Child Observation Paper

Attachment is a deep and enduring emotional bond that connects one person to another across time and space (Bowlby, 1969). Likewise, attachment theory is a psychological model that seeks to illustrate the dynamics of both long term and short- term interpersonal relationships (Waters, E.; Corcoran, D.; Anafarta, M. 2005). Additionally, attachment theory address how people respond within relationships when hurt, separated from loved ones, or when they perceive a threat (Waters et al., 2005). Attachment theory is the combined work of John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth (Bretherton, I. 1992, p. 1). The theory predominantly draws on the ideas from doctrines such as, ethology, cybernetics, information processing and developmental psychology (Bretherton, I. 1992, p. 1). It is considered that attachment theory has revolutionized the way society thinks about the relationship between the mother and her child and the importance of

Attachment theory is a concept that explores the importance of attachment in respect to direct development. “It is a deep and enduring emotional bond that connects one person to another across time and space” (Bowlby, 1969; McLeod, 2009). It is the relationship that develops within the first year of the infant’s life between them and their caregiver. The theory also relates to the quality of the attachment that is shown in the behavior of the infant (Rieser-Danner, 2016). Attachment theory shows that infants need a close nurturing relationship with their caregiver in order to have a healthy relationship. Lack of response from the caregiver

I went to a family day care that my sister’s friend mother works at. I made sure to get permission from her and the parents of the child I observed. I arrived at the place around 12 p.m., I saw two caregivers and three children. There were two girls and one boy, one was a 1-year-old girl. The other girl was 3 and the boy was 4 years old. I observed a 4-year-old boy who is Hispanic/Latino with short black hair and light brown eyes. He has a light skin color, loose ear lobes and had casual clothes (gray shirt, blue jeans and normal sneakers). I asked the caregiver if she knew his weight and height, she said that he is 38 inches tall and weighed 32 pounds. It was my first time meeting him so I was surprised by how clam, but upbeat he was. I did get one child out of three who was anxious of me, the rest were mostly curious about me. He is bilingual, he spoke mostly English with me, but Spanish with the caregiver. He

John Bowlby’s attachment theory established that an infant’s earliest relationship with their primary caregiver or mother shaped their later development and characterized their human life, “from the cradle to the grave” (Bowlby, 1979, p. 129). The attachment style that an infant develops with their parent later reflects on their self-esteem, well-being and the romantic relationships that they form. Bowlby’s attachment theory had extensive research done by Mary Ainsworth, who studied the mother-infant interactions specifically regarding the theme of an infant’s exploration of their surrounding and the separation from their mother in an experiment called the strange situation. Ainsworth defined the four attachment styles: secure,

One of the most important factors that affect child development is the relationship of the child with their primary caregiver. This is a tenet of developmental psychology known as attachment theory. John Bowlby, the creator of this theory, wanted to examine how early childhood experiences influence personality development. Attachment theory specifically examines infant’s reactions to being separated from their primary caregiver. Bowlby hypothesized that the differences in how children react to these situations demonstrates basic behavioral differences in infancy that will have consequences for later social and emotional development.

Rudolph Schaffer and Peggy Emerson (1964) also formulated a theory of attachment based on their longitudinal study of 60 babies in Glasgow looking at the gradual development of attachments; they visited them monthly for the first year of their lives and returned again at 18 months. (Bailey et al. 2008). Similar to Bowlby’s research, Schaffer and Emerson also formulated four key stages of attachment and produced

Jeremy’s biological development has progressed exactly the way it should. I observed him interacting with his family. I was able to observe that he could process information and react to it in an acceptable manner. He was also walking, running, bending and performing many other tasks that a child his age should. He displayed good motor skills and development.

The child I observed was a seven-year-old girl in Year 2 who sat on the second highest ability table in a mixed class. While not in school, she lived a substantial distance away meaning she travelled to and from school by car and was often the first child to arrive in the morning and the last to leave in the afternoon. I will focus on the social and emotional development of this child who, from now onwards, will be referred to as C.

The decision of the John Smith’s father to abandon his son impacted many aspects of his life but the one that was most clearly impacted was his attachment process. The experience of father abandonment during infancy disrupted John’s development of secure attachment. John’s mother reports that due to the increased pressure of having to raise three children on her own, she was not always emotionally available to care be attentive to her children’s emotional needs. At the time of his infancy John’s mother was constantly working in an effort to provide for three children. Because of this John’s mother was not there to be consistently attentive to John’s needs. If John’s father was present to help contribute financially and assist with family

In order to determine an infant’s attachment type, Ainsworth established an experimental study known as, “Strange Situation” (Berger, 2014, p.144). This study was an experiment off of Bowlby’s findings that suggest attachment “related behaviors, are activated in times of personal distress” (Bernier, Larose, & Whipple, 2005, p. 172). Therefore, within this study, an infant’s attachment was determined by studying their behavior and level of distress within a new environment at the absence or presence of their caregiver. Additionally, Bernier represents the results of Larose and Boivin’s 1998 study that express a possible correlation between “Strange Situation” and the transition from high school to college (Bernier et al., 2005, p. 173) as both

After observing a nine month old child for this Child Observation paper, the author of this paper has taken copious notes during the session. The purpose of this paper is recognizing the biological, cognitive and psychosocial development of the child. The author of this paper identified the background history of the child, the observation made and the development process of the child.

I observed a young girl name Julianna at her home. As I arrived at her house and knocked on the door she greeted and opened the door for me. She was happy to see someone different other than her mother’s. Julie was full of energy even though she just got back from school. Well right away she took me to see her pet bunny named “beast”. When I was done seeing her pet bunny, I came to the dining table. I interviewed Julie’s mother to get some insight of how she was when she was a baby till now. The first question I asked to Julie’s mother was, “How was her pregnancy?” She responded, “Like any other normal pregnancy, I had morning sickness, craving for oranges.” Julie’s mother told me during her four month of pregnancy she got sick but luckily

The observation took place between a mother and her son. The child appeared to be about 24 months old. The video was 10 minutes and 21 seconds long. In this video, the boy, his older brother and sister, and his mom are painting wooden pineapples and flowers. The paint being used is in six connected plastic containers with pop lids. There is also a brush for each child, a cup of water for each child, and paper towels present on the table. The mom is specifically helping the youngest boy, only the two of them are shown in the video. They are painting outside on a small plastic table outside on what appears to be a deck. Another woman is present as well, again not pictured, and the dad walks by on two separate occasions. Both the women and the dad have small interactions with the boy.

Mary Main was Ainssowrth student. She therefore introduced another fourth category of attachment styles with her attachment studies with adults. During her longitudinal research project alongside her colleague Goldwyn on middle class children’s attachment styles, they found that about 79% of the time attachment styles remained constant from 18 months to 6 years of age (in Brandell & Ringel, 2007,). However in their observations about 5%) that did not fit into Ainsworth’s classification of attachment styles, which they called ‘disorganized/disoriented attachment’ (Main & Solomon, 1986, 1990). These children were fearful and engaged in repetitive or aggressive behaviors. Their behaviors at reunion were unpredictable. They displayed

In this essay I will explore the meaning and purpose of attachment and discuss research into attachment concentrating on John Bowlby’s 1944 “44 thieves” study conducted to test his maternal deprivation theory and Schaffer & Emerson’s 1964 “ Glasgow babies” study.