explanations of attachment

Cards (16)

  • Attachment
    The strong bond that develops between an infant and their primary caregiver, usually their biological mother
  • Biological psychologists' view on attachment
    • Attachment bond is innate, babies are primed with the need to attach to their mother figures, and caregivers have an innate response to care for them
  • Classical conditioning explanation of attachment
    1. Neutral stimulus (mother) becomes associated with unconditioned stimulus (food), resulting in conditioned response (pleasure)
    2. Infant learns association between mother (conditioned stimulus) and food - feels pleasure (love) - this forms attachment
  • Operant conditioning explanation of attachment- two way process
    1. Crying behavior is positively reinforced when parent provides milk (positive reinforcement)
    2. Crying behavior is negatively reinforced when parent provides care and stops the unpleasant stimulus - strengthens attachment
  • Primary drives

    Instinctual desires required for survival and reproduction (e.g. sleep, hunger, thirst, sex)
  • Secondary drives
    Learned desires that can ultimately satisfy primary drives (e.g. money, satisfaction of caregiver)
  • Attachment- SEARS
    A secondary drive, infants seek attachment with their mothers to satisfy the primary drive of hunger
  • Bowlby's Monotropic Theory

    • Infants have an innate, instinctive drive to form a strong bond with their primary caregiver (usually the mother) for evolutionary survival reasons
    • Infants are born with social release behaviors (e.g. crying, smiling) that elicit instinctive caregiving responses from mothers - reciprocal process
    • Attachment in the critical period (first 6 months) - sensitive period
  • Learning theory - 'cupboard love' Dollard and miller
  • AO3 learning theory - counter-evidence from animal studies: Lorenz geese imprint on first moving object (no food). Harlow monkeys favoured comfort over food.
  • AO3 learning theory - counter-evidence from human studies: schaffer and emerson babies formed attachment to their mother with no food involved.
  • AO3 learning theory - conditioning involved: babies associate warm and comfortable feeling with a caregiver which influences attachment. Learning theory useful.
  • Internal working model - child forms mental representation of relationship with the primary caregiver
    serves as a model for what future relationships are like
    base their parenting style from their experience of their parents
  • AO3 - Monotropy lacks validity: Shaffer and Emerson - a minority of babies attached to multiple people. First attachment is just stronger not different qualities.
  • AO3 - support for social releasers: Brazelton - observed babies trigger interactions. When attachment figures ignore babies social releases babies became distressed. Social releasers important in emotional development.
  • AO3 - support for internal working models: Bailey - observed attachment relationship in 99 mothers and I year olds. Mothers with poor attachment to primary caregiver were poorly attached to babies.