Psychology: Attachment and Child Development

Three short teaching films, now available On Demand, covering different aspects of attachment and child development:

1. Bowlby: Attachment and Maternal Deprivation [4.33]

In the 1930s a young psychiatrist noticed how many of the disturbed children he saw had been separated from their parents in early life. This was John Bowlby whose work had a massive influence on how psychologists thought about child development. This film explains the key aspects of his classic theory of attachment: the innate need to bond, the care of an attachment figure and maternal deprivation. An ideal introduction to support students starting this topic.

2. Mary Ainsworth: The Strange Situation [3.53]

While John Bowlby focussed on the consequences of a lack of attachment, Mary Ainsworth took a step back and looked at the nature of attachment and famously documented different types. In this film we look at her classic strange situation with film of the experiments and expert comment from three psychologists.

3. Mind-Mindedness and Attachment Security [4.36]

Psychologists have long been aware that attachment security may be transmitted from one generation to the next. But how does this happen?  A new idea here is the importance of mind-mindedness, a carer’s ability to tune into what their child may be thinking or feeling. This film looks at Professor Elizabeth Meins’ influential experimental research showing that mind-mindedness is a clear predictor of attachment security.