Lesson 3: Attachment
and Emotional
Development

Attachment is a relationship
between two people in which
each person feels strongly
about the other. In infancy,
attachment refers to the
emotional bond which forms
between an infant and another
person.

Ainsworth and the Strange Situation

Types of Attachment

Factors influencing attachment
Genetics
Bowlby (1969) argued that all infants have an inborn,
‘primary drive’ to form an attachment with a caregiver.
He considered the infant–caregiver bond to be
important in two ways.
The bond has an ‘evolutionary’ function, which, according to
Bowlby, improves the infant’s chances of survival.
The bond forms the foundation for healthy emotional
development later in life.

Temperament
Temperament is defined as our characteristic way of reacting
to people, objects and events
Infants can have three types of temperaments
•easy
•difficult
•slow-to-warm up
A number of researches have argued that temperament
influences attachment by influencing the caregiver’s attitude
to an infant.

Early life experience
A secure attachment is most likely to be formed with the
person(s) who is most sensitive to these signals and responds
appropriately. Ainsworth (1983) referred to this factor as the
sensitive responsiveness of the caregiver and believes that it
is crucial in the type of attachment formed between an infant
and caregiver.
Infants can’t recognise words until about 12 months. Up
until that time they use body language such as smiling,
gazing, reaching, squirming and clinging, and
vocalisations such as crying and babbling
What factors would influence the level of ‘Sensitive
responsiveness?

Harlow’s experiments on attachment in monkeys