Attachment Flashcards
Evolutionary theory
- The tendency to form attachments is INNATE
- This tendency is present in both infants and mothers
Learning theories
- Infants have no innate tendency to form attachments
- They LEARN attachments because of FOOD
Bowlby’s Theory
- He saw humans as being just like other animals – we need an INNATE tendency to form attachments with a caregiver.
- This tendency gives us an ADAPTIVE ADVANTAGE,
- He adopted the idea of a CRITICAL PERIOD from ethologists like Lorenz, and applied this to his explanation of how human infants form their attachments.
Adaptive
- Attachments are Adaptive.
- This means they give our species an ‘adaptive advantage’, making us more likely to survive.
- This is because if an infant has an attachment to a caregiver, they are kept safe, given food, and kept warm.
Social releasers
Babies have Social releasers, which
‘unlock’ the innate tendency of adults to
care for them.
These Social releasers
are both:
- Physical – the typical ‘baby face’ features and body proportions
- Behavioural – e.g. crying, cooing
Critical period
Babies have to form the attachment with their
caregiver during a Critical period.
This is between birth and 2½ years old.
Bowlby said that if this didn’t happen, the child
would be damaged for life –
- socially,
- emotionally,
- intellectually,
- physically
Monotropy
- Bowlby believed that infants form one very
special attachment with their mother
(specific to one caregiver). - This special, intense attachment is called
Monotropy. - If the mother isn’t available, the infant
could bond with another ever-present,
adult, mother-substitute.
Internal working model
This is a special mental schema for relationships.
All the child’s future adult relationships will be
based on this – the ‘continuity hypothesis’:
- A child who experiences a loving and secure relationship with a consistent and safe caregiver will grow up to expect this from later relationships
- A child who experiences a negative relationship with their primary attachment figure will tend to form poor relationships in the future and expect negative treatment or treat others in such a way
Evaluation of Bowlby - Strengths
- Brazleton et al (1975) observed mother-baby interactions and reported the existence of interactional synchrony – in a follow up experiment primary caregivers were instructed to ignore a baby’s social releasers and interaction between mother and baby disappeared
- Lorenz (1935) supports Bowlby’s monotropic theory as the attachment process of imprinting is an innate process that has a critical period. Also, the geese also attached to a single person/animal or object.
Lorenz (1935)
- Method: Lorenz divided a group of goose eggs into two groups:
1. One group was left with their natural mother.
2. The other group was placed in an incubator. - Lorenz made sure that when the eggs in the incubator hatched, he was the first moving object the goslings saw. After this, he marked the two groups and returned them to their natural mother.
- Results: The geese that had hatched in the incubator continued to follow him, while those who had hatched naturally continued to followed their mother.
Hazan & Shaver (1987)
- Hazan and Shaver used a questionnaire called ‘The Love Quiz’ to examine current attachment experiences and attachment history.
- 620 people responded to the questionnaire which was published in the Rocky Mountain News.
- Results: They found a positive correlation between attachment type and later love experiences.
- Conclusion: The results support Bowlby’s idea of an internal working model and suggest that our early childhood experiences affect our later adult relationships.
Evaluation of Bowlby - Weaknesses
- Critical Period questioned – Case studies show attachments can develop after the critical period e.g. Koluchova twins suggesting a ‘sensitive period’ might be more applicable
- Individual differences not explained – some children better able than others to cope with poor attachment experiences
- Internal Working Model & Continuity Hypothesis criticised – Howes et al (1994) found correlation between a child’s early and later relationships are quite low
- Rutter (1972) points out that several indicators of attachment (such as protest or distress when an attached person leaves) have been shown for various attachment figures – fathers, siblings, peers, and even inanimate objects.
The Learning Theory
Suggests that attachment is a set of learned behaviors instead of innate biological behavior. The basis for the learning of attachments is the provision of food.
- This theory encompasses two types of learning: classical conditioning, where an infant learns to associate the caregiver with comfort and eventually forms an attachment.
- Operant conditioning, on the other hand, assumes that infants are in a drive state of internal tension or discomfort, and their actions focus on removing this discomfort.
Interactional synchrony
Interactional synchrony is the mirrored action of physical and emotional behaviour between two people
- This can shown between a caregiver and an infant
Berry Brazleton et al. (1975)
- Babies as well as caregivers take on an active role - both caregivers and babies can start interactions
and take turns in doing so. - Described this interaction as a ‘dance’.