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The Theory Of The Attachment Theory

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Humans are social beings by nature; from the day one is born, an immense amount of time must be dedicated to the individual in order for them to develop properly and to their maximum potential. Without this interaction with others, the child will become stagnant in their progress and fail to grow both mentally and physically. Because of its importance, infants and children have been hardwired to attach to their mothers and/or caregivers in order to fulfill this basic need. This instinctual need for attention and security was originally studied by John Bowlby in his creation of the “Attachment Theory”. Expanding from infancy to the entirety of a human life, one may see the Attachment Theory and importance of interaction in early…show more content…
From these measurements, Schaffer and Emerson were able to develop the Stages of Attachment. Throughout their developing stages, infants were expected to experience each of these phases:
1. Asocial (0-6 weeks) – The infant will form attachments with nearly any human or human figure without any real bias.
2. Indiscriminate Attachment (6 weeks-7 mo.) – The infant enjoys human interaction and attention from a caregiver and get upset when not payed attention to. Can tell people apart but no bias.
3. Specific Attachment (7 mo.-9 mo.) – The infant looks to a particular person(s) to care for them, experiences separation anxiety and stranger fear much more intensely than before.
4. Multiple Attachment (10 mo. +) – The infant is able to form more attachments as it becomes more independent. Attachments may be with family members, caregivers, or anyone else who responds well to them.
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With these stages constructed and the structure of attachment theory in place, psychologist Mary Ainsworth delved further into this theory and began her study titled “The Strange Situation”. In this study, Ainsworth’s aim was to measure the quality of attachments in one to two year olds with their parent or caregiver (SOURCE).
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