Attachment theory has had some very powerful theorists who have come up with these ideologies. In 1969, John Bowlby was the first theorist to develop attachment theory. It is a theory developed to explain the emotional bonds that children had with their parents or guardians. It was believed that a child's attachment style with a caregiver develops throughout childhood and influences how an individual interacts with society. It also gave an indication of what their parenting styles might be like, although this wasn't always a concrete indication. Bowlby's theory provided the basis on which Mary Ainsworth also worked and developed. In the 1970s Ainsworth developed and conducted the “strange situation” experiment, which proved to be very influential in the development of attachment theory. He identified four attachment patterns called secure attachment, avoidant attachment, ambivalent attachment, and the more recently added disorganized attachment (Westen, Burton, & Kowalski, 2006, p. 501). Attachment theory is very important since this happens when children form and develop a secure and trusting bond in the first year of life to develop normal relationships in later life (Bowlby, 1988). In this assignment I will create three different scenarios and connect them to the three different attachment styles. These scenarios will demonstrate the different characteristics displayed by each attachment style and the effects they may have in later life. I will also look at some of the criticisms within attachment theory. Ainsworth produced these different attachment styles across the duration of the experiments. These experiments were tested in a structured way. The caregiver and the child sat in a room... in the middle of a sheet of paper... aware that there are some obvious inconsistencies with the theory that have been overlooked by theorists. Bibliography Benson, B. Haith, M. ( 2009). Social and emotional development in infancy and early childhood. Academic Press: Oxford Bowlby, J. (1988). A secure base: Clinical applications of attachment theory. Routledge Classics: New York Bowlby, J. (1951). Maternal care and mental health. World Health Organization: GenevaClaiborne, Lise B., & Drewery, W. (2010). Human development: family, place, culture. 2nd ed. McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd: Australia p. 50-52.Field, T. (1996). Attachment and separation in young children. Annual Review of Psychology, 47, p.541-562. Westen, D., Burton, L. & Kowalski, R. (2006). Social developmental psychology. Australian and New Zealand ed.. Wiley: Sydney