Attachment Psychology

Attachment Psychology

1. Outline how Lorenz and Harlow studied attachment using animals (6)

   • Lorenz - Studied Geese
     • One group of eggs seperated from mother and put in an incubator. The other group stayed with mother
       • Those who were brought up with Lorenz imprinted on him and followed him around and the other group imprinted on the mother. When the gooslings were mixed, they would still then seperate to follow on the parent they imprinted on. He found a critical period for impriniting (first few hours)
         • He wanted to find out how/when/why we become attached to our parents and if there was a critical period for imprinting
           • Evaluation: One weakness of the Lorenz study is that because it was carried out on Geese, it cannot be dirsctly applied to humans. Lorenz successfully found that geese imprinted on the first thing they saw after birth; whether that was a rubber glove, human or the actual mother. Clearly, as humans, we do not attach to the first thing we see such as the rubber glove. Thus, this study cannot be generalised to humans or mammals and mammals tend to show an emotional attachment.
             • Those that imprinted on the rubber glove survived and later through experience learned appropriate mating behaviour, with other chickens, suggesting the effects of the critical period and imprinting were not as long lasting as Lorenz believed
               • Compare to Czech twins
           • He concluded that imprinting was innate and essential for short term survival and longer term development becaus eof this critical period.
   • Harlow - Studied Rhesus monkeys
     • Wired mother and cloth covered mother
       • Wired mother provided food to the monkeys but was violent and hurt the monkeys
         • The monkeys spent time with wired mother only to be fed despite violence
           • Evaluation: One strength of the Harlow study is that the monkeys are mammals so it is a more relevant to humans than the Lorenz study
             • However, humans have a much higher level of cognitive
           • Even when frightened, the monkey preferred the comfort of a piece of cloth on the floor to the wired mother
       • Cloth mother provided comfort and support but no other means for survival
         • Monkeys spent the majority of their day with the cloth mother and would also go to te cloth mother for comfort when frightened
     • Conclusion: There is a critical period and after the 90-day period was up, attachment was impossible and the damage from deprivation bacame irreversible

2. Outline and evaluate the learning theory of attachment (8)

   • Classical conditioning: Cupboard love theory - Attatchment occurs through froming an association between food and the primary caregiver
     • Food (UCS) -> Satisfaction/happiness (UCR) Food (UCS) + Mother (NS) -> Satisfaction/happiness (UCR) Mother(CS) -> Satisfaction/happiness (CR)
   • Drive reduction
   • Operant conditioning - Attachment occurs through negative reinforcement. Negative reinforcement is when a behavious is undertaken to avoid or escape a negative consequence
   • Evaluation: Deterministic, theories such as classical and operant conditioning, Schaffer and Emerson, Ainsworth, Harlow

3. Social releasers, Continuity hypothesis, Sensitive responsiveness, Critical period, Internal working model, Maternal deprivation and montropy

   • Social releasers: Things a child has an innate ability to do to enable a relationship with a caregiver such as smiling and laughing
   • Continuity hypothesis: First relationship (mother) will guide all future relationships
   • Sensitive responsiveness:
   • Critical period: The period in which the infact forms attachments with its caregiver
   • Internal working model: A belief about how all relationships should be
   • Monotropy - One relationship more important than any other normally that with the mother

4. BINDREAMS

   • B = Bias (Gender or Culture)
   • I = Internal Validity (Ideographic or Nomothetic)
   • N = Nature vs Nurture
   • D = Determinism (Biological or Environmental)
   • R = Reductionism
   • E = External validity/evidence/effects
   • A = Applications
   • M = Methodology
   • S = Scientific or not

5. Critisism of the improtnace of monotropy comes from scahffer and emerson who found that mnay of the infants in their sample did not form a primary attachment to the person who carried out most of their care and that many of the infants formed multiple attatchments

   • Support for the importance of a critical period for attatchment comes from animal studies such as those by HArlow and Lorenz although these are critisised as animal studies.
     • Critisism of the importance of the critical perios comes from studies of extreme privation such as the Kolochuva twins case (1972) who were although deprived of a monotropic re;lationship with an adult during early infancy, went on to form attachments later as adults.
   • Alternate theories such as learning theory state that attachment is based on reinforcement, for example through feeding and islearned through nurture, not inherited through nature.
     • Bowlby's theory is very deterministic and critics say that it puts unfair pressure and responsibility on the mother
       • Bowlby's views on the importance of attachment to a primary caregiver have led real world applications, such as changes to practice in the hospitalisation of children

6. Two mothers at the toddler and parent group are chatting

   • "I always felt sorry for my husband when Millie was a baby. He used to say his bond with Millie was not as strong as mine because I was breastfeeding"
     • "I'm not sure", replies the other mother."I think there's something about a mother's love that makes it more special anyway - and so important for future development."
       • Discuss the learning theory of attachment and Bowlby's monotropic theory of attachment. Refer to the conversation above in your answer (16 marks)
   • Now try this: