Explanations of Attachment

• What is the learning theory explanation of attachment?

  • explains how infants learn to become attached to their primary caregiver through the process of either classical conditioning or operant conditioning
  • sometimes referred to as the ‘cupboard love’ because main principles of this explanation for attachment focuses on food
• classical conditioning explanation of attachment

  1. before conditioning, food is an UCS which produces an UCR in the child - relief from hunger/pleasure
  2. Before conditioning, the caregiver is a NS, who produces no conditioned response at all from the child.
  3. During conditioning, the child associates the caregiver who feeds them (the NS) with the food (the UCS).
  4. Through many repeated pairing, the caregiver becomes a CS who is associated with the pleasure from feeding. This results in the caregiver eliciting a CR (relief from hunger) from the child and the formation of an attachment.
• operant conditioning explanation of attachment

  • When an infant feels hunger, it has a drive to reduce these unpleasant feelings and discomfort so is likely to cry in order to receive comfort. 

  • When the caregiver provides food, a feeling of pleasure is produced for the infant which is rewarding and this is called positive reinforcement. Therefore, the behaviour which elicited the reward will be repeated.
  • This reinforcement is a reciprocal process since the caregiver also experiences a reward in the form of negative reinforcement when the infant stops crying
• limitations of learning theory (1)

  • Harlow found baby rhesus spent more time with a soft towelling monkey which provided no food in comparison to a wire monkey that provided food. shows baby monkeys do not form attachment based on ‘cupboard love’ and prefer contact comfort.
  • lorenz found upon hatching, baby geese followed the first moving object they saw (imprinting). shows non-human animals demonstrate some inborn attachment behaviours to aid survival which goes against the idea that behavigour is learnt
• limitations of learning theory (2)

  • methodological issues: over-reliance on animals and therefore it is argued that behaviourist explanations provide an oversimplified account of attachment formation which is in fact a complex emotional bone. therefore learning theory may lack validity since it is difficulty to generalise findings to humans
  • environmental reductionist: reduce complex behaviour the formation of an attachment to a simple stimulus-response association
• limitations of learning theory (3)

  • Bowlby proposed humans have an innate readiness during the critical period to form an attachment to their caregiver to protect them from harm whilst they are young and vulnerable. evolutionary theory provides a how and why attachments form and therefore is more comprehensive in explaining attachment
• what is Bowlby‘s monotropic theory?

  • children are born with an innate tendency to form attachments with their parents in order to survive
• explain bowlbys ASCMI theory (first three)

  1. adaptive: adaptive which means they give humans an advantage, making them more likely to survive.
  2. social releasers: Infants possess inborn social releasers, which unlock an innate tendency in adults e.g. crying or smiling
  3. critical period: Infants must form an attachment with their caregiver during the critical period which is between three and six months of age. if an attachment did not form during this time frame, the child would be damaged for life – socially, emotionally, intellectually and physically.
• Explain bowlbys ASCMI theory (last two)

  1. montropy: infants form one very special attachment with their primary caregiver
  2. internal working model: internal template for future relationship expectations. If a child has a strong and healthy attachment with their primary attachment figure, then they will develop strong and healthy relationships, later in life. However, if the child has a negative relationship with their primary attachment figure, they will have negative social and romantic relationships in their later life.
• strengths of Bowlby‘s theory

  • Lorenz supports idea of critical period through imprinitng in birds which appears to be innate.
  • Lorenz research supports Bowlby idea of a critical period and demonstrates that geese are born with behaviours which help them to survive.
  • Hazan And Shaver (1987) ‘love quiz’ to asses the IWM found a positive correlation between early attachment types and later adult relationships. Supports bowlby’s idea of IWM and suggest that our early childhood experiences do affect our later adult relationships
• limitations of Bowlby’s theory

  • developmental psychologists when referring to human attachment often prefer to use the term ‘sensitive period’ as attachments have been shown to develop beyond the optimal window of opportunity
  • mixed evidence for the importance of montropy: Schaffer and emmerson (1964) refute the idea that infants form one special attachment to their caregiver with the evidence for multiple attachments
  • socially sensitive research: some individuals may find it upsetting that their future relationships are pre-determined by the IWM