The Development Of Attachment Bonds

What is the definition of attachment? If you look it up in a dictionary it explains that it is ‘an emotional bond between an infant or toddler and primary caregiver, a strong bond being vital for the child’s normal behavioural and social development’. That strong bond between infant and caregiver is believed to happen between the ages of 6-8 months although Bowlby (1958) suggests that the infants are born into this world pre-programmed to form attachments, they have innate behaviours in the way of crying, smiling, crawling and cooing which will stimulate attention and comforting responses from the caregivers. These behaviours are called social releasers. Kagan et al (1978)

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.

What is an attachment bond? An attachment bond is the unique emotional relationship between your baby and you as his or her primary caretaker (Robinson). Dogs have been seen as to being the most loyal to their owners since they have a bond that goes back for generations. Before dogs were kept as pets, they were wolves and it has been confirmed that dogs still actively carry the wolves traits in all areas that allow them to bond with families. Wolves are known for being territorial, hunting cooperatively, and becoming emotionally bonded with their owner and when seeing them after a long period of time are filled with excitement and passion. By being part of the family, dogs feel the comfort and support as they would in an wolf pack that leads

The formation of attachment begins at birth with the child forming some type or form of attachment with their parents or primary caregiver. Hopefully, the child is able to form a proper or secure attachment with their parent or primary caregivers because the attachment formed between the parents or primary caregiver acts the foundation for how well the child will be able to form attachments with others outside the immediate family (Gullone, Ollendick, King,2006).This is because the type or level of attachment the child was able to form with his or her parent generally predicts the type or level of attachment the child will form with others outside their intermediate family. However, as the individual interacts with the outside world more and

Evaluation of Research Into Factors that Influence the Development of Attachments in Humans During First Year of Life

There are three to four different types of attachments. The first is a secure attachment, or healthy attachment, in which "securely attached infants, when distressed by caregiver separation, seek contact with her upon her return, react positively, and use the caregiver as a secure base from which they venture forth to explore the environment." (Wicks-Nelson & Israel, 2009) An anxious-ambivalent child is anxious when their caregiver leaves, but is not particularly happy when she returns, and they may or may not use their caregiver as a base to explore their surroundings, they may just cling to her to entire time (Weiten, 2005). The last attachment for most psychologists is the avoidant

Attachment serves the purpose of promoting closeness between infants with their adult caregivers who are responsible for comforting, nurturing and protecting them (Breidensteine, Bailey, Zeanah & Larrieu, 2011). Bowlby (1958) developed attachment theory to explain young children’s behaviours in ethological terms, positing that infants have developed an adaptive system directed towards their adult caregivers to elicit attention and care (Del Giudice, 2009). These biological driven behaviours, such as crying or clinging to a recognised and consistent caregiver

Unlike in adults where attachment bonds may be reciprocal in characteristics, the bond between infants and the caregiver is mainly based the child's need for security, care, and protection. There is a chronological way in which attachment bonds develop and manifest themselves in a child as the child advances in age. In the first six months of a child life, pre-attachment behaviours and trends are observed in a child. In this phase, the infant cries and smiles to attract the attention of potential caregivers who they have not yet been able to discriminate or rank. In this stage, anyone in the vicinity is a potential caregiver for the child. The second phase of a child attachment development occurs between the ages of two months to the age of six months. In this phase, the child develops a discriminative instinct, and he or she is able to differentiate between familiar and unfamiliar adults. The child response toward the caregivers increased at this stage and added behaviour of clinging and following are developed in the child (Cassidy & Shaver,

In chapter 3, the theory of attachment proposed by John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth is explored. First, Bowlby’s theory of attachment was influenced by the ethological theorist, Darwin, Lorenz, and Tinbergen, who were previously mentioned in the chapter. Bowlby emphasized that behaviors found in animals, such as seeking close proximity from mothers to reduce the chance of becoming a prey, can also be found in toddlers. For example, Bowlby defined that actions such as following, crying out, and clinging found in children are displayed in order to keep close distance to parents is called attachment behaviors. Bowlby incorporates imprinting and instincts, which are ethological terms, to explain different phases of attachment. As the child develops through time, the attachment of child and parent deepens their

From the moment a child is born, it craves the contact of its mother and those bonds form almost instantly. Why those bonds are necessary to life as we know it are so ancient and innate in society, they are hardly questioned. However, what are the real psychological reasons behind the strong emotional attachment and bonding that takes place between a baby and a caretaker? Each psychological perspective has a different focus, and this focus then brings about seven different theories as to why this attachment takes place.

Attachments are formed in the very earliest months and years of life. These have a significant influence on emotional development as well as providing a template for the child as he or she grows into adulthood.

A human developmentalist, by the name of John Bradshaw once said, “Since the earliest period of our life was preverbal, everything depended on emotional interaction. Without someone to reflect our emotions, we had no way of knowing who we were”. From the moment an embryo is implanted into a mother’s womb, human life is dependent on the attachment of a caregiver, someone to provide it the necessary nutrients and nurturement for a healthy development. Over the course of time, researchers have conducted countless studies to determine whether which of the two was more vital, the fundamental necessities such as food and water or the attachment to a caregiver, for a typical development of not just the human species, but all mammals. However, consistently results have proven to show that attachment has played a vital role in the

Although, researchers demonstrated most babies turn out to be attached by the second half of their first year of life. It is amazing that the environment and bond can be different with each child. Some infants are calm and protected by their mother, and some seem uneasy and uncertain. I would concur with the author 's idea of ethological-evolutionary theory. The attachment is the strong emotional bond that develops between infant and mother, providing the infant with emotional security (Berk, 2014). The reciprocal action that infants sometime have is attachment behavior and exploratory behavior in the Strange Situation with caregivers. An attachment may be identified as a feeling that bonds a person or animal forms between self and other beasts. While, Ethology has to do with the familiarize yourself, survival, behavior and its evolutionary history. Agreeing with the ethologist assessment, which babies are physically motivated to participate actively to form a bond with their mother and improves the infant 's genes to live.

Psychiatrist John Bowlby (1982) described attachment as a bond that exist at the early estates of an infant’s life and caregiver; mothers are seen as the primary caretakers. According to Palm (2014a), infants are biologically wired to perform a series of behaviors in order to seek proximity with the main caregiver in order to get their basic needs met, these behaviors involved crying, babbling, smiling, gazing (Rieser-Danner and Slaughter, 2014). Crying and communicating distress is a form use by children to seek proximity also infants used babbling, smiling, and gazing to initiate social engagement (Palm, 2014b )

According to ethological theory, which is focused on the biological and evolutionary basis of behaviour based on the human development, infants and parents have a biological predisposition to connect to each other. But who are attachments made with? There is some earlier articles and textbooks defined the