What is attachment? Explore Harlow’s monkeys, Ainsworth’s strange situation, and Kohlberg’s stages of moral development in Crash Course Psychology.
In "Monkeys and Morality," Hank Green explores the social and moral development that happens alongside our cognitive growth. The episode starts with Harry Harlow’s famous (and controversial) experiments with rhesus monkeys, which proved that infants seek "contact comfort" and security more than just food. This discovery overturned the behaviorist idea that attachment was simply about who feeds the child, showing instead that a "secure base" is essential for healthy development.
The video also covers Mary Ainsworth’s "Strange Situation" experiment, which identified different attachment styles: secure, insecure-avoidant, and insecure-anxious. You'll learn how these early bonds with caregivers can predict a child’s social competence later in life. Additionally, Green discusses the different parenting styles—authoritarian, permissive, and authoritative—and how they impact a child's self-esteem and independence. The lesson then pivots to moral development, using Lawrence Kohlberg’s stages (pre-conventional, conventional, and post-conventional) to explain how our sense of right and wrong matures as we grow.
By weaving together attachment theory and moral philosophy, the episode provides a rich picture of how we become social and ethical beings. Whether it's the internal "internal working model" we develop from our parents or the complex reasoning we use to solve moral dilemmas, our development is a lifelong process of connection and reflection. This lesson is a powerful reminder that our emotional health and moral character are deeply rooted in our earliest experiences and the social world we inhabit.
#AttachmentTheory #Parenting #MoralDevelopment #Psychology #CrashCourse #Science
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