Internal Working Model Essay

When a person becomes a parent, their role in life undoubtedly changes. The person must become a teacher, a guide, and a helping hand in the life of the child. Research has shown that there is a distinct connection between how a child is raised and their overall developmental outcome. John Bowlby’s attachment theory emphasizes the importance of the regular and sustained contact between the parent-infant or parent-child relationship (Travis & Waul 2003). Yet, what happens when the only physical contact a child can share with their parent is a hand pressed on the shield of glass that separates the two? What happens when the last memory of their mother or father was from the corner of their own living room as they watched their parent

If the mother is not available for that special attachment then the infant could attach to a mother-substitute, this attachment relationship is the prototype for all future relationships. Forming this special attachment is believed to build up an internal working model or to help them template for their future relationships. The internal working model can be changed as the infant develops new types of relationships to others, contact and attachments with a variety of people can lead to a fully developed internal working model. The internal working model is the vital part of forming

There is not only psychological evidence of the importance of the attachment relationship, but also neurobiological evidence. Many important brain structures, including the amygdala, septal nuclei and hippocampus “require considerable social, emotional,

Most of the housewives nowadays would likely to seek for a job in order to earn a living for the whole family, and it leads to a result of keeping infants at day care services. However, some critics argue about the sense of insecurity may be formed due to day care which may affect children’s mental well-being negatively, and directly links to the attachment theory. Bowlby (1953) define attachment theory as a long-lasting affectionate psychological bond in human beings, especially strong in the attachment between infant and mother. It is significant that the attachment and the day care would seriously affect the development of children. Therefore, this essay is aimed to illustrate how the attachment theory relates to the early day care, and whether it brings positive or negative influences to the infants and what would be resulted at the end of the effects. First, the stages in attachment theory would be stated, then, explain the linking of day care and attachment through the insecure stage

Modern attachment theory, which has now shifted to a regulation theory, takes Bowlby’s original work on attachment and looks at how early experiences, such as prenatal stress, optimal/suboptimal stress, and the mother’s ability to regulate the child’s needs, help the child form an internalized working model for attachment style due to the brain being an “experience-dependent organ” (Cozolino, 2010c; J. Schore & A. Schore, 2012).

Over the years, the role of mother in the life of their children has been crucial and prominent. The child’s first education starts at home with their mother. The mother teaches the child how to walk, how to talk, and how to become a strong man or woman in the society. Some mothers will even stop going to work in order to take care of their kids so that they can be a better person and a good citizen.

In an experiment comparing positive attachment to positive self-esteem, it was concluded that, “securely attached children were likely to develop a positive working model of self ”. (p 2505, The Internal Working Model of the Self, Attachment, and Competence in Five-Year-Olds). Conversely, the same study proved children with poor attachment, had a more difficult time in social interactions. (p 2505, The Internal Working Model of the Self, Attachment, and Competence in Five-Year-Olds). The positive working model is one component to help create positive socio-economic development for the child.

Attachment is described as an "affectionate reciprocal relationship between an individual and another individual." Much psychological research has been carried out into the types of attachments that infants form with their caregivers, and the results gained from these studies show how early attachments can affect children whether positively or negatively.

Attachment theory has proven to be one of the most beneficial frameworks for understanding risk and protection factors within developmental psychology stated by Bowlby (1973). Bowlby (1982) suggested that children form mental representations of relationships based on their interactions with their primary care giver. Which form a cognitive structure of embodying memories based on these daily interactions with their attachment figure (Bretherton et al, 1990). This is more commonly known as the internal working model, and has been used to explain how infants used this existing representation, to

Although secure attachment during infancy is the foundation for continued healthy positive development during the lifespan, it is important to understand that other factors can have a significant effect on development later in life (i.e. illness, loss, and trauma). However, research has shown the importance of consistent care giving that is responsive and nurturing and the caregivers’ ability to effectively accommodate more difficult temperament characteristics ,as well as other factors, influence the development of healthy attachment{{64 Bakermans-Kranenburg, Marian 2003}}. Research has also shown that infancy and early childhood is the period of development where scaffolding begins and continues (Vygotsky, 1978; Zhao & Orey,1999).

A mother’s ability to attune, regulate, and respond to an infant has considerable developmental and interpersonal consequences (Bowlby 1988; Shapiro 2012). Repeated proximity-seeking behaviors with primary caregivers lay the foundation for individual strategies that assist in the regulation of emotions and the ability to form intimate bonds (Marmarosh & Tasca, 2013). One’s experiences early on in life create the foundation from which we form our perceptions of self and others, and are associated with the development of neural pathways in the brain that control responses to stress (Marmarosh & Tasca, 2013), and influence future relationships and attachments in adulthood (Snyder, Shapiro, & Treleaven, 2012).

The concept of infant-mother attachment is as important to the child as the birth itself. The effect this relationship has on a child shall affect that child for its entire life. A secure attachment to the mother or a primary caregiver is imperative for a child’s development. Ainsworth’s study shows that a mother is responsive to her infant’s behavioral cues which will develop into a strong infant-mother attachment. This will result in a child who can easily, without stress, be separated from his mother and without any anxiety. Of course the study shows a child with a weak infant-mother relationship will lead to mistrust, anxiety, and will never really be that close with the mother. Without the

Since the attachment theory provides a fundamental framework of an infant’s development from womb to tomb, this research can be used to characterize specific behavior that a person may develop from childhood throughout adulthood. In Huis in ‘t Veld

In the first few months of life, the sole purpose of any child’s behaviour is to survive. This, more often than not, results in actions that reduce the risk of harm and increase the chances of longevity. Of these behaviours, some argue that the most influential is attachment behaviour. “Attachment behaviour is any form of behaviour that results in a person attaining or maintaining proximity to some other clearly identified individual who is conceived as better able to cope with the world”(Bowlby, 1982). Therefore, children will make an effort to stay close to and under the protection of their primary caregiver. According to Webster, “through interactions with their primary caregiver, the child develops expectations and understandings about the workings of relationships. These mental representations of relationships become internalized to the degree that they influence feelings, thought and behaviour automatically and unconsciously” (1999, p.6). Moreover, the response of the identified individual plays a huge role in the child’s perception of the outside world. If the caregiver responds to the child’s needs in a caring and protective manner, the child will feel safe and comfortable in his or her surroundings. If, on the other hand, the caregiver is often emotionally and/or physically unavailable, the child is likely to

“As infants grows older, they form close and enduring emotional attachments with the important people in their lives”. Reference 1. This essay will discuss the developmental period of infancy. Infancy is categorised as the development stage of a human from birth to 2 years of age. Infancy is a time in the human life that involves rapid growth and extraordinary changes in the first two years of life. Infants not only grow dramatically physically, their brains develop, and there is the start of locomotor skill development as well as the start of reflexes and sensory growth. The essay will also discuss anxiety and the role it plays with infants in regards to physical, cognitive and psychosocial stages an infant experiences. This essay will argue that the attachment of an infant to its mother is highly important. It will discuss the different way in which attachment affects an infant. This essay will discuss typical development milsetones in the first year years of human life. It will then go to analysis the relationship between infants being in day care or at home with their mother. T The typical physical development of a babys starts at borth. When a Baby is born on average it will weigh 3.4 kilograms and measure to be around 51 centimeters. A baby is typically 25 percent of its final adult weight when it is born but by its