Carter and Shaver Educate the Public on "Love" and Attachment in Special Valentine Science Café at the National Zoo

Note: This event was co-sponsored with the Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology, the Society for Experimental Social Psychology, and the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. (Click on a Society's name for more information). Our gratitude for their support, financial and otherwise, cannot be expressed strongly enough.

February 8, 2007 - FABBS held a special “holiday theme” Café at the National Zoo in Washington, DC on February 8, 2007 called “How Do I Love Thee?  The Biology and Psychology of Attachment.”  This event was planned with Valentine’s Day in mind and featured the work of C. Sue Carter, Ph.D. (University of Illinois at Chicago) and Phillip Shaver, Ph.D. (University of California, Davis).  Despite a near-record cold winter evening, the room was at its limit of 300 attendees, many from the general public, some from academic circles, and others from federal agencies and branches of the government.  The Café was a great success and upheld the mission of the Foundation to educate the public about important and relevant work in the behavioral and brain sciences. 

Kicking off the evening was John Seidensticker, PhD, Conservation Biologist at the National Zoo who introduced the Vice President of FABBS, Susan Fiske, PhD (Princeton University), who stated that FABBS’ goal is to promote the importance of the work of behavioral and brain scientists.  She explained the three-fold mission of educating the public, educating Congress, and encouraging cross-talk of scientists as well.  Then she introduced the two speakers for the evening, with the comment that FABBS is not responsible for all views held by these, or any, event speakers.

Introduction

Presentations 

Sue Carter, Ph.D.

Following these introductory comments, C. Sue Carter began by trying to define “love,” e.g. is it the bond between two adults, obsession, intimacy, or more appropriately the domain of poets?  Since she concluded that love is likely an emotional state with underlying biological processes, “love” can be studied across species as is done with other areas of biology and behavior.  This led to an explanation of how social bonds are developed, i.e., with pregnancy, birth, and lactation and with sexual behavior as well, but also during stress and various “need” states.  Carter noted that oxytocin is released during these experiences and this is true for a wide array of animals.  With great care, she explained the role of oxytocin using mostly the examples of her research with prairie voles (who are socially monogamous creatures).  Carter offered a very important public announcement regarding the substance known as Liquid Trust, stating that any effects seen in using this topical ointment are just placebo-induced. 

Click here to view or download Dr. Carter’s power point presentation.

Phillip Shaver, Ph.D.

Phillip R. Shaver took to the podium next and noted that Carter spoke primarily of non-human animals and that his focus would be on humans.  He quipped that while Carter’s focus was primarily on the “old brain,” he did have quite a bit of interest in the cortex!  That is, he noted that the biological underpinnings are critical in understanding this area, but with humans such things as “perception of a partner’s trustworthiness” play a role as well in attachment.  Shaver then reviewed classic Bowlby and Ainworth research and theory, followed by Harlow’s monkey studies on secure and insecure attachments.  He then brought these theories up to date with greater definition and clarification of the types of attachment and what meaning this has in normal life.  Ending on an optimistic note, Shaver noted that insecure attachments can be harmful to people in any number of ways but that new research is showing how to turn this pattern around. 

Click here to view or download Dr. Shaver’s power point presentation.

Q and A

The question and answer period was lively and informative and the dialogue continued enthusiastically over the wine-and-cheese reception.  We heard attendees speaking with one another, and not just with the speakers, about the evening’s presentations.

Photos

DVD

If you prefer to receive a DVD copy of this café, which is of a better quality than the web posting, please send in a tax-deductible contribution to FABBS by either check or PayPal for $30 or more, and we will mail you a copy. 

Please indicate that you would like to receive the February 2007 Science Cafe somewhere on your donation.

FABBS donors who have contributed $100 or more in either 2006 or 2007 are eligible for a complimentary copy of this DVD by contacting us.