explanations for attachment

• learning theory is an explanation for attachment and consists of both classical and operant conditioning
• classical conditioning is when behaviours are learnt through associations made between stimuli and response
• one way learning theory explains attachment between care-giver and infant by. classical conditioning
• learning theory explanation of caregiver-infant attachment via classical conditioning:

  -caregiver starts as neutral stimuli producing no response

  -food serves as unconditioned stimuli producing an unconditioned response (happy baby)

  -once these two stimuli are linked caregiver becomes the conditioned stimuli and the baby expects food. this produces a conditioned response (happy baby)

  -attachment is strengthened
• operant conditioning is that behaviours learnt are reinforced by direct consequences: punishment, positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement
• positive reinforcement is when behaviour is strengthened by a pleasant positive consequence
• punishment is when behaviour is weakened by an unpleasant negative consequences
• negative reinforcement is when behaviour is removed by escaping the consequence
• learning theory also explains attachment between caregiver and infant by operant conditioning:

  -crying ect leads to a response from the caregiver for example cuddling. this means the baby’s behaviour is being positively reinforced. however at the same time the caregiver receives negative reinforcement as the crying stops, removing the unpleasant behaviour. this strengthens attachment
• strengths of learning theory is that adoptive parents can benefit from this theory by knowing that there is no need to share biological traits to become attached to infants
• a weakness of learning theory to explain attachment is that there is contradictory evidence.

  -harlow experiment found monkeys found contact comfort more important then food.

  -this goes against learning theory as lt states that most important factor in forming attachments is food

  -however harlow study is based on animals so loses its validity
• bowlbys theory is another explanation for attachment. his theory is called the monotropy theory.
• the attachment theory by bowlby consists of: critical period, evolutionary, monotropy, social releaser and the internal working model
• critical period in bowlbys theory is a time a child must form an attachment in order to have a healthy development they don’t form these attachments it will have irreversible effects. bowlby says the critical period in humans is 6mths-2yrs. before 6mths is sensitive period where attachment system is active
• evolutionary in bowlbys theory is that forming an attachment is innative and gives us a survival advantage
• monotropy in bowlbys theory is the importance of having one specific attachment with a primary caregiver. consistent care leads to attachments.
• social releasers in bowlbys theory is the innate infant behaviours and characteristics which encourage an innate nurturing response from an adult
• internal working model in bowlbys theory is the mental representation of relationship. we carry our understanding of attachment from childhood through to adulthood. if we form a secure relationship with caregiver, we are then able to form secure relationships with friends.
• monotropy is shown to be limited by schaffer and rudolph’s research. they found a signficant amount of baby’s formed multiple attachments at the same time and although the first one may be stronger the quality of it was no different
• social releasers can be supported by berry brazeltons research. he instructed adults to ignore babies social releaser. the babies become increasingly distressed which shows the impotrance of their social releasers in forming attachments
• the internal working model can be supported by bailey et al research. 99 mothers and children were assessed on quality of current and previous attachments. they found a positive correlation between poor childhood and poor adulthood