Describe Bowlby's theory of attachment and how the "Strange situation" experiment applies this theory. Describe the experiment and distinguish the different patterns of attachment.

Attachment is the affective and emotional bond formed between an infant and his/her caretaker from the beginning of life. The traditional view, which represented the behaviorist idea, proposed that attachment was formed due to an association between contact with caretakers and obtaining food. However, in the 1960s, John Bowlby suggested attachment was an adaptive mechanism selected for by evolution to maximize survival. This was achieved by attachment ensuring proximity to a source of protection, e.g. the parent, and by promoting exploration of the environment from a secure base. Mary Ainsworth applied Bowlby’s Attachment theory to human development in her experiment called “The strange situation”. The experiment involved the parent and child being alone in the room. Then a stranger entered and the parent left the room. This was termed the first separation. Thereafter, the parent returns and the stranger leaves. This is called the first reunion and is followed by the second separation, during which the parent leaves the child alone. Then the stranger enters, followed by the parent entering and the stranger leaving again. This is the second reunion. The aim of this experiment was to investigate the behavior of the child, usually between 1 and 2 years old, in relation to its parent. The child’s behavior was recorded and evaluated and used to distinguish three different patterns of attachment. First, secure attachment was displayed when the child explored toys and was friendly to the stranger while the parent was present, but cried and interrupted play when the parent left. However, the parent’s return ended all distress. Second, a child could show insecure resistant attachment. This is characterized by the child not exploring the environment, having difficulty separating from its mother and not approaching the stranger. Moreover, the child shows distress when the parent leaves, but upon the reunion, it both seeks and rejects comfort at the same time. Finally, the child could show insecure avoidant attachment. In this scenario, the child explores disconnected from parents, has no fear of the stranger and avoids the parents upon reunion.