiety, separation, distress.
Sucking: persists well into the second year, especially with bottle-feeding, challenging early weaning norms.
Integration of Perception, Cognition, and Instinctual Dynamics
The five instinctual responses integrate into a single attachment behavior directed at the mother-figure.
Cognitive/perceptual development links closely with attachment dynamics:
Early perceptual biases (faces, voices) facilitate bonding but don't prove conceptual understanding of 'human being'.
Caregiver responsiveness shapes the infant's cognitive map and attachment system.
Critique of naïve responsiveness interpretation: Infant smiles can be elicited by non-human gestalt signals, not necessarily implying a full 'human being' concept. Differential responsiveness can be mistaken for person-specific recognition.
Piagetian development frames when the infant perceives the mother as a separate, enduring object; full object permanence and recognition around 9 months, with earlier intermediate stages.
Theories of Instinct: A Synthesis with Freud and Others
Bowlby synthesizes instinct theory with psychoanalytic tradition:
Freud: Later work acknowledged mother-child attachment, but oral/narcissism emphasis limited integration of non-oral components.
Anna Freud: Advocated two-stage development (narcissism to object-love), emphasizing bodily needs then shifting to object relations.
Melanie Klein: Focused on oral components, later incorporating non-oral; sometimes linked attachment to pre-natal unity (Ferenczi's influence).
Balints: Emphasized primitive, non-erotic object relations and early infant egoism.
Winnicott: Highlighted 'technique of mothering,' transitional phenomena, and broader maternal functions beyond feeding.
Erikson & Sullivan: Basic trust/interpersonal needs, but not strictly Secondary Drive. Spitz: Primacy of non-oral, social contact needs.
The Hungarian school (Ferenczi, Balint) stressed primary non-oral components (clinging) and non-erotic bases for attachment.
Bowlby emphasizes diverse data supporting a multi-component, biologically-grounded attachment system, not fitting solely into the traditional Secondary Drive model.
Perceptual and Cognitive Aspects of the Child’s Tie
Infant perceptual development is crucial but complex, moving from primitive, undifferentiated perception to differentiated object-perception and the concept of a 'human being'.
The infant's world initially contains 'part-objects' and fragments, integrating across senses over time (Piaget, Spitz).
Perception of mother evolves from gestalt signals to stable object recognition with past/future; this varies across individuals.
The Piaget-Spitz tradition views early perception as gesture-based; Bowlby argues early social responsiveness exists, but interpreting it as full 'recognition of a human being' is premature.
Provisional perceptual progression:
Start: predispositions to respond to warm lips, nipple-like stimuli, eyes.
5–6 months: integration across modalities, recognition of common source and continuity.
~9 months or later: robust conception of mother as stable object with past/future.
Implications: The Ethological Model and Its Consequences
The ethological model frames infant-mother attachment as innate, species-specific responses, activated by environmental cues and terminated by consummatory/social cues.
Implications:
Provides a testable framework for early social development via sign-stimuli/social releasers, complementing psychoanalytic constructs.
Invites experimental, observational, cross-species studies on maturation, activation/termination cues, and integration of instinctual responses.
Suggests mother's role is central not for satisfying a single need, but for synchronizing the infant's multi-component attachment system with the environment.
Clinical relevance: Maternal deprivation/separation can disrupt attachment system development, leading to later social/emotional difficulties.
The theory is a working hypothesis, calling for systematic empirical testing (longitudinal, cross-species studies) to map timelines, cues, and long-term consequences.
Monotropy, Maternal Deprivation, and Psychological Functioning
Monotropy is central: infant instinctual responses are best served by one mother-figure, who organizes the infant's emotional world. Maternal deprivation/separation leads to adverse outcomes.
Bowlby links monotropy to Winnicott’s emphasis on maternal presence and responsiveness.
He argues monotropy is a biological/developmental necessity for survival; the mother becomes a central, organizing figure for the infant's psyche.
While multiple caregivers may initially satisfy needs, the attachment system consolidates around the primary caregiver, shaping later development.
Dynamics: How Attachment Behaves Over Time
The five instinctual responses become less prominent with cognitive, social, and locomotive growth but don't disappear:
Sucking remains important into the second year, especially with bottle-feeding.
Crying, smiling, clinging, following wax/wane with age/context (anxiety, separation, fear), re-expressing in different forms during distress.
Integration yields stable mother-centered attachment, but flexibility allows for directing responses to other objects under circumstances; later experiences can alter the attachment matrix.
The early repertoire is a historical foundation; survival and development depend on a balanced, experience-tuned repertoire of instinctual responses.
Practical and Ethical Implications
Emphasis on strong maternal attachment and deprivation risks has clear implications for child care, parental leave, and early interventions.
Hampstead Nursery observations show attachment isn't solely determined by maternal warmth; proximity/social contact needs can foster attachment even with imperfect caregivers.
The cross-species perspective warns against reducing human attachment to a single mechanism (e.g., oral needs), advocating for broader consideration of non-oral components.
The proposed research agenda (experimental methods for cataloging responses, maturation, cues, integration) can yield reliable data for clinical practice.
Core Takeaways and Working Conclusions
Bowlby proposes a five-component instinctual repertoire (Sucking, Clinging, Following, Crying, Smiling) forming attachment behavior toward a single mother-figure.
Key innovation: Attachment is a biological, instinct-driven phenomenon, bridging psychoanalysis and ethology.
Monotropy is a central organizing principle for infant attachment, explaining the single caregiver's dominance.
