Social Development

Attachment in Early Childhood

  1. Definition: An enduring emotional bond between caregiver and child that serves to:

    • Alleviate distress

    • Promote exploration (secure base concept)

  2. Key Findings:

    • Attachment forms gradually in first year+ (not limited to birth hours)

    • Harlow's monkey studies disproved "feeding=attachment" theory, showing comfort is primary

    • Bowlby's attachment theory: Biological system ensuring survival through proximity-seeking behaviors

  3. Attachment Quality:

  4. Signs of attachment

    • separation anxiety

    • stranger anxiety

    • comfort seeking

    • greetings/reunion behavior

    • secure base behavior

    • Secure (consistent care) vs. Insecure (inconsistent care)

    • Forms "internal working models" - mental representations of relationships

    • Measured via separation anxiety (peaks 10-18 months across cultures)

Later Relationship Development

  1. Peer Relationships:

    • Infancy: Basic sociability (smiling, imitation)

    • Preschool: Emerging peer interactions

    • Elementary: Peer groups form based on proximity/interests

    • Adolescence: Complex cliques/crowds

  2. Friendship Evolution:

    • Early: Shared play partners

    • Later: Trust, mutual understanding, self-disclosure

  3. Romantic Relationships:

    • Emerge during puberty

    • Timing varies by individual/cultural factors

    • No evidence late starters are disadvantaged long-term

Connections Across Lifespan

  1. Continuity:

    • Secure infant attachment predicts:

      • Better self-esteem

      • Stronger peer/romantic relationships

      • More effective problem-solving

    • Minnesota Longitudinal Study shows links between early attachment and adult relationship quality

  2. Plasticity:

    • Insecure attachments can be overcome (e.g., ABC Intervention)

    • Later experiences can modify working models