ATTACHMENT ( LEARNING THEORY AND BOWLBY'S MONOTROPIC THEORY ) Flashcards
Outline the learning theory of attachment
The learning theory proposes that all behaviour is learned rather than inborn. When children are born they are blank slates and what their behaviour is learned either through classical or operant conditioning .
Outline the role of classical conditioning as an explanation of attachment
Food is an UCS and pleasure is an UCR . During an infant’s early weeks certain things become associated with food eg. the chair the mother sits in to feed the baby ( NS) . So the NS now becomes learned or conditioned stimulus ( CS) and produces an (CR) . Learning theorists called this newly formed stimulus ‘mother love’ . Classical conditioning was first investigated by Pavlov
Outline the role of association and reinforcement as an explanation for attachment
Operant conditioning was first investigated by Skinner however Dollard and Neal Miller offered an explanation of attachment based on operant conditioning and drive reduction theory . A drive is what motivates behaviour . When an infant is fed , the drive is reduced and this produces a feeling of pleasure . This is rewarding and is called negative reinforcement . Food becomes a primary reinforcer as it supplies reward , reinforcing the behaviour that reduced discomfort . Attachment occurs because the child seeks the person who supplies the reward ( mother / whoever feeds the infant )
EVALUATE how well Learning theory explains the development of attachments
STRENGTH
POINT : One strength of learning theory is it can explain some aspects of attachment
EXPLANATION / EVIDENCE : Infants do learn through association and reinforcement , but food may not be the main reinforcer . It may be that attention and responsiveness from a caregiver are important rewards that assist in the formation of attachment . Such reinforcers were not part of the learning theory account . It may also be that responsiveness is something that infants imitate and thus learn about how to conduct relationships
LINK : Learning theory may not provide a complete explanation of attachment but it has some value
LIMITATIONS
POINT : ( Attachment is not based on food ) The main limitation of learning theory as an explanation for attachment is that it suggests that food is the key element in the formation of attachment .
EXPLANATION/EVIDENCE : There is strong evidence to show that feeding has nothing to do with attachment . Harlow showed that infant rhesus monkeys were most attached to the wire mother that provided contact comfort , not food . Although Harlow’s experiment was with animals , it is supported by Schaffer and Emerson
LINK : These research studies suggest that the learning explanation is oversimplified and ignores other important factors such as contact comfort
POINT : One of the main reasons that the learning theory was rejected as an account of attachment is that a better theory appeared
EXPLANATION : Bowlby’s theory has many strengths compared to learning theory . It can explain why attachments form , whereas learning theory can only explain how it might form . For example , it can explain Schaffer and Emerson’s findings that infants are not always most strongly attached to the person who feeds them . Learning theory also does not offer any strengths of attachment whereas Bowlby’s theory does eg. Protection from harm and increased chances of survival
LINK : In this way Bowlby’s theory offers a more complete explanation of attachment than learning theory
what is meant by monotropy
The one special bond infants have with their primary attachment relationship . This bond is of significance in emotional development of the infant
what is meant by the critical period
The special time period when babies can from attachments with their caregiver . This is between 2 and 1/2 months years old , if this attachment is not formed the baby will be damaged socially , emotionally , intellectually and physically .
what is meant by the internal working model .
Through monotropic attachment the infant would form an Internal working model . This is a special model for relationships , all the infants future adult relationships will be based on their early attachment relationships because it generates expectations about what intimate , loving relationships are like .
Outline Bowlby’s theory of attachment ( A snap chat makes images )
Bowlby’s theory states that baby’s are born with an innate drive to become attached as attachment is an adaptive evolutionary process. Bowlby believed we are born with social releasers eg. crying , smiling which elicit caregiving. We become attached to one ( monotropy) primary attachment figure in the first year of life . Early attachment creates an internal working model for the expectation of future relationships . Secondary attachment figures are key for social development . Bowlby claimed we become attached within a critical period , after this it becomes increasingly difficult to form attachments . Bowlby’s theory led to the continuity hypothesis which states those who are securely attached are better socially developed than those insecurely attached
EVALUIATE Bowlby’s theory
POINT : ( Attachement is adaptive ) Attachment is clearly important in emotional development , but the question is whether it is critical for survival
EXPLANATION / EVIDENCE : Bowlby suggested that attachments develop when the infant is older than three months . This very late as a mechanism to protect infants . In our distant ancestors it might have been vital for infants to become attached as soon as they are born - after all , young monkeys cling tenaciously to their mother’s fur . The age of attachment may be linked to features of a species life . Human infants don’t need to cling on - mothers can carry their babies . However , when humans start crawling ( around 6 months ) , attachment is vital and that is when attachments develop in human.
LINK : This therefor supports Bowlby’s view that attachment is adaptive .
POINT : ( A sensitive period rather than ‘critical’ ) According to bowlby it should not be possible to form attachments beyond the important critical period between 3 to 6 months
EXPLANATION/EVIDENCE : Psychologists have studied children who fail to form attachments during this period. Evidence from Rutter et al shows Bowlby’s claim is true to an extent. It appears less likely that attachments will form after this period , but it is not impossible . The developmental window is one where children are maximally receptive to the formation of certain characteristics or behaviour , but nevertheless such developments can take place outside of this window .
LINK : For this reason researchers now prefer to use the term ‘sensitive period’ rather than ‘critical period’
POINT : ( Supports continous hypothesis ) According to Bowlby’s theory , one outcome of attachment is the effect it has on subsequent relationships .
EXPLANATON/EVIDENCE : This has been tested by Minnesota parent-child study . This study followed participants from infancy to late adolescence and found continuity between early attachment and later emotional / social behaviour . Individuals who were classified as securely attached in infancy were highest rated for social competence later in childhood , were less isolated and more popular , more empathetic .
LINK : This supports the continuity hypothesis because there is a link between early and later attachments .