The theory is testable and provisional, inviting empirical work to verify maturation, cues, and integration.
Terminology shifts from equating breast with mother or reducing attachment to solely oral needs, acknowledging a broader, more complex attachment system.
Questions and Answers
1. What are Bowlby's five component instinctual responses? How do they relate to food versus social contact?
The five responses are Sucking, Clinging, Following, Crying, and Smiling. Sucking is primarily food-related, while Clinging, Following, Crying, and Smiling are mainly related to social contact and eliciting maternal care. Sucking also contributes to proximity.
2. How does monotropy function in Bowlby's framework, and what are its implications for maternal deprivation?
Monotropy describes the infant's tendency for attachment responses to focus on a single mother-figure, acting as an organizing principle for the emotional world. Its implication is that maternal deprivation or separation can disrupt a coherent attachment system, leading to adverse developmental outcomes.
3. In Bowlby's instinct theory, what is the difference between activation and termination, and what are examples of sign stimuli and social releasers?
Activation refers to environmental cues triggering species-specific behavior patterns. Termination occurs when consummatory stimuli end the response. Examples: a baby's cry (a social releaser) activates maternal care; a mother's touch/voice (consummatory stimuli) can terminate crying.
4. How does Piagetian development relate to Bowlby's perceptual/cognitive map of attachment formation?
Piagetian development (e.g., progression from undifferentiated perception to object permanence) provides a framework for how infants come to perceive the mother as a separate, enduring object. Bowlby integrates this, noting that early social responses can be elicited by simple gestalt signals before full cognitive recognition of a 'human being,' which typically occurs around 9 months.
5. Contrast Bowlby's ethological view with Secondary Drive theory and Melanie Klein's perspective on non-oral components.
Bowlby's ethological view posits multiple built-in instinctual responses for social bonding, differing from Secondary Drive (cupboard-love) theory, which claims attachment results from satisfying physiological needs (like hunger). Melanie Klein considered non-oral components but often linked them to oral dynamics or a 'return-to-womb craving,' which Bowlby dismisses as biologically improbable.
6. Why does Bowlby advocate for a multi-component instinctual account of attachment, and what are its clinical and policy implications?
Bowlby advocates for a multi-component view because data better fits several relatively independent, maturing instinctual responses rather than a single drive. This emphasizes the biological basis of attachment. Clinically, it highlights the critical importance of a consistent maternal presence and the dangers of deprivation for developing a coherent attachment system. Policy-wise, it supports measures for strong early caregiver-infant bonds.
Key Concepts and Definitions (glossary)
Attachment behavior: An integrated set of instinctual responses that promote proximity to and bonding with a mother-figure.
Primary Object Sucking: In-built need to suck the breast and associate it with the mother.
Primary Object Clinging: In-built need to cling to a mother or mother-figure.
Component Instinctual Responses: The discrete instinctual actions that contribute to attachment (Sucking, Clinging, Following, Crying, Smiling).
Instinctual responses: Species-specific behavioral patterns activated by sign-stimuli and terminated by consummatory stimuli.
Sign-stimulus: A simple external cue that triggers a fixed action pattern.
Social releaser: A signal (e.g., crying, smiling) that elicits a caregiving response from a social partner (typically the mother).
Monotropy: The tendency for infant attachment to focus on a single mother-figure rather than multiple caregivers.
Consummatory stimuli: Internal or external cues that terminate an instinctual response (e.g., maternal care signals).
Object permanence and cognitive development milestones (Piaget): Stages by which the infant comes to perceive objects as enduring and as having a past and future.
Representative References and Influences Mentioned
Sigmund Freud: Development of the mother’s role; late-life shifts toward a view of the mother as a key attachment object; discussions across Three Essays on Sexuality, Narcissism, and An Outline of Psycho-Analysis.
Anna Freud: Emphasis on primary narcissism and later transition to object-love; Hampstead Nursery observations.
Melanie Klein: Focus on oral components and the breast; later integration with non-oral components; oscillation between Primary Object Sucking and broader theories.
Winnicott: Emphasis on mothering as technique; Transitional objects and the broader mothering function beyond feeding.
Balint (Michael and Alice Balint): Emphasis on primary object love, egoism in early infant relations, and non-erotic components; primary object clinging as a potential concept.
Ferenczi: Omnipotence and the return-to-womb concept; influence on the Budapest school.
Suttie: Origins of Love and Hate; cross-disciplinary integration with ethology.
Ethologists (Lorenz, Tinbergen, Hinde, etc.): Sign-stimuli, social releasers, instinctual sequences and the concept of fixed action patterns.
Piaget: Early cognitive development and the construction of concepts like the self and the object.
Spitz, Bromfield, Burlingham, and Burlingham & Freud: Empirical observations on infant attachment, social contact needs, and the role of mothers.
Hinde and Thorpe/Vince: Empirical studies on following and related instinctual responses in animals.
Symbols and Quick Reference Formulas (LaTeX)
Five instinctual responses set:{R = { \text{Sucking}, \text{Clinging}, \text{Following}, \text{Crying}, \text{Smiling} } }
Activation/Termination schema: for each i in R
Activation: {Si \rightarrow Ai(t)}
Termination: {Ai(t) \rightarrow 0 \text{ via } Ci}
Monotropy (conceptual formalization):
Attachment focus: {\text{Monotropy} = \operatorname{argmax}{m \in \mathcal{M}} Am(t)}
Where \mathcal{M} denotes possible mother-figures and A_m(t) their current activation level.