Developmental Theory - A Review

This article reviews and analyzes the essence of developmental theories that form the base of cognitive development. It examines the importance of attachment in a child's early childhood and its impact on later developmental stages.

Running head: DEVELOPMENTAL THEORY – A REVIEW
Developmental Theory - A Review
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1DEVELOPMENTAL THEORY – A REVIEW
A secure attachment is needed for every child in order to receive the highest quality of
cognitive development. The attachment that a child experiences in its early childhood are said to
shape the path for the later development stages of his or her life. In order to help nurture a child,
it is of utmost importance that one offers the child, a support system which will provide them
with a chance to develop meaningful bonds that is to facilitate the later developmental phases
(Bowlby, 1982). The following paragraphs will examine the essence of developmental theories
that form the base of cognitive development. It will also review, analyze and critically evaluate
the same with the help of appropriate theoretical underpinnings.
An enduring and deep emotional bond that connects one person to another across space
and time can be termed as attachment. It must be noticed that certain behaviour in children is
characterizations of attachment. A child will always seek close proximity to the attachment
figure when it is upset or feel threatened by an external stimulus (Bowlby, J. 1977). Attachment
theory successfully deciphers the ways the parent-child relationship develops and influences in
subsequent development. John Bowlby, the pioneer in developing the framework of attachment
theory that focuses on the importance of the mother in the child’s life for the child to have a
successful emotional, social and cognitive development. It has been noticed that children faced
an extreme amount of stress when they were separated from their mother. Even when they were
fed by other caregivers, they remained in a constant state of distress. Findings like these
contradict the behavioural theory of attachment that inevitably undermined the role of the
mother-child bond in the development of a child’s psyche. Propagated by Dollard and Miller
(1950), it was believed that the child becomes attached to the mother because it is often fed,
mostly by the mother. It can also be understood from an evolutionary context. The child is highly
dependent on the mother, a constant caregiver because a mother enhances its chance of survival

2DEVELOPMENTAL THEORY – A REVIEW
by constantly offering warmth and protection from the external risk factors. Similarly William
Goldfarb (1947) suggests that a child must have a nurturing childhood where the caregiver, a
maternal figure must nurture the child. If a child lacks this period of cognitive development
without enjoying a deep emotional bond with the mother, it is going to be susceptible to
emotional distress later in life. A child thus must pay for the consequences that it may face
through the life, had it not received the company of the mother. The maternal deprivation
theories have also been propagated by Harlow and Harlow (1969) who drew a parallel analogy
with the help of study that was conducted on a group of infantile monkeys. It was found that the
monkeys who were deprived of the companionship and caregiving of a mother grew up to be
more aggressive as they also developed a problem in taking care of their siblings.
A similar viewpoint that Mary Ainsworth (Ainsworth & Bowlby, 1991) had, was all the
more similar. It included a method to study a group of babies and observe the intricate
behavioural details that the children showcase when they are separated from their mother. It
would include a one-year-old child who would first be separated from its mother and later
reunited with her. The child would also be introduced to a stranger and be left alone, on its own
which is a method to instil distress. The study would deduce that there are three predominant
categories of any kind of attachment which are insecure ambivalent infants, securely attached
and insecure avoidant (Clarke & Boinski, 1995). It has been reiterated over the decades that the
child would develop a knack for developing insecurity infused relationships throughout the life if
it is exposed to having a childhood or infancy without close proximity to his or her mother.
Belsky (1999) confirms this statement by drawing an analogy to the conditions of children who
are placed in day care. It has been inferred that a child is at higher risk of developing insecure

