Evaluation

• Lack of Supporting Evidence

  Lack of support from animal studies

  Harlow - monkey attached to cloth mum not food mum

  Lorenz - birds did not follow him for food , goslings imprinted on first moving object

  Little supporting research reduces validity of the explanation

  However , animal studies shouldn't be generalised to humans due to biological differences
• Lacks Support from Human Studies

  Schaffer and Emerson - babies tended to form main attachment to mother , regardless of whether she was the one to feed them or not

  Isabella - found high levels of interactional synchrony predicted quality of attachment , nothing to do with feeding

  Lack of support / countering evidence reduces validity
• Conditioning May be Involved

  Association with food is unlikely to play a central role in attachment , but conditioning may still play a role

  Associating feelings of warmth and comfort with a particular adult may help baby choose their main attachment figure

  Theory may still be useful in understanding development of attachment