Explanations of Attachment

Question 1

what are the explanations of attachment?

Answer 1

learning theory and bowlby’s monotropic theory

Question 2

what are the 3 factors included in the learning theory?

Answer 2

• classical conditioning
• operant conditioning
• social learning theory

Question 3

what is classical conditioning?

Answer 3

• learning through associations
• food(unconditioned stimulus) - pleasure(unconditioned response)
• mum(neutral stimulus) + food(unconditioned stimulus) - pleasure(unconditioned response)
• mum(conditioned stimulus) - pleasure(conditioned response)

Question 4

what is operant conditioning?

Answer 4

• reinforcement is a two way process
• baby receives positive reinforcement (baby cries, baby is fed, baby repeats the behaviour) mother also responds with social supressor behaviour
• mother receives negative reinforcement (baby stops crying, so something unpleasant is removed)
• primary drive = hunger
• secondary drive = attachment
• mutual reinforcement strengthens the attachment

Question 5

what is the social learning theory(primary drive)?

Answer 5

hunger is a primary drive, we are innately motivated to eat to reduce this biological need

Question 6

what is the social learning theory(secondary drive)?

Answer 6

attachment is a secondary drive learned through association between caregiver who provides food and the satisfaction of the primary drive

Question 7

what is the social learning theory(caregiver)?

Answer 7

as the caregiver provides food, the primary drive of hunger becomes generalised to them

Question 8

what is a strength of the learning theory?

Answer 8

elements of conditioning could be involved in some aspects of attachment

Question 9

what is a weakness of the learning theory?

Answer 9

• there is a lack of support from studies conducted on animals
• there is a lack of support from studies of human babies

Question 10

what are the different parts of Bowlby’s monotropic theory?

Answer 10

ASCMI
- adaptive
- social releasers
- critical period
- monotropy
- internal working model

Question 11

what was Bowlby interested in?

Answer 11

the work of Lorenz and Harlow

Question 12

what is adaptive?

Answer 12

• attachment gives us an ‘adaptive advantage’ , making us more likely to survive
• we are kept safe, given food and kept warm

Question 13

what are social releasers?

Answer 13

• babies have social releasers which unlock the innate tendency of adults to care for them

Question 14

what are the types of social releasers?

Answer 14

• physical: typical ‘baby face’ features and body proportions
• behavioural: e.g. crying and cooing

Question 15

what is the critical period?

Answer 15

• babies have to form the attachment with their caregiver during a critical period
• between birth and 2 and a half years

Question 16

what is monotropy?

Answer 16

• bowlby believed that infants form one very specific attachment

Question 17

what is the law of continuity?

Answer 17

the more constant and predictable a child’s care, the better the quality of their attachment

Question 18

what is the law of accumulated separation?

Answer 18

the effects of every separation from the mother add up and the safest dose is therefore zero dose

Question 19

what is the internal working model?

Answer 19

• all the child’s future adult relationships will be based on the relationship with the primary caregiver

Question 20

who proposed that caregiver-infant attachment can be explained through learning theory?

Answer 20

Dollard and Miller
- cupboard love as it emphasises the importance of the attachment figure as the provider of food