Explanations of Attachment

• Learning Theory


  sees all behaviour as learned through our environment.

  according to classical conditioning theorists will be learned through association and operant conditioning theorists argue through reinforcement.
• Cupboard Love Theory


  suggests that the infant becomes attached to a caregiver as it 'learns' that the caregiver will meet their physiological needs.
• Classical Conditioning


  UCS [food] -> UCR [baby feels happy]

  UCS [food] + NS [mother] -> UCR [baby feels happy]

  through repeated pairing of food and mother:

  CS [mother] -> CR [baby feels happy]
• Operant Conditioning


  crying leads to a response from caregiver.

  as long as caregiver provides correct response, crying is reinforced.

  baby then directs crying for comfort towards caregiver who responds with comforting 'social suppressor' behaviour.

  as baby is reinforced for crying, the caregiver receives negative reinforcement as crying stops - escaping from something unpleasant is reinforcing.

  when infant is fed, drive is reduced and produces a feeling of pleasure, this is rewarding - positive reinforcement.
• Strength - has some explanatory power

  can provide an adequate explanation of how attachments form.

  e.g. seem to learn in a number of ways through association in real-life.

  case of Little Albert shows that classical conditioning is process by which we learn a variety of behaviours. shows that when you combine a loud noise [UCR] with a neutral stimulus [rat] after much repetition, this creates a conditioned response.
• Weakness - counter evidence from Harlow

  when new-born rhesus monkeys were separated from their mother after birth and placed in a cage, the monkey's spent most of their time with soft cloth 'mother' rather than mother offering food.

  suggests 'cupboard love' is unlikely to explain attachment as monkeys should have attached to mother with food.
• Weakness - counter evidence from Lorenz

  newly hatched Greylag geese after seeing Lorenz shortly imprinted on him and followed him.

  new-borns imprint an image of first moving object they see (usually parents) within hours of being born, allowing them to stick closely to this important source of protection and food.

  criticises learning theory as suggests that attachment is innate as infants were far too young to have learned anything.
• Weakness - counter evidence from human research

  Schaffer and Emerson -> first attachment formed by 39% of babies wasn't the person who carried out physical care, such as feeding and changing nappies.

  more likely to be formed to those individuals who are sensitive and rewarding to baby who play with infant.

  food may not be main reinforcer of attachments but rather could be responsiveness from caregiver.

  goes against the learning theory's assumption that infants are more likely to form attachments with adults who meet their physical needs.
• Monotropy


  Bowlby's theory is described as monotropic as he place great emphasis on a child attachment to one particular caregiver.

  believed that the child's attachment to one caregiver is different and more important than any others

  Bowlby referred to this person as 'mother' but it was clear this didn't need to be the biological mother. Bowlby believed the more time a baby spent with primary attachment, the better.
• Law of Continuity


  more constant and predictable a child's care, the better the quality of their attachment
• Law of Accumulated Separation

  effects of every separation from mother adds up
• Social Releasers and Critical Period

  Bowlby suggests babies are born with a set of innate behaviour or natural characteristics such as smiling and crying that encourage attention from adults -> referred as social releasers as their purpose is to activate adult social interaction and so make an adult attach to baby.

  babies have an innate drive to become attached. innate behaviours usually have a special time period for development [critical period].

  critical period for attachment is around 3-6months.
• Internal Working Model


  Bowlby proposed that a child forms a mental representation of their relationship with their primary attachment figure.

  serves as a model for what relationships are like.

  a child whose first experience is of a loving relationship with a reliable caregiver, will tend to form an expectation that all relationships are as loving and reliable.

  however, a child whose first experience involves poor treatment will tend to form further poor relationships in which they expect such treatment from others

  affects the child's later ability to be a parent themselves.
• Strength - support for internal working model

  Bailey assessed 99 mothers with 1-yr old babies on quality of their attachment to their own mother using a standardised interview procedure.

  researchers also assessed the attachment of babies to the mothers by observation.

  mothers who reported a poor-quality attachment with their own parent in interviews were more likely to have poor attachments with their own children.
• Weakness - mixed evidence for monotropy

  Bowlby believed babies generally formed one attachment to primary caregiver, and this attachment was special in some way different from later attachments.

  only after this attachment was established could a child form multiple attachments.

  Schaffer and Emerson don't believe this to be the case as they found most babies form an attachment to one person first but a minority appeared able to form multiple attachments at same time.

  differing viewpoints means Bowlby's monotropic theory can't be supported meaning his theory lacks validity
• Weakness - monotropy is a socially sensitive idea

  has major implications for the lifestyle choice mothers made when their children are young.

  Law of accumulated separation risks a poor quality attachment that will disadvantage the child in a range of ways later.

  feminists like Erica Burman pointed out that this places a burden of responsibility on mothers, setting them up to take the blame for anything that goes wrong in child's life.

  also pushes mothers into particular lifestyle choices e.g. not returning to work when a child is born.
• Strength - support for social releasers

  clear evidence that cut infant behaviours are intended to initiate social interaction and doing so it's important to baby.

  Brazleton et al observed mothers and babies during their interactions, reporting existence of international synchrony.

  extended the study from an observation to an experiment. primary attachment figure were instructed to ignore their babies' signals - ignore their social releasers. babies initially showed some distress but when attachment figure continued to ignore baby, some responded by curling up and lying motionless.

  supports Bowlby's ideas about the significance of infant social behaviour in eliciting caregiving.