Explanations Of Attachment

Question 1

Learning theory

Answer 1

All behaviour is learnt rather than innate. Everyone is born “tabula rasa” and people are shaped by their experiences

Question 2

Classical conditioning

Answer 2

Association

Question 3

Operant conditioning

Answer 3

Consequence

Question 4

Before conditioning:

Answer 4

Food serves as an UCS (unconditioned stimulus), being fed gives us a feeling of pleasure UCR (unconditioned response). Caregiver is the NS (neutral stimulus) because the child has not learnt to react to them in any way.

Question 5

Unconditioned response

Answer 5

Food

Question 6

Unconditioned response

Answer 6

Pleasure

Question 7

Neutral stimulus

Answer 7

Caregiver

Question 8

During conditioning

Answer 8

When the same caregiver (NS) provides food (UCS) over several feedings (they occur together), the caregiver becomes associated with the food itself

Question 9

Association between:

Answer 9

Caregiver and food
NS and UCS

Question 10

After learning

Answer 10

The caregiver becomes the conditioned stimulus as she starts eliciting the same response as the UCS even without the presence of food and becomes the Conditioned Response - the baby now forming an attachment to the caregiver

Question 11

Conditioned stimulus

Answer 11

Caregiver

Question 12

Conditioned response

Answer 12

Pleasure at sight of the caregiver

Question 13

Negative reinforcement

Answer 13

Removal of an unpleasant experience in response to a specific behaviour

Question 14

Operant conditioning in attachment:

Answer 14

In OC, desirable behaviour is repeated due to consequences
In case of attachment, hunger acts as a ‘drive’
This leads to babies engaging in behaviour (crying) to reduce the drive.
This may lead to child being fed- which reduces the hunger (DRIVE REDUCTION)
The food is the reward and acts as a primary reinforcer
The child recognises the person who provides the food as the secondary reinforcer known as the agent of drive reduction

Question 15

Drive

Answer 15

A feeling of discomfort that motivates behaviour

Question 16

Primary reinforcer

Answer 16

The actual thing that reduces the drive

Question 17

Secondary reinforcement

Answer 17

The person who provides the food

Question 18

The agent of drive reduction

Answer 18

Secondary reinforcement
AKA: the person who provides the food

Question 19

Attachment

Answer 19

Strong, enduring, emotional relationship between 2 people (especially an infant and caregiver)
It’s a two-way process characterised by desire for closeness and a feeling of security when in the presence of the attachment figure

Question 20

A strength of the learning theory of attachment is that it has practical applications.

Answer 20

Since LT explains that feeding behaviour forms attachment (through associating caregiver with pleasure provided by food). This explanation utilised to allow both parents to form an attachment with the infant. Father- feed child with formula or express milk
This is a strength as both parents can look after the infant by themselves - flexibility in way that families arrange childcare and parental leave from work
LT has utility + can improve lives

Question 21

A limitation of the LT is that it has refuting evidence from animal research conducted by Harlow.

Answer 21

Harlow has shown how good does not lead to attachment as monkeys sought contact comfort and formed lasting attachments with the towel mother instead of food providing wire mother.
Lorenz found geese imprinted and thus attached to the first moving object they saw regardless of whether that object provided them with food.
Weakness bc LT is wrong in arguing food is the key factor in forming attachment, other factors like contact comfort and imprinting are key.
Decreasing validity of LT

Question 22

A limitation of LT is that it has refuting evidence from human research conducted.

Answer 22

Schaffer and Emerson- attachments tented to be strongest with the caregiver who was most interactive and sensitive to the infants social releases and not the person who fed them most. Some children had multiple attachments even though mother may have done more of the feeding.
Weakness bc LT is wrong in arguing food is key factor in forming attachment rather than parental sensitivity to social releases.
Decreases validity of LT

Question 23

Weakness of LT is that there is an alternate well- rounded theory of explanation.

Answer 23

LT does explain how attachment forms (associating pleasure with the caregiver or noticing that the caregiver provides drive reduction) yet fails to explain the purpose of attachment.
Bowlby’s theory address both how and why attachment forms. How - attachment forms based on parental sensitivity to social releases
Why - attachment is beneficial for infants protection and survival and beneficial for adults to ensure their genes are passed onto future generations
Weakness bc LT only provides partial explanation whereas Bowlby’s provides a more complete theory
Theory decreases in validity