Intro to Human Development

Research Paper

In this field experience paper, my observation entailed understanding infant attachment to a caregiver. My participants for the field experience were an aunt and her 1-year 6-month-old girl child. The participants selected for this field experience were suitable because the aunt was the primary caregiver of the child and had developed an attachment bond with their child. My participants agreed to meet me at a local playground close to their home which was a suitable location for them as well as for my observations in field experience. The observation took place in the morning from 10:30 am to 11:00 am.

The observation was largely successful; however, the observer encountered various challenges in completing the observational activity. First, the language barrier between the observer and the child was a significant hindrance in communicating effectively to the child. The child could barely speak and only the mother could understand any words that she could say. Second, the setting of the observation at first seemed strange for the child as in the first few minutes of the observation they just gazed around at toys placed at the playground or any new things that they could set their eyes. Lastly, although very few, there were a few distractions during the observation activity as since it was a playground we weren’t the only people in the area.

The observer was able to pinpoint various signs of attachment from the child’s behavior during the observation activity. One of the signs of attachment between the parent and the child was proximity seeking in which the child was always drawn closer to the mother. The child usually displayed behaviors such as clinging to the mother from where she seemed to establish a secure base of comfort to start exploring the world. Also, the child was continually monitoring the parent and his movements. The second sign of attachment between the infant and the mother was playful and expressing happiness and comfort when with the mother. The child usually started playing when in the mother’s arms or would lie on her shoulder, therefore, demonstrating a sign of a strong bond that had developed. The third sign of attachment was the ability to communicate in signs and be able to understand one another. The child would usually smile or use his hands to seek the attention of the mother who would respond and positively interact with the child. The fourth sign of attachment in the child’s behavior was the preference to the primary caregiver as opposed to strangers or any other person.

The observer also made different observations in the caregiver’s behavior that demonstrated signs of attachment. First, the use of eye contact by the caregiver attracted the attention of the child hence showing a developed attachment bond. Two, the caregiver was responsive to the child behavior’s using a broad range of interactive exchange techniques such as facial expression, gesture, voice modulation and body movement, which demonstrated that there was already a developed attachment bond.

The observation activity involved asking the caregiver to act like she was leaving the room. When the child noticed that the mother was walking away, immediately she started following by crawling in the direction of the parent in a fast movement. However, the child started crying as the parent was about to leave the room. It is evident that the child might have sensed that they were separating with the caregiver hence developing kind of distress. When the parent walked back to the child, she took the child up promptly as a sign of reassuring her presence, and she was greeted by the daughter as she initiated physical contact as a sign of demonstrating reunion and also stopped crying immediately.

The observation activity substantially expressed a secure attachment between the infant and the primary caregiver. This secure infant-caregiver attachment could be illustrated by a broad range of examples of the child’s behavior. First, the child showed signs of missing the parent on departure or separation. Second, the child did not ignore or avoid a reunion with the parent when she came back but actively embraced it through showing direct attachment behaviors such as reaching and clinging. Third, in the presence of the parent, the child could explore the room thus exhibiting signs of being in a secure environment or feeling safe. Lastly, secure attachment is an interactive process, which in this observation activity was demonstrated by the signing of the child.

The observation activity was useful in enabling the learner to understand the different categories of infant-parent attachment namely secure, avoidant, ambivalent-resistant and disorganized. I would advise parents of an insecurely attached child to attempt to improve and develop a beneficial relationship with their child through responding to a child’s emotions or attempts to communicate and also talking, laughing and playing with the child. These actions assist in developing an attachment bond as the baby starts to feel secure around them and build a trustful relationship.

In my opinion, I believe this form of parent-child attachment measurement is a valid test as compared to infants placed in daycare who may behave differently due to their past experiences and also due to lack of enough attention from the caregiver. Another approach that could be used to measure a parent-child attachment would be the use of free response of picture assessment for young children.

Carolyn Morgan is the author of this paper. A senior editor at Melda Research in Research Paper Writing Service. if you need a similar paper you can place your order for a custom research paper from A+ Affordable Paper Writing Service.

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