Final answer:
Sophia is most likely developing a secure attachment, characterized by her reliance on her parents as a consistent and safe base for exploration and comfort in stressful situations.
Step-by-step explanation:
Baby Sophia has come to expect that her needs will be met because her parents are consistently warm, responsive, and sensitive to her. Sophia is most likely developing a secure attachment. This means she uses her parents as a base from which to explore her world, showing preference to her parents over strangers, and seeking them out in times of stress. Secure attachment is characterized by caregivers who are sensitive and responsive to their child’s needs, thus providing a secure base for the toddler to safely explore his environment.
With avoidant attachment, children do not use the parent as a secure base and show little to no preference between a caregiver and a stranger. In resistant attachment, the child may show clingy behavior but reject the caregiver's attempts to interact. The fourth style, disorganized attachment, is characterized by a lack of clear attachment behavior.
The concept of attachment theory was developed by John Bowlby, who stated that a secure base and responsive care are essential for a healthy child-caregiver attachment bond.