Understanding Psychology (10th Ed)

 The Father’s Role.
Although early developmental research focused largely on the 
mother-child relationship, more recent research has highlighted the father’s role in 
FIGURE 6 
Although the wire “mother” 
dispensed milk to the hungry infant 
monkey, the infant preferred the soft, 
terry-cloth “mother.” Do you think 
human babies would react the same 
way? What does this experiment tell us 
about attachment?
 
(Source: Harry Harlow 
Primate Laboratory/University of Wisconsin.)
Study Alert
Attachment—the positive 
emotional bond that devel-
ops between a child and a 
particular individual—is a 
key concept in understand-
ing the social development of 
children.
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400 Chapter 
12 
Development
parenting—and with good reason: The number of fathers who are primary caregivers 
for their children has grown signifi cantly, and fathers play an increasingly important 
role in their children’s lives. For example, in almost 13% of families with children, 
the father is the parent who stays at home to care for preschoolers (Parke, 2004; Day 
& Lamb, 2004; Halford, 2006). 
When fathers interact with their children, their play often differs from mothers’ 
play. Fathers engage in more physical, rough-and-tumble sorts of activities, whereas 
mothers play more verbal and traditional games, such as peekaboo. Despite such 
behavioral differences, the nature of attachment between fathers and children com-
pared with that between mothers and children can be similar. In fact, children can 
form multiple attachments simultaneously (Borisenko, 2007; Pellis & Pellis, 2007; 
Diener et al., 2008).