Theories of Attachment

Theories of Attachment

1. Dollard and Miller (1950) = Learning Theory

   • Classical Conditioning
     • Learning about associations between different things in our environemnt
     • Relief from hunger is a primary enforcer
       • After the mother feeds the child she becomes the conditioned stimulus
         • Her presence produces a conditioned response by nature from the child (e.g Salivation)
     • Sources of Pleasure are naturally reinforcing therefore the mother becomes a secondary drive
       • By providing pleasure to the child the infant will then associate that the mother provides relief from the distress of hunger
         • This in turn forms an Secure attachment with the mother
   • Operant Conditioning
     • Learning also occurs when we are rewarded for doing something
       • Pleasant reinforcement - Encourages the repeat of the behaviour and makes it reinforced
       • Negative Reinforcement - When a child cries the mother will go to feed it thus removing the discomfort< this is referred to as negative reinforcement
       • This in turn produces attachment behaviour such as distress when separated from the mother
   • Known as a behaviourist theory and also a deterministic Theory (AO3)
     • They say all our behaviour develops through learning by conditioning
   • Evaluation
     • X = Harlow (1959)
       • Aimed to find out whether baby monkeys would prefer a source of food or a source of comforts and prtection
         • Made two surrogate mothers, one of mesh and a bottle other of cloth and no bottle
           • Spent most of the time clinging to the cloth mother and only fed from the mesh mother
             • Formed more of an attachment with the figure that provided comfort and protection
             • Give them comfort in new situations (Secure Base)
     • X = Schaffer and Emerson (1964)
       • Studied 60 babies during the first 18 months to see how quickly they would form attachments
         • The babies had a stronger attachemnt to those who played with them rather than the feeding mother
           • This supported the research with Harlows
     • v/ = Can provide and adequate explanation of how attachments form because we do learn association and reinforcement. (Language Acquisition and Skinner)

2. Bowlby's Theory (1958)

   • Nature Theory and also a reductionist theory (AO3)
     • This Suggests that particular behaviours exist because they are needed for survival and therefore to ensure future reproduction
   • Children have an innate drive to become attached to a caregiver due to potential long term benefits which are similar to imprinting
     • Likely to have a window for its development which is called a critical period and most sensitive during the second quarter of the first year of infants life
       • This formed attachment is important for protection thus acts as a secure base from which a child can explore and have a safe haven to return to when thretened
         • He believes that they form a number of attachments but one these is more special than the others. This primary attachment is called monotropy due to the response of this person being the most sensitive towards the child
           • This primary attachment can be of trust or uncertainty however it will form a sort of template for the expectations of future relationships. Bowlby called this the Internal Working Model
             • This model means there is a consistency between early emotional experiences and later relationships. The view that there is a link between future relationships and early attachments is called The Continuity Hypothesis (Secure Attachment would lead a child to become socially and emotionally stable when older
   • v/ = Lorenz (1952)
     • Supports the view that imprinting is innate because a group of goslings imprinted on the first object they saw whether it was Lorenz or a goose.
       • Similar process likely to have evolved in many species as a mechanism for survival to protect the young and enhance reproduction
   • v/ = Harlow's Monkey
     • The monkey chose the mother that provided protection and comfort rather than the one with food,
       • It supports the need to attach and also suggests that emotional and social development might be damaged if an attachment isn't formed
   • X = Schaffer and Emmerson (1964)
     • Evidence against Monotropy - They found that children form multiple attachments for different purposes
       • Grossmans (1991) - Relationships with siblings are important for negogiation and peer interactions
   • Kagan (1984) - The Temprament Hypothesis found three different types: easy, difficult and slow to warm up to
     • Belsky and Rovine (1987) - they found a link between personality types and attachement strengths for example babies with a calm temperant were more likely to form a secure attachment