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Attachment Theory

Attachment theory is about the love that grows between a baby and the people who take care of the baby. It is also about how that love changes the way the baby acts as it grows bigger and meets new people. However, attachment theory can also relate to how teenagers and adults may treat each other. For example, most of the time the people who take care of a baby are the baby's mother and father. If the mother or the father comes when the baby cries and treats the baby with tenderness, the baby learns that the parents will take care of it. If the mother or the father smile at the baby, talk to the baby, sing to the baby, and hold the baby even when it is not crying, the baby learns that the parents love it. When a baby has learned that it is loved and that it will be taken care of if it cries, it usually grows up to be a person who expects other people to be nice. When a child feels loved and cared for and thinks other people will be nice, that child is said to be securely attached. The two people who were most important in thinking and writing about attachment theory were John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth.

John Bowlby
Bowlby believed their was a connection between infant separation from their parents and subsequent maladjustment. . Bowlby wrote that the care and love a baby gets from its parents cause it to form an important idea. He called this idea the internal working model. The internal working model is how the baby or child thinks about itself, its parents, and other people. When parents give love and care to a baby and child, it grows up with a positive internal working model. This child will think that it is lovable, because it was loved. It will think that the parents are good, because they were caring. And the child will not be afraid to try to make friends with new people, because it will expect people to be nice. Children who have a positive internal working model are also likely to be kind to other people. Bowlby wrote that the attachment process in people was like the closeness that exists between mother and baby gorillas, chimpanzees and monkeys. In people, Bowlby believed that attachment developed gradually, in four stages.

Four Stages of Attachment
Stage 1: Occurs until three months of age. Newborns will respond the same to any person.

Stage 2: Occurs after four months. Infants start to develop preferences for certain people.

Stage 3: Occurs after seven months. Babies develop a special attachment to one caregiver. They will show fear when with strangers and become sad when separated from the person they attached to.

Stage 4: Occurs after nine months. Babies grow more independent and begin to form attachments with other people.

Mary Ainsworth
Mary Ainsworth saw how mothers treated their babies in different cities and countries. She saw that many ways mothers and babies acted were the same, even when families lives were very different. Ainsworth made a way to test how the attachment relationship between a mother and her young child. She called it "The Strange Situation."

The Strange Situation
During "The Strange Situation" a child is observed in six different situations. At first the child and its caregiver are in a room together. Then a stranger enters and the caregiver leaves. Next the caregiver comes back. After a brief wait, both the caregiver and the stranger leave the infant alone in the room. Lastly, the caregiver returns to the room. Observers are looking at the interaction between the child and its caregiver, along with how the child interacts with the stranger. Based on how the child reacts they are divided into three categories: secure attachment, ambivalent insecure attachment, or avoidant insecure attachment.

A securely attached child will roam freely in the room and interact with the stranger. When their caregiver leaves the room the child will be upset but easily comforted when they return. An ambivalent insecure attached child will not explore the world. When the caregiver leaves they will be highly upset, however when they return, the child wants to be comforted but still holds resentment for being left alone. Finally, the avoidant insecure attached child will pay no attention to their caregiver when they are in the room or when they leave the room. When the caregiver comes back they do not show any emotional reaction.

Importance
The importance of forming an attachment with someone is very important. Infants who have a secure attachment relationship with their caregivers grow up to form other types of relationships easily. They learn to trust people and create bonds. Infants who develop either an ambivalent or avoidant attachment with their caregivers may have a difficult time of establishing relationships in the future. There might be a lack of trust or just general indifference towards other people.