Theories of Attachment

• What is attachment?

  • An affectional tie that one person or animal forms between himself and another specific one
• What is Western attachment?

  • Normally between mother and child and the mother plays the main role in child rearing - low temporal validity (out of date)
  • Type of attachment a child develops with their main carer is reflected in attachment to a romantic partner
• Describe the Behaviourist theory of attachment

  • Attachment is learned through operant and classical conditioning

  Classical conditioning:

  • Food is an unlearned response
  • Pleasure is the UCR
  • Mother is NS and becomes CS and pleasure again to mother is CR

  Operant conditioning:

  • Baby cries - mother feeds - baby pleasured so crying is reinforced and it occurs again - positive reinforcement
  • Feeding or comforting baby - caregiver gives relief from crying - negatively reinforced and makes caregiver’s response more likely to be repeated
• BEHAVIOURISM - Drive reduction

  • Attachment is motivation
  • Babies have innate biological drives that motivate their behaviour
  • Primary drives are hunger and thirst
  • Caregiver is a secondary reinforcer as baby learns to associate them with primary drive
  • Attachment is secondary (learned) drive through its association with an innate primary drive
  • (Interactionist of nature and nurture)
• Describe “cupboard of love” and how it explains attachment

  Freud & Ainsworth:

  • Someone is nice to us to get something they want
  • Baby cries when uncomfortable and main carer responds and puts it right
  • Child associates carer with feeling good so the carer produces a feel good response even if not providing food
  • Child is reinforced by crying as parent appears and removes something unpleasant (negative reinforcement) and learns to cry again to get positive response
• Describe imprinting

  Lorenza:

  • Suggested attachment is innate and genetically programmed through studies on geese
  • Half in incubator so they first see Lorenza or half under mother so they first see mother
  • Geese in incubator followed Lorenza and geese under mother followed mother
  • Suggests critical period for attachment and survival impact for attachment and cannot be reversed once formed
• Describe Harlow’s findings in attachment


  • Apposes behaviourist
  • 8 monkeys caged from infancy
  • Wire mesh food dispensing and cloth covered surrogate mothers
  • Showed attachment behaviour towards cloth covered surrogate when frightened and more willing to explore novel toys when cloth covered present - suggests food not as crucial as comfort as seek comfort
  • Isolated monkeys - timid, unpredictable, difficulty mating and females inadequate mothers suggesting early attachment predicts long term social development
• BOWLBY: Describe the monotropic hypothesis

  Monotropic hypothesis:

  • Attachment to one primary care giver only - usually mother
  • Attachment must be made in the critical period which is the first 2 years to try and avoid maternal deprivation
  • If attachment is not formed there is a risk of the child becoming an affectionless psychopath
• BOWLBY: Describe the maternal deprivation hypothesis

  Maternal deprivation hypothesis:

  • Bond with mother is taken away under circumstances such as
  • Mother dies
  • Post natal depression
  • Mother in prison
  • Risk of becoming an emotional psychopath

  Rutter:

  • Privation - never had opportunity to form bond at all with mother e.g. if mother dies in childbirth
• Describe Emmerson’s research into attachment

  Emmerson:

  • Longitudinal study on 60 babies at monthly intervals from birth to 18 months
  • Observation of carer interactions and behaviour when child is left alone
  • Came up with a stage theory and found multiple attachments are formed after 9 months which apposes Bowlby
• BOWLBY: Describe the internal working model

  Types of attachment:

  • Secure
  • Carer is sensitive and loving and picks up child to reassure them - child seeks proximity to carer
  • Insecure avoidant
  • Carer is insensitive and rejecting - child avoids care giver in times of need
  • Insecure ambivalent
  • Carer inconsistent and insensitive - child exaggerates distress and anger to ensure caregiver notices
  • Insecure disorganised
  • Carer insensitive - child has bizarre, contradictory behaviour and will freeze or run away from parent which is linked to psychopathological disorders
• Describe the 44 thieves study by Bowlby

  Bowlby:

  • Disruption of primary relationships lead to juvenile delinquency
  • 44 adolescent juvenile thieves in child guidance clinic & another 44 children for control who were referred but not committed crimes yet
  • Interviewed 44 adolescents in London
  • Interviewed parents from both groups - any separation in critical period and how long
  • More than half of juvenile thieves separated from mother for longer than 6 months during first 5 years and several showed affectionless psychopathy - none in control
  • Juvenile group problems due to maternal deprivation
• How does attachment type affect adult relationships?

  Hazen:

  • Attachment types in childhood affect love relationships
  • Questionnaire on 620 aged 14-82 from USA
  • Most had secure attachment - more happy, more supportive of partners regardless of faults and least likely to get divorced
  • Insecure avoidant - afraid of intimacy, more highs and lows, more prone to jealousy and get along fine by themselves
  • Insecure ambivalent - prone to obsession, extreme sexual attraction and most likely to get divorced out of the 3