Explanantions of attatchment- Attatchment Flashcards
Dollard and Millers (1950): cupboard love theory
- based on principle of learning theory
- infants become attached to caregiver bc they learn that caregiver provides food
what is classical conditioning?
- learning due to association
classical conditioning: cupboard love
- food: UCS= pleasure and UCR
- mother present every time food is given= mother associated w/ being fed
- mother was neutral stimulus now conditioned stimulus
- w/ the presence of the mother, the infant experiences a conditioned pleasure response
what is operant conditioning?
- learning due to patterns of reinforcement
Operant conditioning: cupboard love
- pos reinforcement: behaviour more likely bc of pleasurable stimuli
- attachment= parents feed crying baby, baby more likely to cry to get food
- neg reinforcement: behaviour more likely bc of removing unpleasant stimuli
- attachment= parents feeding removes crying bc they’re being fed
what is a secondary drive?
- secondary drives are learnt
what are primary drives?
- are instinctive
- based on biological needs
secondary drives applied to cupboard love:
- we learnt to want attachment
- learn secondary drives will lead to satisfying a primary drive e.g hunger
Evaluations of learning theory: strength, has face validity
- theory has face validity
- makes intuitive sense
- babies cry= attention= food
Evaluations of learning theory: strength/ limitations, research to support but practical and ethical issues
- behaviourist principles to explain attachment have well controlled research to back it up
- Pavlov and Skinner
- highly controlled research on human babies is impossible bc of ethical and practical reasons
Evaluations of learning theories: limitations, environmentally reductionist
- complex interactions between caregiver and infants are bc of:
- simplistic stimulus associations, learnt responses and patterns of reinforcement
- most would say their interactions are more complex than this
- consciously choose to care
Evaluations of learning theories: limitations, evidence to reject cupboard love theory
- Harlows monkeys attached to cloth monkey not wire with milk
- wanted contact comfort
- attachments isn’t learnt but instinctual
Evaluations of learning theories: limitations, alt theories that don’t depend on learning theory
- Bowlbys monotropic theory
- gives evolutionary explanation
- babies have an instinct to attach and have security
what is bowlbys monotropic theory?
- evolutionary explanation
- infants have an innate drive to form attachments especially w mothers
- instinctual and vital for infants survival
- need food and security
how are monotropic relationships developed?
- use social releasers to get attention
- mother’s biologically programmed to instinctly find these cute or distressing
what is bowlbys theory based off of?
- lorenzs 32 hr critical period in geese
- strong monotropic attachment need to be made in the first 30 mnths or won’t at all
- lack of monotrophy= premanant negative social, intellectual and emotional consequences
what does monotropic relationship provide?
- blueprint (schema) for future relationships
- this internal working model= guide to how to conduct future relationships
- e.g if people can be trusted or if the relationship is loving
effects of consistency on relationships:
- consistent= stronger attachment
- inconsistent= weaker attachment with long separations
what is safe base behaviour?
- infants with food attachment will use their mother as a base to explore
- will show distress if mother disappears and stranger comes
Evaluating monotropic relationships: strength/ limitation, inspired by harlow but studies on orphans supports
- supported by lorenzs critical period found in geese also found in humans
- hard to apply animal research to humans
- orphans studies supported that critical period is ‘sensitive’
- suitable care can lead to recovery
- unlike bowlbys claim of permanent change
Evaluating monotropic relationships: strength, ideas applied to early childcare
- inspired work of Mary Ainsworth
- developed and applied to early childcare
- immediate physical contact between mums and babies after birth encouraged
- social services actively investigate child neglect cases
Evaluating monotropic theory: limitation, alpha bias
- suffers alpha bias
- fathers role is to provide resources and mums monotropic role is crucial
- 1940’s world view
- lacks temporal validity
- changing nature of modern family
Evaluating monotropic relationships: limitation, convincing alt theories
- behaviourists= environment not biology creates attachment
- cupboard love theory= attach food with mother
- numerous well controlled experiment support learning theories
Evaluating monotropic relationships: limitation, convincing alt theories
- behaviourists= environment not biology creates attachment
- cupboard love theory= attach food with mother
- numerous well controlled experiment support learning theories
Evaluations monotropic attachment: limitations, deterministic continuity hypothesis
- continuity hypothesis= infant attachment predicts future adult attachment
- bc of development of internal working model
- deterministic
- people like to think they have control over relationships not that it’s predetermined by infancy
