John Bowlby's decades of work into parent-child attachment has led to a
huge body of research into bonds and relationships. Now an attachment can be
described as a long-enduring emotional tie to a specific person and according
to Bowlby such bonds are rooted in evolutionary development. Now babies have
an innate drive to form an attachment with a primary caregiver pretty
sharpish and that's so that they can guarantee someone a little bit bigger
and a lotta bit stronger is there for them to protect them from danger. Now
Bowlby suggests that there are five key innate behaviors that babies have in
their arsenal straight out of the belly to secure them this satisfactorily
"whipped" primary caregiver. Now if you watched last time's video you'll know
that these behaviors are sucking cuddling looking smiling and crying SCLSC
So how does an attachment develop? Well Bowlby identifies four stages. The
first phase called pre attachment covers the first two months from birth. In this
time babies already show a portfolio of interaction and attachment-seeking
behaviors even without any personal social experience - they truly are natural
people pleasers. In this phase babies demonstrate a marked preference for a
human over a nonhuman stimuli. For example, a child of this age is much more
likely to want to look at a face than at a beach ball and straightaway they're
able to exhibit these signaling behaviors such as smiling and crying to
attach and maintain attention. The second stage, attachment in the making,
is the precursor to full-on genuine attachment. From 2 to 7 months, babies
acquire the basic social rules of interacting with others such as
turn-taking and shared attention. At this stage of
development, the primary caregiver is doing a huge amount of the legwork on
behalf of the infant, teaching them the basic rules of play of turn taking and
demonstrating interaction through things like baby talk
conversation and playing with the baby. Bowlby's third stage is what he calls
clear-cut attachment, emerging between seven months and two years.Now this
stage loosely lines up with Bowlby's concept of a critical period of
attachment, though this idea is somewhat out of fashion at the moment which we're
going to talk about in next time's video. By this stage infant shows undeniable
indications of having formed a specific attachment. For example, it's at this
point that a baby demonstrates the ability to miss their primary caregiver
and doesn't treat all adults indiscriminately. It's no longer squishy
baby cuddles for all, it's specific love for a specific person. The final of
Bowlby's four stages is a goal corrected partnership and it's at this stage that
the infant's behaviors, from two years, become increasingly intentional. A
younger infant would cry because they're in pain whereas an infant at this stage
of development will cry in order to summon their primary caregiver and this
is a hugely sophisticated form of social interaction - not only are they responding
to their own needs and goals but they're able to manipulate those of others by
calculating primary caregiver's own personal goals into their
decision-making and behavior and it shows that the infant has now developed
the basics of a relationship. As these skills develop, a child can move beyond
the initial use of external behaviors and draw on increasingly complex
understandings of internal feelings and expectations. It's at this point that
Bowlby's concept of internal working models really comes into force and the
basis of all future relationships and interactions are built on these
foundational interactions with a person's primary caregiver. Thank you for
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videos on psychology here on Psychology Unlocked