ATT 04 - Explanations of attachment A01 + peer review (MET) Flashcards
1
Q
What is the learning theory?
A
- A set of theories from the behaviourist approach to psychology, that emphasise the role of learning in the acquisition of behaviour
- Explanations for learning of behaviour include classical and operant conditioning
- It proposes that attachments are formed when an infant receives food , they learn to ‘love’ the person that feeds them – this is the ‘cupboard love’ idea
2
Q
What is classical conditioning?
A
- Learning by association
- Occurs when two stimuli are repeatedly paired together
- An unconditioned (unlearned) stimulus (UCS) and a new ‘neutral’ stimulus (NS)
- The neutral stimulus eventually produces the same response that was first produced by the unconditioned (unlearned) stimulus alone
3
Q
What is operant conditioning?
A
- A form of learning in which behaviour is shaped and maintained by its consequences
- Possible consequences of behaviour include reinforcement (positive or negative) and punishment
4
Q
What is reinforcement?
A
- A consequence of behaviour that increases the likelihood of that behaviour being repeated
- Can be positive or negative
5
Q
What is positive reinforcement?
A
A stimulus that increases the probability that a behaviour will be repeated because it is pleasurable e.g. receiving a reward when a certain behaviour is performed
6
Q
What is negative reinforcement?
A
- A stimulus that increases the probability that a behaviour will be repeated because it leads to escape from an unpleasant situation and is experienced as rewarding e.g. when an animal (or human) avoids something unpleasant
- The outcome is a positive experience
7
Q
What is punishment?
A
- Any procedure that decreases the likelihood that a behaviour will be repeated because the overall experience is unpleasant
- It is an unpleasant consequence of behaviour
8
Q
What is cupboard love?
A
- A theory that explains how infants form attachments to caregivers, especially through food
- The infant’s primary drive is food
- The caregiver provides food, which satisfies infant’s needs
- The infant associates the caregiver with food
- The infant develops an attachment to the caregiver
9
Q
What is the classical conditioning formula for attachment?
A
- Unconditioned stimulus (food) => unconditioned response (pleasure): Being fed gives us pleasure, we do not need to learn that
- Neutral stimulus (caregiver) => no response
- Unconditioned (food) + neutral stimulus (caregiver) => unconditioned response (pleasure): When the caregiver provides food over time, they become associated with food
- Conditioned stimulus (caregiver) => conditioned response (pleasure): When the baby then sees the caregiver there is an expectation of food
10
Q
What is the formula for operant conditioning in attachment?
A
- Crying leads to a response from the caregiver, for example feeding or comfort
- As long as the caregiver provides the correct response, crying is reinforced
- The baby then directs crying for comfort towards the caregiver who responds with comforting ‘social suppressor’ behaviour
- The reinforcement is a two-way process
- At the same time as the baby is reinforced for crying, the caregiver receives negative reinforcement because the crying stops – escaping from something unpleasant is reinforcing
- This interplay of mutual reinforcement strengthens an attachment
11
Q
What are the strengths of the learning theory?
A
Elements of conditioning could be involved in some aspects of attachment
12
Q
How can elements of conditioning in learning theory be involved in some aspects of attachment?
A
- One strength of learning theory is that elements of conditioning could be involved in some aspects of attachment
- It seems unlikely that association with food plays a central role in attachment, but conditioning may still play a role
- For example, a baby may associate feeling warm and comfortable with the presence of a particular adult, and this may influence the baby’s choice of their main attachment figure
- This means that learning theory may still be useful in understanding the development of attachments
13
Q
What are the limitations of the learning theory?
A
- Lack of support from studies conducted on animals
- Lack of support from studies of human babies
- Conditioning may not be an adequate explanation of any aspect of attachment
14
Q
How is there a lack of support from animal studies for the learning theory?
A
- One limitation of learning theory explanations for attachment is lack of support from studies conducted on animals
- For example, Lorenz’s geese imprinted on the first moving object they saw regardless of whether this object was associated with food
- Also, if we consider Harlow’s research with monkeys, there is no support for the importance of food
- When given a choice, Harlow’s monkeys displayed attachment behaviour towards a soft surrogate ‘mother’ in preference to a wire one which provided milk
- This shows that factors other than association with food are important in the formation of attachments
15
Q
How is there a lack of support from human baby studies for the learning theory?
A
- One limitation of learning theory explanations is lack of support from studies of human babies
- For example, Rudolph Schaffer and Peggy Emerson (1964) found that babies tended to form their main attachment to their mother regardless of whether she was the one who usually fed them
- In another study, Russell Isabella et al. (1989) found that high levels of interactional synchrony predicted the quality of attachment
- These factors are not related to feeding
- This again suggests that food is not the main factor in the formation of human attachments
16
Q
Why might conditioning in the learning not be an adequate explanation of attachment?
A
- Both classical and operant conditioning explanations see the baby playing a relatively passive role in attachment development, simply responding to associations with comfort or reward
- In fact, research shows that babies take a very active role in the interactions that produce attachment (e.g. Feldman and Eidelman 2007).
- This means that conditioning may not be an adequate explanation of any aspect of attachment
17
Q
What is Bowlby’s monotropic theory?
A
- John Bowlby rejected the learning theory as an explanation for attachment because, he said ‘were it true, an infant of a year or two should take readily to whomever feeds him and this is clearly not the case’
- Instead, Bowlby looked at the work of Lorenz and Harlow for ideas and proposed an evolutionary explanation
- He suggests that attachment is an innate (unlearned, instinctual) system/process which is evolutionarily beneficial as it provides a survival advantage
- Those infants that did become attached would be more likely to be cared for by an adult, therefore more likely to survive and pass on this behaviour genetically
- So, attachment, like imprinting, evolved as a mechanism to keep young animals safe by ensuring they stay close to adult caregivers
18
Q
What is monotropic?
