Explanations of Attachment

• What 2 types of conditioning support the learning theory of attachment?

  1. Classical Conditioning
  2. Operant Conditioning
• How does classical conditioning link to attachment?

  • Babies make an association between food and the caregiver who provides the food
  • Babies then become attached to the person providing food
• How does operant conditioning link to attachment?

  1. Babies cry for comfort or to get fed
  2. Babies will continue to reinforce this behaviour so the attachment grows stronger (positive reinforcement)
  3. Parents will feed and comfort the baby to stop the crying (negative reinforcement)
• According to the learning theory, what is a primary drive?

  Hunger is a primary drive as it is innate and natural
• According to the learning theory, what is a secondary drive?


  Attachment is a secondary drive as it is learned by an association of the caregiver with the food (hunger being a primary drive)
• Explain Classical Conditioning in terms of the learning theory

  Baby makes association between food and caregiver

  
• AO3 Learning Theory: Counter evidence from Harlow

  • Harlow's monkey study contradicts Learning Theory
  • Monkeys displayed attachment to cloth mother suggesting contact comfort may be important in attachment
  • There may be other factors other than association that are needed in attachments
• AO3 Learning Theory: Counter evidence from Schaffer and Emerson's study

  • There is a lack of support from the studies of human babies
  • Infants became attached to caregivers who interacted with them the most
  • Goes against learning theory that says food is the main factor in attachment
  • Maybe interactional synchrony is needed
• AO3 Learning Theory: SLT may be more important

  • Parents teach children to love them through modelling attachment behaviours e.g hugging
  • Parents may reinforce loving behaviour by showing approval when babies display their own attachments
  • SLT is better as it shows the 2 way interaction between baby and caregiver
• What are the steps in Bowlby's Theory?

  1. Vital
  2. Adaptive
  3. Innate
  4. Social Releasers
  5. Monotropy
  6. Internal Working Model
  7. Critical Period
• Vital in Bowlby's theory

  Attachments are Vital for emotional health
• Adaptive in Bowlby's Theory

  Attachment is an evolutionary behaviour that helps us survive
• Innate in Bowlby's Theory

  Attachment is an innate tendency that we are already born with
• Social Releasers in Bowlby's Theory

  Behaviours or signals from the infant that draw in the adult to care for them. It can be both physical and behavioural
• Monotropy in Bowlby's Theory

  Infants form one special attachment that is more important and significant. It helps them with forming future relationships.
• Critical Period in Bowlby's Theory

  • Babies have to form an attachment with their caregiver within a given time
  • Bowlby says the critical period is 2.5 years
  • If an attachment is not formed then the child will struggle emotionally, intellectually and physically
• Internal Working Model in Bowlby's Theory

  As a result of the monotropic attachment, the child forms a model for what all their future relationships should look like. Like a special mental schema for relationships
• Evaluation of Bowlby's Theory: Validity of Monotropy challenged

  • Schaffer and Emerson found that some babies have multiple attachments
  • First attachment may be strong but does not mean it is necessarily different to the other attachments
  • Bowlby then lacks validity and monotropy isn't that important after all
• Evaluation of Bowlby's Theory: Support for Social Releasers

  • Cute baby behaviours are used to get a response from caregivers
  • Researchers found babies trigger interaction from adults with social releasers
  • Then primary attachment figure is told to ignore babies social releasers
  • Babies then become distressed and lay motionless
  • This shows its importance in attachment
• Evaluation of Bowlby's Theory: Support for Internal Working Model

  • Researcher assessed attachment relationships in 99 mothers and their 1 year old
  • Assessed mother's attachment with her primary figure (her parents)
  • They found mothers with poor attachment to her primary figure were more likely to have poorly attached babies
  • Support internal working model
• Evaluation of Bowlby's Theory: Feminist concerns

  • Suggests that mothers who work negatively affect their child's emotional development
  • Makes mothers take the blame for anything that goes wrong with the child and restricts mother's from being able to go to work
  • Underestimates the role of the father as he says he is primarily economic
• In terms of Nature and Nurture what is Bowlby's Theory?


  Nature. Is an evolutionary theory
• In terms of Reductionism and Holism what is Bowlby's Theory?


  Reductionism. Only considers biology and ignores environmental factors
• In terms of Free Will and Determinism what is Bowlby's Theory?

  Determinism. Determined by biology