Explanations of attachment

• Explanations of attachment CC

  classical conditioning

  1. unconditioned stimulus, unconditioned response
  2. neutral stimulus, no response
  3. associate neutral stimulus with unconditioned stimulus
  4. through repetition neutral becomes conditioned stimulus resulting in conditioned response
• Explanations of attachment OC

  operant conditioning

  Skinner - humans can learn through consequences(reward or punishment) when behaviour is rewarded (+ or - reinforcement) its repeated and when punished its stopped

  Dollard and Miller - positive reinforcement when baby cries and receives food, negative reinforcement to provider when crying stops
• Classical conditioning and operant conditioning AO3


  -refuted by research from Lorenz - imprinting as being intimate. some attachment behaviour as survival, going against what we 'learn'

  -methodological issues - may be an over simplified explanation, may lack validity as harder to generalise to humans
• Explanations of Attachment - Bowlby


  children born with innate tendency to form attachment to increase

  ASCMI

  1. adaptive - give humans advantage to survive
  2. social releasers - unlock innate tendency to care for infant, physical = baby face behavioural = crying
  3. critical period - infant must make an attachment 3-6m, harder to form after initial period
  4. monotropy - 1 special attachment with primary caregiver
  5. internal working model - internal template for future relationship expectations
• Bowlby AO3

  + comes from research by Lorenz - imprinting as innate - supporting critical period

  + comes from research be Shaver and Hazan - love quiz + correlation between early attachment types and latter adult relationship

  -schafer and Emerson refute the idea that infants form 1 special attachment more vital than others

  -alternative explanations of attachment - Kagen - temperament hypothesis - genetically inherited personality traits have role when forming relationships