Explanations of Attachment

Question 1

Classical conditioning and attachment?

Answer 1

1. About learning associations between different things in our environment,
2. Getting food naturally gives the baby pleasure,
3. The baby’s desire for food is fulfilled whenever its mother is around to feed it,
4. So, an association is formed between the mother and food,
5. So, whenever its mother is around, the baby will feel pleasure - i.e. ‘attachment’.

Question 2

Operant conditioning and attachment?

Answer 2

1. Dollard and Miller (1950) claimed that babies feel discomfort when they are hungry and so have a desire to get food to remove the discomfort,
2. They find that if they cry, their mother will come and feed them - so the discomfort is removed (negative reinforcement),
3. The mother is, therefore, associated with food and the baby will want to be close to her,
4. This produces attachment behaviour.

Question 3

Strengths of learning theory explanation?

Answer 3

1. Lots of support from scientific research.

Question 4

Weaknesses of learning theory explanation?

Answer 4

1. It is reductionist; tries to explain complex attachment using simple stimulus-response processes,
2. Lots of the evidence for learning theory uses animal research; findings aren’t always generalisable,
3. Schaffer and Emerson (1964) findings don’t fully support learning theory; in their study, half of the infants didn’t have their mother as the primary attachment,
4. Other theories that also have scientific support.

Question 5

What are the four components of Bowlby’s Monotropic Theory of Attachment?

Answer 5

1. Attachment can be explained by evolution,
2. We create one special attachment,
3. We create an internal working model of attachment,
4. There is a critical period for attachment.

Question 6

What is meant by ‘attachment can be explained by evolution’?

Answer 6

1. We have evolved a biological need to attach to our main caregiver,
2. This biological need has developed through natural selection to ensure the survival of the child to maturity.

Question 7

What is meant by ‘we create an internal working model of attachment’?

Answer 7

1. Bowlby maintains that forming an infant attachment gives us a ‘template’ for all future relationships - we learn to trust and care for others,
2. This forms an internal working model for all later attachments,
3. The model is a ‘working’ model because it can change and develop over time, depending on how the person’s relationships change,
4. The primary caregiver provides the foundations for the child’s future relationships, this is called the continuity hypothesis.

Question 8

What is meant by ‘we create one special attachment’?

Answer 8

1. Bowlby’s idea of monotropy is that we form one main attachment - usually to our biological mother,
2. Forming this attachment has survival value, as staying close to the mother ensures food and protection,
3. A strong attachment provides a ‘safe base’, giving us confidence to explore our environment.

Question 9

What is meant by ‘there is a critical period for attachment’?

Answer 9

1. The first three years of life are the critical period for attachment to develop - otherwise it might never do so,
2. If the attachment doesn’t develop, or if it is broken, it might seriously damage the child’s social and emotional development,
3. Bowlby’s ‘maternal deprivation hypothesis’ assumes if the relationship between the primary caregiver (often mother) and infant is disrupted or stopped during the critical period, there are long-term consequences.

Question 10

Positive evaluations for Bowlby’s theory?

Answer 10

1. Some evidence for his claims. Harlow’s study supports the idea that we have evolved a need to attach. It also suggests that social and environmental development might be damaged if an attachment isn’t formed.

Question 11

Negative evaluations for Bowlby’s theory?

Answer 11

1. Schaffer and Emerson (1964) provided evidence against Bowlby’s claims about monotropy. They found that, rather than one main attachment, many children form multiple attachments and may not attach to their mother,
2. Harlow’s monkey study also goes against the idea of monotropy. Other monkeys who didn’t have a mother, but who grew up together, didn’t show signs of social and emotional disturbance in later life. They didn’t have a primary caregiver, but seemed to attach to each other instead,
3. Mixed evidence for claims of critical period for attachments to develop,
4. The effect of attachment not dveloping, or being broken, may not be as bad as Bowlby claimed,
5. Bowlby’s report in the 1950s led to an increase in ‘stay at home’ mothering. This had a subsequent impact on the economy as fewer women were going to work.