Good Essay About Attachment AND Development Theories

Attachment theory provides an explanation for the relationship between a parent and a child influences subsequent development. The theory is an idea in developmental psychology concerning the importance of "attachment" regarding personal development. This theory originated from John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth. However, other theorists had similar theories; they include Hazan& Shaver and Harlow.
According to Harlow’s Monkeys (1958), his objective was to investigate the system by which the newborn rhesus monkey and the mother are attached to one another. It was found that these young children were exceedingly reliant on their mothers for comfort, protection, nutrition and socialization. As illustrated by the behavioral theory of attachment, an infant would develop some attachment because of the carer that offers food. In relation to Harlow's theory, there is the development of attachment after the mother has provided the “tactile comfort." The theory further illustrates that newborns have an innate (biological) want to cling and touch something for their emotional comfort during the initial months of their life, also referred to as the critical period. Clinging has been identified as a natural response. For instance, monkeys runs to various objects in the time of stress. For this creatures clinging reduces their stress levels (Zeifman, & Hazan, 1997).

Hazan and Shaver

Initially, one of the main barriers to the attachment theory was because it relied on studying young children. Studying of children have been found instrumental in the developmental psychology field. The field was required to analyze the full development of human beings touching all the stages of development from being an infant up to adulthood entirely.
Cindy Hazan and Phillip Shaver were able to receive a lot of attention around the 1980’s when they focused on turning the attachment theory on the adulthood relationships (Baumeister, R.F., and Leary, 1997).
During their studies, they examined some few couples, through investigating the nature of attachment between them. They further investigated on how those pairs of couples responded to some stimuli and stressors. In this situation, it appeared that strong attachment is still crucial. For instance, in the case whereby adults had a vulnerable attachment, the feeling of inadequacy together with a lack of intimacy on the both parties was evident. However, when the attachment was very strong, there were matters with co-dependency that came in handy. It was realized that the relationship operated efficiently when the both sides were capable of managing the balance of intimacy with independence. As compared to the situation of the developing children, the appropriate situation appeared to be an attachment that operated as a secure base that reach out to both parties as well as enhancing their experiences in the world (Baumeister, & Leary, 1997).

How Piaget Theory Relates To Other Theories?

Piaget’s theory
The Piaget’s theory tends to explain the cognitive development of the individual, during the period from infancy to adulthood. In the theory, he distinguishes the four stages of intellectual development, which include: Sensorimotor stage, preoperational stage, the stage of concrete operations and formal operations stage

Preoperational and Sensorimotor stages are characterized by pre-conceptual thinking, whereas conceptual thinking begins at the age of seven.

The child reaches the preoperational stage when they are at the ages between 2 to 7, they start to speak, develop of memory and imagination. It is believed that their thoughts focus only on one aspect of a situation, this is, their point of view (egocentrism). When the child attains the age of between, 7 to 11, he can start finding the solution to each of the problems, and the child will be able to solve problems operationally, this is referred to as the stage of concrete.
The formal stage is a cognitive development phase, whereby an individual start to learn how to think abstractly, using concepts, the combinatorial mental ability develops.
The Piaget theory can be closely evaluated with Vygotsky's theory. The following are similarities between the two theories.
According to Piaget, development takes place because the child is an active learner. The child has to organize the new information about the existing one actively in order to attain a state of equilibrium. The same idea has been agreed by Vygotsky, who states that a child actively participates in the development and learning process as they offer feedback to the adult or the teacher depending on the degree of their understanding (Mercer, 1994).
Furthermore, Piaget believed that development reduces with age. This is being supported by Vygotsky, who affirms that, when there is an acute increase in development among children, their cognitive development declines (Vygotsky, Hanfmann, & Vakar, 2012).
On the other hand, Piaget claims that cognitive conflict may start development. For instance, when a child notices a new idea does to rhyme with his present thinking or earlier knowledge, he will look out for the exact answers in order to bring into line with his thinking. In his theory, Vygotsky seems to agree with the same idea (Mercer, 1994).

Bibliography

Baumeister, R.F. and Leary, M.R., 1995. The need to belong: desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation.Psychological bulletin, 117(3), p.497.
Mercer, N., 1994. Neo-Vygotskian theory and classroom education.Language, literacy and learning in educational practice, pp.92-110.
Vygotsky, L., Hanfmann, E. and Vakar, G., 2012. Thought and language. MIT press.
Zeifman, D. and Hazan, C., 1997. Attachment: The bond in pair-bonds.Evolutionary social psychology, pp.237-263.