bowlbys maternal deprivation theory

• Identify the two explanations for attachment.

  The learning theory of attachment and Bowlby's monotropic theory of attachment.
• Learning Theory of Attachment – Key Points

  🔹 Proposes attachment forms because caregivers provide food.

  🔹 Classical Conditioning:

  • Caregiver (NS) + Food (UCS) → Pleasure (UCR)
  • Caregiver becomes CS → Produces pleasure (CR) even without food.

  🔹 Operant Conditioning:

  • Infant cries → Caregiver feeds → Hunger removed (negative reinforcement for infant).
  • Caregiver feeds → Crying stops → Unpleasant sound removed (negative reinforcement for caregiver).

  🔹 Both infant and caregiver learn attachment behaviours, strengthening their bond.
• Why is the learning theory of attachment considered scientific?

  🟢 It is based on observable, behaviourist principles (classical & operant conditioning).🟢 Supported by scientific research (e.g. Pavlov, Skinner, and Watson & Rayner).🟢 Suggests attachment forms through learned associations, adding credibility.
• What research challenges the learning theory of attachment?

  🔴 Schaffer & Emerson found that over half of infants were not attached to the person who fed them.�� Harlow’s monkeys preferred the cloth mother over the wire mother with food, contradicting the theory.🔴 This questions the validity of the learning theory.
• How does Lorenz’s research challenge the learning theory?

  🔴 Lorenz’s goslings imprinted on the first moving object within a critical period, showing attachment is innate, not learned.🔴 Bowlby’s monotropic theory suggests attachment is biological and aids survival, conflicting with the learning theory.🔴 However, human infants are more dependent on caregivers, so learning processes may play a larger role.
• Why is the learning theory considered reductionist?

  🔴 It ignores the complexity of attachments, reducing them to stimulus-response links.🔴 Caregiver responsiveness (e.g. reciprocity & interactional synchrony) is linked to stronger attachments, but learning theory does not account for this.🔴 This questions its appropriateness in explaining attachment
• Bowlby’s Monotropic Theory of Attachment – Key Points

  • Attachment is adaptive and evolved to aid infant survival.
  • Infants have innate social releasers (e.g. crying, smiling) to trigger caregiving responses.
  • Critical period: Attachment must form within 2 years, or later relationships may be affected.
  • Monotropy: Infants form a primary attachment to one key caregiver.
  • Internal working model: Early attachment influences future relationships (secure = positive, insecure = difficulties).
• What is a strength of Bowlby’s monotropic theory related to social releasers?

  🟢 Meltzoff & Moore found that infants as young as 12 days old could imitate adult gestures, supporting Bowlby’s idea that infants are born with an innate ability to display social releasers to form attachments.
• What research supports the idea of a critical period in attachment?

  🟢 Lorenz’s study on goslings found that imprinting must happen within a critical period of 32 hours, supporting Bowlby’s claim that attachment must form within the first 2 years.
• How does research on adult relationships support Bowlby’s theory?

  🟢 Hazan & Shaver’s "love quiz" found that securely attached infants developed stable, loving adult relationships, supporting Bowlby’s internal working model of attachment.
• What evidence challenges Bowlby’s emphasis on a single primary attachment?

  🔴 Schaffer’s research showed that infants form multiple attachments by 9 months, contradicting the idea of a singular, monotropic attachment.
• How does research on fathers challenge Bowlby’s theory?

  🔴 Studies show that fathers, typically secondary attachment figures, play a key role in child development, suggesting multiple attachments are important rather than just one.
• What are the negative implications of Bowlby’s theory?

  🔴 The theory pressured mothers to stay at home, reducing female workforce participation and economic productivity. It also risks blaming mothers for children’s later relationship difficulties.