Explanations Of Attachment Flashcards
Weakness: environmental reductionism
Theory reduces complex human behaviour of attachment down to simple basic units, stimulus, response, association, neglects a holistic approach, takes into account how a persons culture and social context would influence and explain their attachment, collectivist cultures work together in families to raise an infant so multiple attachments formed from outset, not just who feeds them, ltoa may lack validity as doesn’t allow us to understand behaviour in context
Weakness: RTC by HARLOW
Found that monkeys spent more time with the comfort mother than the surrogate mother who provided food, same must be true for humans, learning theorists believed that non-humans and humans are equivalent, contradicts the learning theory assumption that we attach to who feeds us
Weakness: RTC by SHAFFER AND EMERSON
Found infants tended to form attachments to their mother regardless of whether she was the one who feeds them, attachment due to responding to infants signals and interacting with them, further research by FIELD into role of father showed that best quality attachments are with caregivers that are sensitive and responsive to infants needs, feeding not most important factor
