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170 PILLAR 2 Development and LearningSocial Development in Infancy and Childhood10-4 What are the probable effects of attachment types and parenting styles?Some neighbors recently called me to come over and watch their 9-month-old daughter take some wobbly steps as she was learning to walk. The excitement in their voices was clear: baby Luciana was taking her first steps! When I arrived, Luciana%u2019s father was changing his daughter%u2019s diaper, so I sat for a moment waiting for the baby%u2019s grand entrance. Her dad brought Luciana in, placed her in a standing position, and encouraged her to walk. However, much to the dismay of her parents, Luciana took one look at me and started crying loudly enough to make the dog get up and leave the room. The child then started grabbing at her father%u2019s legs, frantically trying to climb up to safety.Now, I don%u2019t exactly think of myself as scary looking, but Luciana was frightened by what she saw. Her reaction to me was normal for her age and was a classic sign of stranger anxiety, the fear of strangers that infants commonly display beginning around 8 months of age. Around this age, children have established schemas for familiar faces and often greet strangers with crying and distress.39 Luciana had not assimilated my face into any of her existing schemas.Luciana%u2019s reaction shows how physical, cognitive, and social%u2013emotional behaviors develop simultaneously. A few months later, I thought I should give Luciana another try. So, I invited Luciana%u2019s family to our house, and she was fine when she came in. Then Jocelyn, my youngest daughter, made the mistake of reaching out her arms and asking, %u201cMay I hold you?%u201d Luciana immediately tightened her grip on her mother and started saying, %u201cNo!%u201d with plenty of volume. This time, Luciana was showing attachment to her mother. Let%u2019s take a closer look at attachment and its effects on development.AttachmentAttachment is an emotional tie with another person, shown by seeking closeness to the caregiver and distress on separation. At least three elements contribute to the infant%u2014parent bond that forms during attachment%u2014body contact, familiarity, and responsiveness.Body ContactWhich is more important to fostering attachment: being fed or being held? Are you more likely to become attached to the person who nourishes you or to the person who provides you with contact comfort? For years, developmental psychologists thought this question was a no-brainer. Surely, providing nourishment is the way to an infant%u2019s heart. Then in the 1950s, psychologists Margaret and Harry Harlow tested this idea, using infant monkeys to assess whether food or contact comfort offered by something cuddly is more important for attachment.In the experiment, the Harlows%u2019 infant monkeys could choose between two artificial mothers. One was foam rubber covered with soft terry cloth, and the stranger anxiety The fear of strangers that infants commonly display, beginning by about 8 months of age.attachment The emotional tie with another person shown by seeking closeness to the caregiver and showing distress on separation.Stranger AnxietyThis 8-month-old seated with the man in the red suit is clearly experiencing stranger anxiety.Jim David/Shutterstock%u00a9 Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. For review purposes only. Do not distribute.