Developmental Psychology

Developmental Psychology

Attachments in Developments

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Developmental psychology is concerned with how our cognitions,

emotions and behaviour change as we grow with age and experience.

Babies, only a few months old develop close bonds called attachment

bonds with some people in particular. These people are able to settle

the child, if upset, more easily than others and the baby will become

upset if separated from the attachment object for too long. There has

been a big debate in psychology over the precise role the mother

figure takes in child development generally and especially the

emotional development.

Topic 4 - The Development and Variety of Attachments

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Attachments are emotional bonds that are formed with people very close

to us. For babies and young people these attachments are formed with

the people who look after them, usually their parents that prove very

important to them. As we grow up our attachment objects usually change

and may include boyfriends and girlfriends.

The development of attachments

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When you have become attached to somebody it means that you have

formed a special bond with that person and them with you. These

"attachment bonds" are very important to us but more so at an infant

age with the loss of attachments having a negative effect on an

individual. Maurer and Maurer said that attachments are welded in the

heat of interactions, which shows that attachments depend on the

interaction between two people rather than simply just being together.

Maccoby identified four ...

... middle of paper ...

...owed signs of behavioural

instability e.g. shaking were less likely to become securely attached

to their mother.

Cross-Cultural Variations in Secure and Insecure Attachments

In the same way that there are differences in attachment behaviour

between individuals there is also differences in from one culture to

another. Secure attachment is important in all cultures and the

concept of an internal working model being universal has become a

widely accepted view. Researchers in many different countries have

used the Strange Situation to investigate secure and insecure

attachment. There is considerable consistency in the results across

cultures that show there is a relationship between mother - infant

interaction and secure attachment. This suggests that there is a

biological or genetic basis for attachment formation.