Life Cycle Development: Understanding the Impact of Attachment and Need Theory on Developmental Stages

Life Cycle Development

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
TASK 1...................................................................................................................................3
TASK 2...................................................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Life cycle development is a sequence of process which must be perform in several steps.
Each of the involved step going through some modifications and bring changes to an individual
in several aspects like, physical, social, emotional, and mental. Many research and studies have
been done by professionals regarding the different developmental stages of life (Boonk and et.
al., 2018). Growth is irreversible and unidirectional process in reference to life which continues
to be moving forward till the last breath of an individual. Process of development has been
studied and understood by some professionals by considering three main domains of
development i.e., Psychosocial, Physical and Cognitive development. Physical development of
an individual related with the modifications body, brain, sense, skills, wellness, and health.
Psychosocial development concerns with the development in sense of feelings, skills, emotions,
and personality that lead to develop good relationships in society. Cognitive development
encompasses language, memory, learning, attention, thinking and reasoning skills (Deneault and
et. al., 2020). Every stage of life provides an opportunity to learn, gain knowledge, develop skills
and creativity which helps an individual to make good and better decisions and create different
perception in life.
MAIN BODY
TASK 1
Mary Ainsworth introduced the theory of attachment and assist to develop understanding
about development with different aspects and child attachment. In given attachment theory she
suggested that children at young age form bonds primarily with their care giver. Quality of bond
they form at early years of age upholds a great significance in development and well-being of a
child. “Strange situation experiment” is one of the most famous studies conducted and given by
Ainsworth. In her studies she analysed the response of newly born and toddlers in situation of
where they have been kept under the care of a stranger and far away from their primary care
takers (Dyer, 2019). This assists her in the identification of different sorts if attachment exist
between caregiver and children as well assist her to develop understanding related to the
significance of relationship at early age and how it impacts the development of the child.
In reference to Sophie, her mother dies when she was just four-year-old. Sophie did not
have opportunity to enjoy and understand the bond between her mother and herself for long time.

She could not be able to accept Victoria at her mother's position after losing her primary
caretaker at such an early age due to which her developmental stage may supposed to be highly
impacted (García and et. al., 2020). Ainsworth's maternal sensitivity theory give suggestions that
sensitive mothers tend to reflect on moods and needs of their child. But Sophie was not fortunate
enough to experience the likeliness of security provided by a mother which seems to affect
developmental phase of her life. From given case study, Victoria suffers from fibromyalgia due
to which she always feels fatigue and weakness. Bad health condition does not allow her to seek
very much attention on Sophie and other children. She already has a busy and tight schedule
along with her disease with which she somehow managed to take care of the children.
John Bowlby introduced an evolutionary theory of attachment in which he explained
attachment as a pre-programmed biological function within children which assist them to build
trust with anyone (Hajal and Paley, 2020). According to Bowlby, since their birth a child always
feels a need to form attachment with someone which analysed to be the most important and
primary attachment in their life. In his theory he gave critical period of development of
attachment as the age of 2.5 years. He said that if a child does not able to develop attachment
during this age, then chances of attachment development reduce gradually. Bowlby's theory of
maternal deprivation suggests that lack or absence of attachment between infant and primary
care givers can cause many issues for a child in their future like in cognitive, emotional, and
social aspect. Sophie has lived the period of critical attachment with her mother only which can
be considered as a barrier in developing attachment with Victoria. Physical development of a
child highly depends on their diet and their involvement in different activities and Victoria did
not bothers to pay attention on these factors because of her illness (Keller, 2018). Even Sophie's
father did not bother to seek attention towards development of his children, he already has a tight
working schedule due to which he keep involved in his professional life throughout the day and
night. Cognitive development in Sophie can be supposed to develop only when someone feel
responsible to spend time with her, talk with her, encourage her to perform different activities
and achieve tasks on her level. But her sister Melanie is a social activist who keep involved in
promoting LGBT community, but she does not manage time for her sister Sophie and her brother
Adam who is suffering from autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (Leedham and et. al., 2020). Adam
does not like to get involve with anyone, so he spends most of his time alone sitting in his room.