The Primate Mother-Infant Bond - 1795 Words

The mother-infant bond is the familiarity and attachment a mother forms with her offspring. These helpless babies are reliant on their mother’s nurture for survival. This dependence reaches farther than a physiological need. Infants rely on their mothers for a wide variety of demands. The mother-infant bond is critical to maximizing the fitness of each individual, as well as the growth of the species. In 1976 Marshall H. Klaus and John H. Kennell came out with a book called â€Å"Parent Infant Bonding†. It discussed their hypothesis that like other animals, there is a brief moment directly following the birth of a child where skin-to-skin contact between mother and offspring creates a strong bond. Although this theory continues to be†¦show more content†¦Babies are considered neonates until eight weeks after birth. In non-human primates this is when the grooming period begins, furthering the social mother-infant bond. Male chimpanzees achieve self-esteem and re spect by diversifying his partners and fathering children from the maximum number of mates. By having offspring from different mothers, he maximizes his fitness because he is able to have more; and their genetic variation helps increase their chance of survival. Any infants not belonging to him pose a threat to his dominance. In Bonobo Chimps, the maternal bond is so strong that males are only able to achieve having multiple partners with their mother’s help. In this society, their self-actualization depends on the relationship and support they receive from their mother. This approval of dominance from their mother impacts their success to achieve self-actualization and in turn affects their self-esteem. For the mother, ensuring her son breeds as many children as possible also maximizes her fitness as well. A mother is more likely to support her son because her daughter could become competition; for this reason, daughters are usually sent to find a new family during their ado lescence. In 1958, Harry Harlow studied the priorities of these needs in his cloth and wire mother experiments. Baby monkeys separated from their mothers at birth were placed in isolation. Two dolls were placed in the cage, one wrapped inShow MoreRelatedAttachment Theory and the Mother-Infant Relationship Essay1567 Words   |  7 Pagescourse we studied the intense, complex relationship a mother has with her offspring. In order to fully understand this bond, three concepts must be understood: the emotional nature, the adaptive strategy, as well as the relationships pros and cons. However, for the purpose of this paper, I will be focusing on the mother-infant relationship as an adaptive strategy primates developed, with emphasis on attachment theory. The root of the mother-infant relationship as well as a childs development canRead MoreThe Evolution of Primate Intelligence1715 Words   |  7 Pagesso interested in the other primates is that by looking at them we can obtain some ideas of what our ancestor must have been like a few millions years ago. Even though, we are not descended from any modern-type monkey or ape, our lineage does appear to have gone through stages in which we were a medium-sized, reasonably intelligent creature with good binocular vision, hands that were good at manipulation and the ability to climb trees. An evolutionary trend in primates involves the development ofRead MoreThe Correlation Between Pair Bonding And Mother Infant Relationships And Oxytocin2176 Words   |  9 Pagesbeen a dramatic rise in research due to interest in the many functions of oxytocin. Through biological mechanisms involving oxytocin, pair-bonding, as well as mother infant relationships are better understood. 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