Explanations of attachment

Explanations of attachment

1. Learning theory (cupboard love)

   • Classical conditioning- learning by association
     • Suggests that attachments are formed through an infant learning to associate a care giver with feeding.
     • After a while, the infant will learn to associate the mother with pleasure, without food being present
   • Operant conditioning- learning by consequence
     • In order to form and an attachment, a child associates the caregiver with feeling hunger which is and, and the caregiver gives the child food which removes the bad feeling= negative reinforcement

2. Bowlby's monotropic theory

   • Bowlby, using animal studies, suggested that emotional bonds have evolutionary functions.
     • Innate attachment behaviours (social releasers)
       • Crying- attract parents attention
       • Looking, smiling and vocalising- to maintain parental attention
       • Following and clinging- to gain physical closeness to parents
   • The critical period is the specific time period within which an attachment must be formed
     • He saw attachment behaviours as useless for most children if delayed until after 12 months and useless for all after 2 1/2- 3 years
   • Internal working model- a cognitive framework used to understand the world, self and others, that acts as a template for future relationships based on an infant's primary attachment
   • Bowlby sees attachments as monotropic- an innate tendency to become attached to one adult
     • Attachment is unique and is the first developed therefore the strongest
   • For Bowlby, mother love and infancy is as important for mental health as vitamins and proteins for physical health