AS ATTACHMENT; THEORIES OF ATTACHMENT; LEARNING THEORY AND BOWLBY'S MONOTROPIC THEORY

Question 1

Describe learning theory of attachment

Answer 1

• Put forward by Dollard and Miller (1950)
• CC: food acts as a UCS, producing UCR of pleasure. Caregiver acts as NS, presented w/ UCS and over time becomes CS, producing CR of pleasure. Infant associates caregiver w/ food
• OC: babies cry for comfort (important beh in building attachment), and caregiver responds by comforting and feeding. Infant is +vely reinforced to cry and at the same time, mother is -vely reinforced to attend to baby’s needs, as it stops the crying; it’s a two-way process. This strengthens attachment

Question 2

Evaluate learning theory of attachment

Answer 2

(-) Refuted by animal studies; Lorenz’ geese imprinted onto the first large moving object they saw (regardless of feeding) and Harlow’s monkeys consistently preferred comfort over food
(-) Schaffer and Emerson (1964) found that primary attachment was not necessarily formed with person who fed them, but whoever showed the most responsiveness to their needs
(+) Some elements of conditioning may still be apploed to attachment e.g. association of cargeiver (NS/CS) with comfort (UCS)
(-) Ignores infant-caregiver interactions (reciproctiy and interactional synchrony); incomplete explanation

Question 3

Describe the background of Bowlby’s monotropic theory

Answer 3

Influenced by Lorenz and Harlow, Bowlby rejected the Learning Therory and put forward an evolutionary explanation; attachment is an innate system which aids survival.

Question 4

Describe monotropy

Answer 4

• Infant attaches to one primary caregiver; this attachment is different to and more important than the others, and the more time spent with them, the better.
• Law of continuity: the more constant and predictable the care for the child, the better the quality of attachment
• Law of accumulated separation: effects of every dose of separation from the primary caregiver add up, and so the safest dose of separation is zero

Question 5

Describe Bowlby’s critical period, social releasers and the internal working model

Answer 5

Social releasers: babies are born with a set of innate, cute behs which get the attention of an adult and activate their adult attachment system

Critical period: attachment behs must occur bet infant and caregiver w/in first two yrs, if child is to form an attachment bond. After this critical period, an attachment is much harder to form.

Internal working model: child forms mental representation of their attachment to their primary caregiver, which serves as a template for future relationships (for future partners and as a parent)

Question 6

Evaluate Bowlby’s monotropic theory

Answer 6

(-) Temperament (a child’s genetically influenced peronality) may also play a big role in future relationships; Bowlby is probably over-emphasising the internal working model
(+) However, Bailey et al (2007) assessed 99 babies for attachment to their mothers, then interviewed the mothers about their own attachment to their parents; found that mothers who reported poor attachment to their parents also had poor attachment with their infants; supports internal working model
(+) Brazelton (1975) still face experiment; mothers ignored social releasers from babies, and babies showed some initial distress, then curled up and lay motionless on the floor; shows social releasers and the response to them are important in attachment.
(-) Law of accumulated separation suggests that mothers who return to work soon after having a baby are inferior to those who don’t; socially sensitive