ABSTRACT

Bowlby (1969) proposed that the infant constructs models of the world, significant persons within it, and the self. These internal working models, or states of mind that guide behavior, become more sophisticated with age and are applied to the child’s broadening social world. On the basis of these models, the child predicts the behavior of others and makes motivational attributions. Although internal working models are amenable to change with change in the environment, they cannot be modified easily. This is because they involve intrinsically conservative expectancies (later experience is interpreted in light of earlier experience) and because these expectancies influence behavior such that expectations are confirmed, or at least not disconfirmed (e.g., someone who expects a rebuff may invite it, thereby confirming expectations, or she or he may avoid interaction, thereby precluding disconfirmation of expectations). Models of others’ behavior are brought from the home and may resist change even when they do not accurately reflect the reality of new playmates.