Early Social Development docx.

Running head: EARLY SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
EARLY SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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EARLY SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
A lot of social as well as emotional development takes place in early childhood.
Various factors affect the social development of the child such as- environment at home,
economic status, community, programmes in school as well as the love and affection that
they get from their parents. To ensure that the child has acquired correct skills and behaviour,
the parents must take care of the above factors. Psychology was received slowly by people
because it was comparatively complex. It has been subjected to philosophical as well as
theoretical controversies. Motivation, as well as emotion, are the most complex concept of
psychology (Eysenck 2013). The main characteristics of early social development include
cooperation, sharing, participation as well as discipline. Ensuring the active development of
the child is an essential criterion. The essay aims to explain the evolution of attachment
concerning nature-nurture along with some theories to support the writing.
Many psychological viewpoints have been discussed by the many theorists regarding
the social development of the child. The psychology of a child depends on various factors
such as as-perceptions, psychological development, motivation, intelligence, learning,
emotion and others (Nolen et al 2014). The five essential theories or viewpoints include
Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development, Bowlby’s theory of attachment, Freud’s
theory of psychosexual development and the cognitive development theory propagated by
Piaget. Erikson’s theory gave an outline for organizing the growth in humans throughout all
eight stages of life. According to him, an essential part of a child is social interaction as well
as experience (Syed and McLean 2017). Freud’s psychosexual theory of development
explained the skills of a child at different stages in childhood that dictate the behaviour as
well as personality patterns in adulthood. The cognitive development theory propagated by
Piaget divided the child life into four phases and every stage had its vulnerabilities and
qualities. The child development theories help the adults to understand the process of human
development. The child development now is not just limited to early development but has

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EARLY SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
also gone to include adolescence, adult and ageing development. The development of
psychology evaluates the influence of nature as well as nurture in the process of human
development. The psychological experiments are based on qualitative analysis that may lack
reliability and generalisation. It can also be influenced by subjectivity.
John Bowlby propagated the famous attachment theory. According to his theory, the
extreme behaviour of children happens through the natural selection that enhances the
survival of children. The attachment behaviour is instinctive responses that arise due to the
threat of losing the advantage for survival that is given by the primary caregiver. Bowlby
termed these behaviours as a behavioral attachment that helps in guiding, forming as well as
maintaining relationships (Crittenden 2017). Bowlby stated the four different stages in child
development; they are Pre attachment phase (birth-6weeks) then comes ‘attachment in
making’ phase that lasts up to 6-8 months. Furthermore there is ‘clear cut’ phase of
attachment till 2yrs and finally the formulation of relationship that is reciprocal that starts
from 2 years. In the first phase, the nurture of a child is given importance where small signals
from the child attract the caretaker, the child responds in a manner that is positive as he/she is
being nurtured. They are given comfort as the caregiver is always with them. In the second
phase, the behaviour of the child changes as the former responds differently to caregivers and
strangers. He becomes aware of his behaviour and how it affects others. At this stage, they
also develop trust while being separated from the caregiver. In the third phase, the attachment
of the caregiver becomes visible. The child starts showing anxiety of separation, where
feelings of distress are quite evident. These are all related to behavioural attachment. In the
final phase, the child can make negotiations and requests and depends less on the people
around him (Crittenden 2017). There are four styles of attachment according to Bowlby such
as- secure, avoidant, resistant and disorganised attachment. Secure attachment is one where
the child feels comfortable to be around his caregivers as the latter has provided with the