EXPLANATIONS OF ATTACHMENTS

EXPLANATIONS OF ATTACHMENTS

1. Learning Theory: Attachments are learnt from experience

   • CLASSICAL
     • Learnt through association
     • Food (UCS) -> Pleasure (UCR)
       • Mother (NS)
         • Food + Mother -> Pleasure
           • Mother -> Pleasure
   • OPERANT
     • Learnt through consequence of our actions
     • +ve reinforcement: rewarded actions will be repeated
     • -ve reinforcement: behaviour that switches off unpleasantness will be repeated
     • Punishments: behaviour not repeated

2. Bowlby's Theory: Attachments are innate and instinctive

   • Social releasers: behaviours that enhance survival e.g. smiling and crying (by encouraging caregiving from an adult)
   • Monotropy: 'babies will only become attached to one main caregiver'
   • Internal Working Model: A consistency between early emotional expeirences and later relationships (babies will expect this type of relationship in adulthood)
   • Critical period: 2.5 years (any later = impossible)

3. LT EVALUATIONS

   • Support: Dollard + Miller: 2,000 feeds in baby's 1st year: Supports removal of unpleasant feeling of hunger (-ve reinforcement)
   • Challenge: Harlow + Harlow's monkeys wanted comfort, not food: No support of LT predictions
   • Invalid: Based mainly on animal research: Oversimplifies human behaviours
   • Challenge: Schaffer + Emerson: Feeder not necessarily main caregiver: Other factors e.g. how responsive adult is

4. BT EVALUATIONS

   • Practical applications: Beneficial to parenting programmes and day care: Influenced many aspects of everyday life
   • Support: Harlow + Harlow's monkeys wanted comfort, not food: Biological need for comfort, as seen in infants
   • Case studies: Genie began forming attachments after 2.5 years: 'SENSITIVE period'
   • Challenge by Rutter: Infants displays similar emotions to g-parents as to parents: contradicts monotropy