AINSWORTH: Infant-mother attachmentThe concept of infant-mother attachment is as important for the child as birth itself. The effect this relationship has on a child will affect them throughout their life. A secure attachment to the mother or primary caregiver is imperative for the child's development. Ainsworth's study shows that a mother responds to her child's behavioral cues, which will develop into a strong attachment between the child and mother. This will result in a child who can easily, without stress, be separated from his mother and without any anxiety. Of course, the study shows that a child with a weak mother-child relationship will breed distrust, anxiety and will never be truly close to his mother. Without the proper help, this child may harbor these bad feelings for the rest of his life. The child who has developed a good and strong infant-mother attachment can easily explore his world thanks to the confidence acquired in early childhood. And exploration means their cognitive and emotional abilities will develop naturally by simply playing like a child should. The child who does not benefit from this all-important mother-child bond will seriously lack the ability to learn and explore. Additionally, it will result in lifelong disability as a struggling adult. Emotional development (or lack thereof) alone can be very detrimental as the adult child seeks friends and eventually an intimate relationship. For a child who has developed a secure infant-mother attachment, the child is confident, less aggressive, more interested in exploration, and capable of problem solving (Diessner, 2008). Ainsworth's article mentions that if multiple caregivers are involved, attachment to the mother is weak or strained, the child may show favoritism towards...... middle of paper ...... for women, in general. Experiments are the only means by which cause and effect can be established. Thus, it could be demonstrated that the model actually had an effect on the child's subsequent behavior, because all variables other than the independent variable are controlled (Diessner, 2008). Children who were exposed to an aggressive model later showed a substantial amount of the model's physical abilities. and verbal aggression. The responses were almost identical to the original behavior. Children who were exposed to nonaggressive models or who were not exposed to any models rarely produced such responses. The way children expressed their aggression in a way that clearly resembled the model's novel behavior showed strong evidence of learning by imitation. Diessner, R. (ed.) (2008). Classic Edition Sources: Human Development (3rd ed.). Dubuque, IA: McGraw-Hill.