In psychology, there are two aspects that determine people to becoming who they are: The first aspect is the biological make up of which is inherited through genes and chromosomes. The second aspect which defines who a person is; is the experiences which they encounter throughout their life (Hayes, 2000). …show more content…
As per Watson’s quote; it is clearly that he was in favour of nurture more than nature. Following the aspect of attachment, could Watson’s claim be justified? This experiment will be Nurture vs. Nature. Bowlby, a psychologist claims that the babies display monotropy, an innate tendency to become attached to one particular adult, who interacts with them the most, usually the biological mother (Lawton, et al, 2011).
It is stated that in many species, the infant stays close to their mother until they are able to survive on their own. Regarding humans, this is completely different; the baby is completely dependent on others mainly the mother for survival. It is thus relationship between the child and the mother that has led psychologists to debate whether attachment has any effects to the child’s long term development (Woods, …show more content…
In accordance to Bowlby’s attachment theory, Ainsworth and others (1978) came up with an observational study known as the Strange Situation to study the different kinds of attachments that infants can have. In the study a mother and a baby played in a room followed in by an adult stranger. The adult left and returned in a number of times. Sometimes, as a result both the mother and the adult were all together; and other times each adult was alone with the child, and sometimes the infant was all alone. The baby was monitored throughout. Ainsworth identified three attachment styles which were: insecurely attached and also known as anxious avoidant, where distress was caused by the baby being left on its own. Securely attached – the infants were happy while their mother and stranger were present and anxious-resistant, i.e. they became more upset and resisted any help from the stranger (Cullis et al, 1999). Therefore, Watson will not have a good result according to Bowlby and Ainsworth’s research.
On the flip side, Tizzard’s research does not support this claim. The research indicates that making a child’s environment better will assist in emotional development and making an environment worse will hinder normal progress (Davenport, 1992). Therefore, in accordance