Attachment Theory
Assume that Piaget’s theory of children’s cognitive development during sensorimotor period in tertiary circular reaction at 1 year of age is correct. Explain why it would be fruitless to tell a child not to worry, your mother just went downstairs to the laundry room, she’ll be back in a minute. Relate this circumstance using the attachment theory.
According to Bowlby, when threatened, humans, like other primate groups, probably cooperated to drive off the predators and protect the sick and young. To gain this protection, children needed to stay close to the adults. If a child lost contact, he or she could be killed. Thus children must have evolved attachment behaviors-gestures and signals that promote and maintain proximity to caretakers. It would be fruitless to tell a 1 year old that their mother will be back in a minute because babies more so at that age can not think logically or coherently. According to Piaget, children utilize illogical thought to problem-solve, even with a great amount of cognitive information. In this case, the baby discriminated the lack of physical and visual stimulation when the mother was absence resulting in distress.
Initially, babies’ social responsiveness is indiscriminate. For example, they will smile at any face or cry for any person who leaves. Between about 3 and 6 months of age, however, babies narrow their responsiveness to a few familiar people, and are then wary of strangers. Bowlby’s attachment theory, Phase 3(6months-3years) talked about a baby going through a period called separation anxiety. Increased intense and exclusive behavior then occurs when the mother leaves or greets the child before and after being away for a brief time.
At stage 5, sensory-motor development, an infant experiments with different actions to observe the different outcomes. For example, one day Julian was presented with a new toy. He grab the object and shook it