ao3

• schaffer and emerson (1964)


  • babies tend to form attachments with the mother regardless of if she usually fed them, due to sensitive responsiveness
  • this is not related to feeding, hence means food is not a main factor in formation of human attachments
• isabella et al (1989)

  • attachment was influenced by levels of international synchrony (the higher the interactional synchrony, the stronger the attachment)
  • this is not related to feeding, hence means food is not a main factor in formation of human attachments
• harlows monkeys (1958)


  • the wire mother dispensed milk, yet monkeys attached to cloth mother as they chose comfort over food. suggests attachment is not a result of food
  • dollard and millers theory is not valid, as factors other than association with food are important in formation of attachments
• lorenz's goslings (1952)


  • goslings imprint on first moving object (innate trait) refardless of whether the object was associated with food
  • dollard and millers theory is not valid, as factors other than association with food are important in formation of attachments
• undermines the theory...

  falsifies the theory...
• • learning explanation might not be the full explanation of attachment, as it has very little support
  • humans learn by conditioning, so it might be that this approach focused on food as reinforcement
  • but reinforcement s in fact the attention and responsiveness of the caregiver