Does early attachment predict
Does early attachment predictAttachment is generally considered to be an emotional bond, or strong affectionate ties to a companion. For the purposes of this paper 'attachment' will refer to the primary attachment formed between an infant and his/her primary caregiver. It is maintained that a healthy primary attachment relationship is an essential element the in the emotional and psychological development of the infant and that the formation of the attachment will provide the infant with a base from which to judge and react to situations throughout life. It has thus been suggested that the quality of the attachment relationship of the infant will predict later behaviour, however evidence concerning later developmental outcomes is mixed and must be clarified.
Ainsworth, Bell and Stayton (1971) found individual differences in infant attachment relationships, and proposed that these differences are crucial in development of the child. Mary Ainsworth and her colleagues devised a test called the 'strange situation', to measure the quality of an infants attachment relationship to his/her primary caregiver. This consists of 8 short episodes, which attempt to simulate events that would take place in the process of normal living. Through these the experimenter observes the infant/caregiver interaction, the infant's reaction to separation with the primary caregiver and the infant's reaction to strangers. Ainsworth asserted that infants display three types of attachment quality: secure, resistant (insecure) and avoidant (insecure), and found that generally about 65% of the population have secure attachments (subject to culture). More recently Main and Solomon (1990) have developed a fourth organised strategy of attachment; termed disorganised/disoriented attachment behaviour. Infants in this classification display a mixture of resistant and avoidant behaviour. Mary Main suggests it is a result of fearing their primary caregiver as it is prevalent among infants of abuse or difficult family circumstances.
Waters and Deane (1985) criticise the 'strange situation', pointing out Ainsworth et al., (1971) could not classify a reasonable portion of their subjects. They propose the 'strange situation' can not simulate normal situations because it is conducted in a laboratory and therefore is not truly measuring the infants' normal behaviour. However, the 'strange situation' experiment has been replicated numerous times with reasonably reliable results and it is generally accepted to give some measure of infant attachment quality. Kagan (1984) also criticises it, and argues that the test is measuring temperament, not attachment. Carlson (1998) undermines this claim, as she found no relationship between infant temperament and later behaviour problems in her longitudinal experiment.
It is the forming of the attachment that is vital to the infant for healthy development. Attachment quality stems from child attributes and temperament, caregiving sensitivity, environment and the interaction of all three. Thomas and Chess (1977) developed the 'goodness of fit' model to explain attachment formation. They suggest that secure attachments form when there is a good fit between the child's temperament and the caregiving it...
To view the complete essay, you be registered.