My Virtual Child Assignment

These indexes assessed that possibility that Tina’s behaviors were depicted in an overly negative or positive fashion or that inconsistent responses to items were given. Ratings of Tina’s behaviors produced Validity Index’s in the acceptable range, indicating the raters provided a reliable measure of parent, teacher, and self-perceptions of Tina’s behavior. Overall, Ms. Randell rated Tina’s behaviors in the average range. The only scale that was slightly elevated was learning problems. It appears, Tina may have difficulty with reading or spelling, and have difficulty remembering problems.

Bowlby’s attachment theory has greatly influenced practice. His theory of attachment explains the importance of having a figure that the child shares a strong bond with. Having an attachment can significantly support a child’s development as Barbara Woods suggests that “his theory of attachment proposed that attachment is innate in both infants and mothers, and that the formation of this attachment is crucial for the infants development” Wood, B (2001, p.53). Bowlby believed that forming an attachment will help a child develop in all areas e.g. emotionally, physical and mentally. However if they did not form an attachment in the sensitive period, the child may have issues or problems in their cognitive, emotional and social development.

Her grades are reported to be mostly “A” s and occasionally “B” s. She has had no detentions, suspensions, or significant behavior problems in school. There was no diagnosis of learning disorders of any kinds or ADHD in school. Social/Relationship

With what I have learned from the My Virtual Child program, I now understand the complexities of raising and guiding a child. Mere decisions made during infancy can affect a child long term, physically, cognitively, and even emotionally. To make important developmental decisions cannot simply be classified as a challenge, it is one of the hardest things parents experience. Making decisions for one’s self, as opposed to making decisions for one’s child is so challenging that most people will not understand until they have children. Even with the realistic impression this program has, I would venture to say that even

This foundation theory developed by John Bowlby, focuses on the form, quality, and strength of human attachments made in early life and their effect on development and pro-social behaviors (Tuner, 2011, p. 30). Bowlby’s attachment theory diverged from Freudian theory in many important ways, none more so than his emphasis on the importance of actual experience to human development. In Bowlby’s view, the quality of interactions between infant and caregiver(s), beginning at birth, motivated specifically by the child’s needs for safety and protection, are central to lifespan development (Turner, 2011, p. 31). Bowlby’s main interest was the formation, beginning in infancy, of the behaviors that collectively compose the attachment behavioral system.

From an evolutionary perspective, John Bowlby made the connection that children form an attachment to their parents in the best interest of survival. Therefore, in a well functioning parent-infant relationship, infants learn to seek their parents in frightening situations and use them as a secure base (Hesse, 2014). However, Mary Ainsworth exemplifies that this is not the case for all infants. In the Strange Situation Study, Mary Ainsworth discovered three fundamental attachment styles: secure, ambivalent, and avoidant attachment. A fourth attachment style was later discovered by Main and Solomon and classified as disorganized attachment. These are known as the four fundamental unidirectional types of attachment between an infant and their caregiver. These relationship patterns are often established between infant and primary caregiver during their early stages of life. In the following, I will exemplify how these attachment styles differ when the infant experiences significant disruptions in their family relationships because of changes in caregivers and separation from imprisoned parents?

Bowlby's Attachment Theory Findings form animal studies were a powerful influence on Bowlby's thoughts. He suggested too that there was a critical period for the development of attachments between infant and care giver. According to Bowlby infants display an innate tendency to become attached to one particular individual. He called this monotropy. He suggested this tendency was qualitatively different from any subsequent attachment a child might form.

Bowlby’s work on attachment theory shows infants treated well develop a secure attachment. Hence they have a good foundation for healthy self-esteem, behavior, and future relationships (Barnet, Ganiban, & Cicchetti, 1991). If the infant develops an insecure bond with the caregiver, they may develop mental disturbances (Cicchetti, Ganiban, & Barnett, 1991). Mary Ainsworth, Bowlby’s contemporary, applied Bowlby’s theory in her research. In 1978, Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, and Wall, created the strange situation technique to study one year old infant attachments (as cited in Colonnesi et al., 2011, p.631). Results of their analysis led to three categories of attachment. They distinguished a secure (B), an insecure avoidant (A), and insecure ambivalent attachment (C)

John Bowlby’s attachment theory established that an infant’s earliest relationship with their primary caregiver or mother shaped their later development and characterized their human life, “from the cradle to the grave” (Bowlby, 1979, p. 129). The attachment style that an infant develops with their parent later reflects on their self-esteem, well-being and the romantic relationships that they form. Bowlby’s attachment theory had extensive research done by Mary Ainsworth, who studied the mother-infant interactions specifically regarding the theme of an infant’s exploration of their surrounding and the separation from their mother in an experiment called the strange situation. Ainsworth defined the four attachment styles: secure,

Attachment serves the purpose of promoting closeness between infants with their adult caregivers who are responsible for comforting, nurturing and protecting them (Breidensteine, Bailey, Zeanah & Larrieu, 2011). Bowlby (1958) developed attachment theory to explain young children’s behaviours in ethological terms, positing that infants have developed an adaptive system directed towards their adult caregivers to elicit attention and care (Del Giudice, 2009). These biological driven behaviours, such as crying or clinging to a recognised and consistent caregiver

John Bowlby’s Theory describes three main areas of attachment, firstly ‘Protest’ the child will show a lot of distress by loud crying and tantrums to get the parent or carer back. ‘Despair’ when the child is withdrawn and crying occasionally when left. Finally ‘Detachment’ the child becomes increasingly independent and interested in the environment around them rather than wanting their parent or carer.

Bowlby’s system of behavior control operates metaphorically like a thermostat where it sets in motion or shuts down the activation of attachment behaviors when certain conditions are met. The system asks the underlying question, “Is the attachment figure nearby and attentive?” If the answer is yes, then the infant feels secured and behaviorally, will likely explore their environment and be sociable with others. On the other hand, if the answer is no, the child will experience anxiety and will display behaviors such as visual searching and active following. These behaviors will continue until the child reestablishes a desirable level of physical or psychological proximity to the caregiver. Another way the behavior will end is if the infant becomes worn down due to prolonged separation.

Bowlby focuses on the evolutionary argument for attachment. Bowlby’s theory can be sub categorized into 3 main components. First one being that the infant and the primary care giver are biologically programmed to form an attachment. Secondly being that this bonding will take place during a critical period, if not during that

Raising a virtual child has made me aware of how critical the choices parents make for their child are to their maturity. By paying close attention to the minor details of my virtual child’s behavior, I have started to grasp the understanding of an infant’s physical, cognitive, and social development. Every decision I made for Rosie has gradually helped shape her personality. Although some mistakes were made, my judgments were based off of my own thoughts as well as the nature of American culture.

At the beginning of the program I always be reminded one decision was made by ‘both parents’. I didn’t noticed there is meaning behind that, until the marriage ended when the virtual child was 9 years old. I checked the child’s earlier development again then I found lots information I missed. Economic stress developed to a big issue when the child was 3 years old. The child actually overheard arguments and saw one parent left home after arguing, which lead to worry and fear that parent would never come back. The quality of marital relationship is associated with the quality of parenting (pp chap7). As the stress built up there were more arguments, and the child received less attention but more negative affection. The development of this child’s