Explanations of attachment Flashcards
what is the definition of learning theory
a set of theories from the behaviourist approach to psychology, that emphasise the role of learning in the acquisition of behaviour
what is the definition of classical conditioning
learning through association
what is the definition of operant conditioning
learning through reinforcement
what are the key points of learning theory
- all behaviours are learnt rather than born
- behaviourists suggest that all behaviours (including attachment) is learned through classical or operant conditioning
what are the four key principles of Bowlby’s theory
- evolution
- monotropy
- social releasers and critical period
- internal working model
Bowlby AO1- evolutionary explanations of attachment
- suggested attachment is an innate system that gives a survival advantage
- imprinting and attachment allows young animals to stay close to caregivers who will protect them from danger
Bowlby AO1- monotropy
- theory is described as monotropic as it focuses on the child’s attachment to one caregiver
- this attachment is different from others and considered more important
- time spent with the primary caregiver is important due to the two laws
what were the two laws of monotropy
- law of continuity
- law of accumulated separation
what is the law of continuity
the more consistent and predictable a child’s care, the better quality of their attachment
what is the law of accumulated separation
the effects of every separation from the mother ‘add up’ and the safest dose is therefore a zero dose
Bowlby AO1- social releasers
babies are born with a set of innate social releasers (smiling, gripping, cooing) that encourage attention from adults and activates the adult attachment system (makes adults attached and feel love to baby)
what are social releasers
a social behaviour or characteristic that elicits caregiving and leads to attachment
Bowlby AO1- critical period
- a critical period of around 2 years when the infants attachment system is active/in its sensitive period
- if no attachment is formed in this period it will be much harder to form one later
what is an internal working model
a mental representation formed through a child’s early experiences with their primary caregiver- a persons expectations about relationships
Bowlby AO1- internal working model
- child forms an internal working model that works as a template for future relationships
- e.g if a child’s first relationship is caring they will form an expectation that all relationships are caring (can work in the opposite as well)
- internal working model may also affect the child’s parenting style later in life
what does monotropic mean
the mono means ‘one’ and indicates that one particular attachment is different from all others and of central importance to the child’s development
A03 Evaluation points for Bowlby’s theory of attachment- external validity
- Bailey assessed 99 mothers with one year old babies and found mothers who reported poor attachment to their own mothers were more likely to have children classified as having poor attachment
- supports Bowlby’s idea of internal working model and is therefore applicable to real life situations increasing validity
A03 Evaluation points for Bowlby’s theory of attachment- credibility W
- Schaffer and Emerson found majority of babies did form one specific attachment before multiple attachments develop however a significant minority could form attachments at the same time
- may not be accurate in explaining attachments as the main idea of monotropy is not only way to form an attachment but just that primary attachments have a higher quality than others
- weakens credibility as it brings into question how important the attachment is to one caregiver
A03 Evaluation points for Bowlby’s theory of attachment- credibility S
the supporting evidence from Brazelton shows the accuracy of the theory’s main points, as it has been shown across other experiments therefore increasing the theory’s credibility
what was Brazelton’s study
Brazelton instructed primary attachment figures to ignore signals and social releasers and babies showed distress but when they continued to ignore them some babies curled up and lay there motionless
what were the findings of Brazelton’s study
the response of distress shows social releasers are behaviours that are present to elicit caregiving and when the desired response was not achieved they stopped producing emotional releasers
who puts forward learning theory
behaviourists
how does learning theory argue attachments are learned
through classical or operant conditioning
what is an unconditioned stimulus
aspect of the environment which produces an automatic, unlearned response
