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Internal working models are considered to result out of generalized representations of past events between attachment figure and the child. [11] [2] [3] Thus, in forming an internal working model a child takes into account past experiences with the caregiver as well as the outcomes of past attempts to establish contact with the caregiver. [3]
Attachment in children is "a biological instinct in which proximity to an attachment figure is sought when the child senses or perceives threat or discomfort. Attachment behaviour anticipates a response by the attachment figure which will remove threat or discomfort".
Studies have found that the father is a child's preferred attachment figure in approximately 5–20% of cases. [1] [2] [3] Fathers and mothers may react differently to the same behaviour in an infant, and the infant may react to the parents' behaviour differently depending on which parent performs it.
The child learns whether it can depend on its caregiver to provide for its needs and the types of affective and behavioral responses it can expect in specific situations, which serve as the basis for its future attachment style. An important role of the caregiver during this time is to assist the child in regulating its affect [citation needed].
Numerous studies have supported Ainsworth's observations. These studies have also shown that attachment styles developed in infancy can influence behavior later in life. Children in this group tend to take on a parental role and act like a caregiver toward their parent. They display an overall inconsistent form of behavior.
The dynamic-maturational model of attachment and adaptation (DMM) is a biopsychosocial model describing the effect attachment relationships can have on human development and functioning. It is especially focused on the effects of relationships between children and parents and between reproductive couples.
The strange situation is a procedure devised by Mary Ainsworth in the 1970s to observe attachment in children, that is relationships between a caregiver and child. It applies to children between the age of 9 to 30 months. Broadly speaking, the attachment styles were (1) secure and (2) insecure (ambivalent and avoidance).
In attachment this would mean that although a developing child has a propensity to form attachments, the nature of those attachments depends on the environment to which the child is exposed. [ 155 ] From early in the development of attachment theory there was criticism of the theory's lack of congruence with various branches of psychoanalysis.