Fundamentals of Human Growth and Development - Alexandria City ...

Young Children’s Love Objects
By Marilyn Sherman
It’s foolish--
I know it--
I’ll try to
Outgrow it,
But meanwhile...
It’s my blanket and me!
–Sung by Linus in You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown
The lovable Peanuts character Linus is probably the most blanket-toter of all time. He
speaks for every young child who cherishes a special cuddly object. Whether it’s scuffy stuffed
animal or a rag of a blanket, that object probably gets dragged from place to place as the child
plays. And it’s probably stroked and snuggled when the child settles down to sleep or feels blue.
Why do many children become attached to certain objects, and what function do these
love objects serve? To us, most of the objects look worthless enough to belong on the junk heap.
But many psychologists believe that these well-loved objects give valuable insights into the
young child’s feelings and stages of development.
ON BECOMING A PERSON
It probably takes infants some time after they are born to get the dim sensation of being
separate–no longer a part of their mothers. Until that time, psychologists believe, attachments
are very slight and babies are not likely to have love objects.
THE NEED FOR SNUGGLES
Love objects may satisfy a baby’s seated need for physical closeness and contact, some
child experts say. You’ve probably observed that babies prefer soft, smooth, warm objects to
hard, cold, rough ones. British psychologist John Bowlby maintains that babies have a need for
intimate contact, which calls “primary object clinging.”
Classic experiments by University of Wisconsin researcher Harry Harlow support this
idea. Harlow studied baby macaque (muh-kak’) monkeys, whose emotional patterns are
strikingly similar to human babies’. He made two mock “mothers” for the monkeys, one of soft
terry cloth and the other of wire mesh. Harlow found that the baby monkeys overwhelmingly
preferred the cloth “mother” to the wire one, even when the wire one dispensed milk and the
cloth one did not. Other experiments showed that the monkey’s bond with cloth “mother” not
only was deep and long-lasting but also gave them the security to explore in new situations.
Baby monkeys raised on a bare wire cage floor “survived with difficulty--if at all-- their first five
days, “ Harlow reported.
Harlow’s experiments suggest that comfortable physical contact is necessary and
important in forming love attachments. The research helps to explain the satisfaction young
children get from cuddly dolls, blankets, or animals. These objects recall the cuddly comfort of a
mother or mother substitute.
Child Development Unit32