A
- A term sometimes used to describe Bowlby’s theory
- Mono means ‘one’ and tropic means ‘leaning towards’
- This indicates that one particular attachment is different from all others and of central importance to a child’s development
- Bowlby’s theory is described as monotropic because he placed great emphasis on a child’s attachment to one particular caregiver
19
Q
What is the critical period?
A
- The time within which an attachment must form if it is to form at all
- Lorenz and Harlow noted that attachment in birds and monkeys had critical periods
- Bowlby extended the idea to humans, proposing that human babies have a sensitive period after which it will be much more difficult to form an attachment
20
Q
What is the internal working model?
A
- Our mental representations of the world e.g. the representation we have of our relationship to our primary attachment figure
- This model affects our future relationships because it carries our perception of what relationships are like
21
Q
What are social releasers?
A
- A set of innate ‘cute’ behaviours like smiling, cooing and gripping that encourage attention from adults
- Their purpose is to activate adult social interaction and so make an adult attach to the baby
22
Q
What are the two principles Bowlby put forward about monotropy?
A
- The law of continuity stated that the more constant and predictable a child’s care, the better the quality of their attachment
- The law of accumulated separation stated that the effects of every separation from the mother add up ‘and the safest dose is therefore a zero dose’
23
Q
What are the strengths of Bowlby’s theory?
A
- There is evidence supporting the role of social releasers
- There is support for the internal working model
24
Q
What evidence is there, supporting the role of social releasers?
A
- One strength of Bowlby’s theory is the evidence supporting the role of social releasers
- There is clear evidence that cute baby behaviours are designed to elicit interaction from caregivers
- T. Berry Brazelton et al. (1975) observed babies trigger interactions with adults using social releasers
- The researchers then instructed the babies’ primary attachment figures to ignore their babies’ social releasers
- Babies (who were previously shown to be normally responsive) became increasingly distressed and some eventually curled up and lay motionless
- This illustrates the role of social releasers in emotional development and suggests that they are important in the process of attachment development
25
What support is there for the internal working model?
- One strength of Bowlby’s theory is support for the internal working model
- The idea of the internal working model predicts that patterns of attachment will be passed form one generation to the next
- Heidi Bailey et al. (2007) assessed attachment relationships in 99 mothers and their one-year-old babies
- The researchers measured the mothers’ attachment to their own primary attachment figures (i.e. their parents)
- The researchers also assessed the attachment quality of the babies
- They found that mothers with poor attachment to their own primary attachment figures were more likely to have poorly attached babies
- This supports Bowlby’s idea that mothers’ ability to form attachments to their babies is influenced by their internal working models (which in turn comes from their own early attachment experiences)
26
What are the limitations of Bowlby's theory?
- The concept of monotropy lacks validity
- There are probably other important influences on social development
27
How does the concept of monotropy lack validity?
- One limitation of Bowlby's theory is that the concept of monotropy lack validity
- Rudolph Schaffer and Peggy Emerson (1964) found that although most babies did attach to one person at first, a significant minority formed multiple attachments at the same time
- Although the first attachment does appear to have a particularly strong influence on later behaviour, this may simply mean it is stronger, not necessarily different in quality from the child’s other attachments
- For example, other attachments to family members provide all the same key qualities (emotional support, a safe base etc)
- This means that Bowlby may be incorrect that there is a unique quality and important to the child’s primary attachment
28
How does other important influences on social development affect Bowlby's theory?
- One limitation of Bowlby’s theory is that there are probably other important influences on social development
- For example, some psychologists believe that genetic differences in anxiety and sociability affect social behaviour in both babies and adults
- These differences could also impact on their parenting ability
- This means that Bowlby may have overstated the importance of the internal working model in social behaviour and parenting at the expense of other factors
29
What is peer review?
The assessment of scientific work by others who are specialists in the same field, to ensure that any research intended for publication is of high quality
30
What are the aims of peer reviews?
- To validate the quality and relevance of research
- To suggest amendments or improvements to current research
- To allocate research funding (before research takes place = reviewing research proposals)
31
What are the criticisms of peer review?
- Anonymity
- Publication bias
- Burying groundbreaking research
32
What issues does anonymity present in peer review?
- It is usual practice that the ‘peer’ doing the reviewing remains anonymous throughout the process as this is likely to produce a more honest appraisal
- However, a minority of reviewers may use their anonymity as a way of criticising rival researchers
- This has increased the likelihood that many researchers are in direct competition for limited research funding
- For this reason, some journals favour a system of open reviewing whereby the names of the reviewer(s) are made public
33
What issues does publication bias present in peer review?
- It is a natural tendency for editors of journals to want to publish significant 'headline- grabbing' findings to increase the credibility and circulation of their publication
- They also prefer to publish positive results
- This could mean that research which does not meet these criteria is ignored or disregarded
- Ultimately, this creates a false impression of the current state of psychology if journal editors are being selective in what they publish
34
How do peer reviews bury groundbreaking research?
- The peer review process may suppress opposition to mainstream theories, wishing to maintain the status quo within particular scientific fields
- Reviewers tend to be especially critical of research that contradicts their own view and much more favourable to that which matches it
- Established scientists are the ones more likely to be chosen as reviewers, particularly by prestigious journals and publishers
- As a result, findings that chime with current opinion are more likely to be passed than new and innovative research that challenges the established order
- Thus, peer review may have the effect of slowing down the rate of change within a particular scientific discipline
