Developmental Psychology: Reflective Essay on Adult Attachment and Social Learning Theories

This reflective essay critically discusses two recent events in the author's adult life and explains them on the basis of two developmental theories, adult attachment theory and social learning theory. The first event is the experience of moving abroad and feeling lonely, which can be explained by John Bowlby's adult attachment theory. The second event is the suspension of several students for being late to class, which can be elucidated by Bandura's social learning theory. The essay concludes with the author's personal growth and development through positive thinking, being open and honest with family, connecting with peers, and avoiding negative behaviors.

Running head: DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
Reflective Essay
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
Most individuals are found to be unaware of the fact that they are conducting their
lives based on a child’s frame of reference, instead of an adult mode. Adult development
generally encompasses a plethora of changes that frequently occur in psychological and
biological domains of the human life, from end of adolescence till the death of a person.
These biological changes that occur at cellular level play an important role in influencing the
interpersonal or psychological and social developmental changes that are frequently
described by several stage theories of human development (Colarusso & Nemiroff, 2013).
These stage theories classically focus on certain age-appropriate developmental
responsibilities that are required to be achieved at different stages of life. This reflective
essay will critically discuss two such recent events in my adult life and will explain them on
the basis of two developmental theories.
Living in a new country is altogether a phenomenal experience. When I shifted to
Australia for pursuing higher studies, this experience of moving abroad presented numerous
opportunities that I considered essential for my personal growth. I realised that in addition to
helping me with my educational attainment, this venture into the new land would also
provide me the chance of expanding my cultural knowledge, social circle, and spirituality.
When I first arrived in Sydney, I was completely in awe of its beauty and culture. I loved
everything of the city and was too excited to be a part of it. It made me seek options to
reinvent myself in the new land. However, just about two weeks from my arrival, I fell into a
major groove. Life started becoming less exciting and unbearable without my family. I have
been raised in a close-knit family and shared a deep bond of affection with my mother. I had
never stayed away from her and she had always been my support system. I soon realised that
I failed to make virtually any friends since I started feeling deprived and lonely while staying
in the city. It took me for a while to realise that I began missing my mother and my home

2DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
terribly. Finally when I had a talk with her over phone, I admitted to myself that I required
self-motivation and help to deal with this psychological state in my adult life.
The aforementioned incident can be explained on the basis of John Bowlby’s adult
attachment theory. John Bowlby was an eminent psychoanalyst and believed that behavioural
problems and mental health are attributed to events in early childhood. The attachment theory
proposed by him suggests that children take birth in the world and are often biologically pre-
programmed for developing attachments with others that facilitates their survival. One key
aspect of the theory states that these attachment behaviour are generally instinctive in nature
and are activated by specific conditions, which threaten proximity achievement such as,
insecurity, fear and separation (Bowlby & Ainsworth, 2013). Drawing on concepts from the
ethological theory, this attachment theory states that all forms of attachment behaviours such
as, searching and crying are forms of adaptive responses that occur due to separation from
some primary attachment figures. These figures mostly have the role of offering protection,
support, and care to the receiver. Another major facet of the theory can be attributed to the
element that over the course of evolution, infants who are successful in maintain a close
proximity with the attachment figure with the help of attachment behaviour are more likely to
live till reproductive age (Van Rosmalen, Van Der Horst & Van der Veer, 2016). Thus, the
attachment behavioural system, a motivational system was designed in a way by natural
selection for regulating proximity to some attachment character.
The fact that I became lonely and started missing my mother can be explained on the
basis of this theory. The attachment system is essentially based on the essential question
whether the attachment figure is present nearby, attentive and accessible (Goldberg, Muir &
Kerr, 2013). Perceiving a positive response to this question makes the affected individual feel
secure, loved and confident, which in turn makes the person explore the surrounding
environment, interact with others and become sociable (Fowler, Allen, Oldham & Frueh,

3DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
2013). However, the incident made me perceive the answer as "no". This can be thought of as
an explanation of my experiences of anxiety that made me likely exhibit my attachment
behaviour such as, visual searching for my mother. This feeling of deprivation continued
until I was able to form a desirable level of closeness with her over phone and the internet.
Another incident occurred a month later when several students who used to come late
to class on a regular basis were suspended for a week. I found that late arrival of the students
used to interrupt the flow of the discussion and lecture sessions. I had also observed that these
students used to distract others on arriving late and impeded the learning process, thereby
generally eroding the morale of the entire class. Moreover, when left unchecked, this lateness
became chronic and made us arrive late once or twice as well. This made our professor
temporarily suspend those students. Following this incident, I took all efforts to avoid being
late to my class and put the practice of observational learning effectively into use.
The incident stated above can be elucidated by Bandura’s social learning theory that
posits that individuals learn from each other via observation, modelling and imitation, This
theory has often be regarded as a bridge between cognitive and behaviourist modes of
learning theories owing to the fact that it encompasses memory, attention and motivation.
Some of the key concepts of this theory are that people have the capability of learning by
observing the attitudes, behaviour of others, and also take into consideration the outcome of
such behaviours (Bandura, 2014). Most of the human behaviour is observationally learned
through the process of modelling that serves as an action guide. Thus, Bandura’s theory
provides an explanation of human behaviour in terms of constant reciprocal interactions
between the behavioural, cognitive and environmental influences. Another crucial concept of
the theory is related to its consideration of attention, retention, reproduction and motivation
that encompass factors increasing or decreasing attention paid and reasons to imitate
(Zimmerman, 2013).

4DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
The fact that I changed my behaviour of being late to class on observing fellow
students from being suspended can be explained by the point of reciprocal determinism
where the behaviour of a person and the world cause each other. The ability of an individual
to entertain language and images in mind made me realise that adoption of the habit of being
late would also result in my suspension from the class, thereby impeding my studies. The live
model of observational learning, identified by Bandura that involved individual
demonstration of acting out of behaviours governed my activity in the class (Hanna,
Crittenden & Crittenden, 2013). Intrinsic reinforcement acted as a major form of internal
reward that gave me a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment on preventing my habit of
arriving late. Thus, my learning was a cognitive process that occurred in the social context of
the classroom through direct instruction or observation. Furthermore, the concept of vicarious
reinforcement prevented me from being late, owing to the fact that punishment of a wrong
behaviour most likely results in its discontinuation (Apps, Lesage & Ramnani, 2015).
To conclude, the two instances cited above provide me the occasion of gaining a
deeper understanding of the developmental theories, pertaining to my adult life. I gradually
developed the habit of combating my loneliness while living abroad by working on positive
thinking, being open and honest with my parents about my life, connecting with my peers at
the University and visiting the popular places in and around the city. Moreover, the incident
of observational learning made me take efforts for not engaging in such behaviour that would
result in me being punished.

5DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
References
Apps, M. A., Lesage, E., & Ramnani, N. (2015). Vicarious reinforcement learning signals
when instructing others. Journal of Neuroscience, 35(7), 2904-2913.
https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3669-14.2015
Bandura, A. (2014). Social cognitive theory of moral thought and action. In Handbook of
moral behavior and development (pp. 69-128). Psychology Press. Retrieved from-
https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781317783114/chapters/10.4324%2F978131
5807294-15
Bowlby, J., & Ainsworth, M. (2013). The origins of attachment theory. Attachment Theory:
Social, Developmental, and Clinical Perspectives, 45. Retrieved from-
https://books.google.co.in/books?hl=en&lr=&id=x-
Oki9MxalQC&oi=fnd&pg=PA45&dq=john+bowlby+attachment+theory&ots=r9yQ
OK8du-&sig=CfclCFR9cduZr0YwUdAuGY-VldI#v=onepage&q=john%20bowlby
%20attachment%20theory&f=false
Colarusso, C. A., & Nemiroff, R. A. (2013). Adult development: A new dimension in
psychodynamic theory and practice. Springer Science & Business Media, 59-82.
Retrieved from- https://books.google.co.in/books?
hl=en&lr=&id=t7jzBwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR17&dq=adult+development&ots=T
zoaVdYrZx&sig=ZXT7QdaYIOE0A1EOP_EEIsesZy8#v=onepage&q=adult
%20development&f=false
Fowler, J. C., Allen, J. G., Oldham, J. M., & Frueh, B. C. (2013). Exposure to interpersonal
trauma, attachment insecurity, and depression severity. Journal of Affective
Disorders, 149(1-3), 313-318. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2013.01.045

6DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
Goldberg, S., Muir, R., & Kerr, J. (Eds.). (2013). Attachment theory: Social, developmental,
and clinical perspectives. Routledge, 123-152. Retrieved from-
https://books.google.co.in/books?hl=en&lr=&id=x-
Oki9MxalQC&oi=fnd&pg=PR2&dq=attachment+theory+bowlby&ots=r9yQOK99t
W&sig=lTAJMwwQENcN4NSiE4NNHmtYVbg#v=onepage&q=attachment
%20theory%20bowlby&f=false
Hanna, R. C., Crittenden, V. L., & Crittenden, W. F. (2013). Social learning theory: A
multicultural study of influences on ethical behavior. Journal of Marketing
Education, 35(1), 18-25. https://doi.org/10.1177/0273475312474279
Van Rosmalen, L., Van Der Horst, F. C., & Van der Veer, R. (2016). From secure
dependency to attachment: Mary Ainsworth’s integration of Blatz’s security theory
into Bowlby’s attachment theory. History of psychology, 19(1), 22. Retrieved from-
http://psycnet.apa.org/record/2016-05673-002
Zimmerman, B. J. (2013). Theories of self-regulated learning and academic achievement: An
overview and analysis. In Self-regulated learning and academic achievement (pp. 10-
45). Routledge. Retrieved from-
https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781135659141/chapters/10.4324%2F978141
0601032-5