explaantions of attachment - learning theory and bowlby’s monotropic theory

Question 1

what does the learning theory say about attachment

Answer 1

• everything we know is learnt through experiences, so a baby has to learn to form an attachment with its mother
• attachments are learnt through classical and operant conditioning - ideas of ‘cupboard love’
• hunger is a primary drive and attachment is the results of an association formed between the caregiver and the satisfaction of the primary drive

Question 2

evaluation of the learning theory explanation of attachment

Answer 2

• challenging evidence from harlow = contact comfort was more important than food, suggests there’s no unconditioned stimulus of food
• reductionist = doesn’t consider aspects of love and emotional connection
• deterministic = suggests that by conditioning and attachment is guaranteed to form, also suggests that an attachment can’t be formed any other way -> environmental determinism

Question 3

what does bowlby’s monotropic theory say about attachment

Answer 3

ASCMI
- Adaptive - attachment is an advantage
- Social releasers - unlock innate tendency to care for a child
- Critical period - time an attachment can form - 2.5 years
- Monotropy - one carer - one special intense attachment that unique
- Internal working model - mental schema for relationships, template for future relationships

Question 4

evaluation of monotropic theory

Answer 4

• support from animal studies = support for critical period from lorenz and impacts of maternal deprivation from harlow
• challenge from schaffer and emerson = multiple attachment stage refute idea of monotropy suggests that its not a universal feature and therefore a limited explanation
• support for social releasers from Brazelton et al = babies showed signs of distress as well as curling up motionless when caregivers ignored social releasers, supports significance of social releasers in eliciting caregiving