3DEVELOPMENTAL THEORY – A REVIEW
attachments throughout the life if he or she spends more than twenty hours a week away from its
primary caregiver, the mother.
The attachment theories have received much criticisms over the years for their lack of
insight and diversity. For example, Harlow and Suomi (1974) have found out that baby monkeys
who were raised without a mother but in the company of other babies were coping up just fine!
In fact. It has been noticed that proper caregiving can reverse the mal-effects of growing up
without a mother and an early experience can be altered later in one’s life time (Clarke and
Clarke, 1976). Even for the maternal deprivation theory that has been put forward by Bowlby,
substantial amounts of counter theories have been presented as valuable critics to it. According
to J.R. Harris (1998), a child’s character development does not solely depend on the early
childhood experiences. In fact, it has been seen that the characteristics which were developed
within any children are especially an effect of the group of people that they choose to follow and
spend most times with. It has been often seen that the child can very well distinguish between the
home and the environment which is different from home. At home, the child may talk in the
native language with his or her parents but once he or she steps outside, it is very much possible
that they start talking in the language which his or her peers talk in. Children often adapt to
methods and ways of lifestyle in order to get acceptance from their peer cycle (Suomi, Harlow &
Novak 1974). It is of priority to the child, that a child will always want to fit in. Besides, Harris
criticizes any theory that tries to establish the nurturing of a child as parallel and of the same
value as that of nature or genetics. It has been often seen that a set of twins who are brought up in
the same household might not show the same characteristics and can be different in many
unmeasurable ways. A set of twins who are separated at birth and brought up in two different
households will rather have more similarity, biologically and physiologically than the twins who

4DEVELOPMENTAL THEORY – A REVIEW
are brought up in the same household and have the same values and morals instilled in them.
This nurture assumption that has been put forwards by Bowlby and many others have been
strongly criticized as it has been seen that the environment which parents offer to their children
are often less potential and less influential than the environment which the children chose to be
in, all by themselves. Thus, peer pressure and peer influence have greater potential to shape a
child’s viewpoints than do the parents and the motherly caregiving in the childhood. It should be
beneficial to notice that children who grew up in the violent clad neighborhood and who are
exposed to a lot of gang violence, often grow up to join gangs and violent subgroups. A child’s
criminal attitude develops over the time with the influence of the external environment and peer
pressure. According to Field (1996), a child can have deep and meaningful relationships not only
with the mother but also with the father or the siblings. It has been seen that a child might cry
when the mother leaves for some time but it also becomes fussy and may develop sleep depravity
when a father figure or its siblings are separated from it. To place unnecessary importance on the
mother figure does not justify the developmental process of a child.
To conclude, it must be mentioned that the development of the child depends on the
nurture and care that the caregiver provides. A child can never have a healthy cognitive
development if it is subjected to constant negligence in the initial year. On the other hand, it must
be noticed, that the initial developmental period is short lived in comparison to the later
childhood period, thus it holds greater power to influence the conscience and values of a child.
The life span development theory, as it suggests, can be brought into the context that indeed, a
human being grows over the years and it is very much possible that a child takes inference from
any situation throughout his or her life to develop his or her character, the essence of who he or
she is.

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6DEVELOPMENTAL THEORY – A REVIEW
References
Ainsworth, M. S., & Bowlby, J. (1991). An ethological approach to personality
development. American psychologist, 46(4), 333.
Belsky, J. (1999). Modern evolutionary theory and patterns of attachment.
Bowlby, J. (1977). The making and breaking of affectional bonds: I. Aetiology and
psychopathology in the light of attachment theory. The British Journal of
Psychiatry, 130(3), 201-210.
Bowlby, J. (1982). Attachment and loss: Retrospect and prospect. American journal of
Orthopsychiatry, 52(4), 664.
Clarke, A. S., & Boinski, S. (1995). Temperament in nonhuman primates. American Journal of
Primatology, 37(2), 103-125.
Dollard, J., & Miller, N. E. (1950). Personality and psychotherapy; an analysis in terms of
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Field, T. (1996). Attachment and separation in young children. Annual review of
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Goldfarb, W. (1947). Variations in adolescent adjustment of institutionally-reared
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Harlow, H. F., & Suomi, S. J. (1974). Induced depression in monkeys. Behavioral
biology, 12(3), 273-296.

7DEVELOPMENTAL THEORY – A REVIEW
Harlow, H. F., Schitz, K. A., Harlow, M. K., & Carpenter, C. R. (1969). Proceedings of the
Second International Congress of Primatology, vol. 1, Behavior.
Harris, J. R. (1998). The nurture assumption: Why children turn out the way they
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Suomi, S. J., Harlow, H. F., & Novak, M. A. (1974). Reversal of social deficits produced by
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