Explanations of attachment: learning theory and Bowlby’s monotropic theory. The concepts of a critical period and an internal working model.

Question 1

What is classical conditioning?

Answer 1

learning through association. When a neutral stimulus is consistently paired with an unconditioned stimulus so that it eventually takes on the properties of this stimulus and is able to produce a conditioned response

Question 2

What is learning theory?

Answer 2

the name given to a group of explanations (classical and operant conditioning), which explain behaviour in terms of learning rather than any inborn tendencies or higher order thinking

Question 3

What is social learning theory?

Answer 3

learning through observing others and imitating behaviours that are rewarded

Question 4

In attachment, what is the innate stimulus?

Answer 4

food

Question 5

What kind of response does the innate stimulus of food cause?

Answer 5

the innate (unlearned) response of pleasure

Question 6

What kind of stimulus is food?

Answer 6

an unconditioned stimulus

Question 7

What kind of response is pleasure in response to food?

Answer 7

an unconditioned response

Question 8

What does unconditioned mean?

Answer 8

not learned - i.e. innate

Question 9

During an infant’s early weeks and months, why do certain things become associated with food?

Answer 9

because they are present at the time when they are being fed

Question 10

Give an example of something the infant may associate with food as a result of it being present when they are being fed

Answer 10

mother

Question 11

What kind of stimulus is the mother BEFORE conditioning?

Answer 11

a neutral stimulus

Question 12

How does a neutral stimulus take on the properties of the unconditioned stimulus?

Answer 12

when it is regularly and consitently associated with the UCS

Question 13

What will happen to the NS when the NS and the UCS are regularly paired?

Answer 13

the NS (mother) will now be able to produce the same response (pleasure) in the infant as the UCS (food)

Question 14

After conditioning, what does the NS become?

Answer 14

a conditioned stimulus (CS)

Question 15

Because of the NS becoming a CS, just seeing the NS mother will cause the infant to….

Answer 15

feel pleasure

Question 16

What do learning theorists call the newly formed stimulus-response between mother and infant?

Answer 16

‘mother love’

Question 17

Who first investigated classical conditioning?

Answer 17

Ivan Pavlov

Question 18

Who first investigated operant conditioning?

Answer 18

B.F Skinner

Question 19

Who offered an explanation of attachment based on operant conditioning and drive reduction theory?

Answer 19

Dollard and Miller

Question 20

What did Dollard and Miller base their explanation of attachment on?

Answer 20

operant conditioning and drive reduction theory

Question 21

What is a drive?

Answer 21

something that motivates behaviour

Question 22

What is drive reduction theory?

Answer 22

a theory of learning in which the goal of motivated behavior is a reduction of a drive state

Question 23

Explain how operant conditioning can be used to explain an infant’s attachment to their mother

Answer 23

1. In the case of a hungry infant there is a drive to reduce the accompanying discomfort
2. When the infant is fed, the drive is reduced and this produces a feeling of pleasure. This rewarding is called negative reinforcement (escape from something unpleasant).
3. The behaviour that led to being fed more likely to be repeated in the future because it was rewarding. Food becomes a primary reinforcer because it supplies the reward, i.e. it reinforces the behaviour that avoided discomfort.
4. Through the process of classical conditioning the person who supplies the food is associated with avoiding discomfort and becomes; secondary reinforcer, and a source of reward in his/her own right
5. Attachment occurs because the child seeks the
   person who can supply the reward

Question 24

Who developed social learning theory?

Answer 24

Albert Bandura

Question 25

What is SLT a further development of?

Answer 25

learning theory

Question 26

Who suggests modelling could be used to explain attachment behaviours?

Answer 26

Dale Hay and Jo Vespo

Question 27

What did Dale Hay and Jo Vespo propose?

Answer 27

that modelling could be used to explain attachment behaviours.

Question 28

Explain how modelling can explain attachment behaviours - as proposed by Hay and Vespo

Answer 28

children observe their parents affectionate behaviour and imitate this. Parents would also deliberately instruct children about how to behave in relationships and reward appropriate attachment behaviours such as giving kissing and hugs

Question 29

What are the 3 PEEL evaluation points for learning theory as an explanation for attachment?

Answer 29

1. learning theory is based on animal studies
2. learning theory has some explanatory power
3. an alternative explanation

Question 30

What is the PEEL paragraph for the evaluation point, ‘learning theory is based on animal studies’?

Answer 30

P - a criticism of learning theory is that it is largely based on studies with non-human animals, such as Skinner’s research with pigeons
E - behaviorists believe that humans are actually no different from other animals in terms of how they learn. Our behaviour patterns are constructed from the same basic building blocks of stimulus and response and therefore, they argue, it is legitimate to generalize from animal studies to human behaviour
E - however, not all human behaviour can be explained by conditioning, especially a complex behaviour such as attachment. Non behaviorists argue that attachment involves innate predispositions and mental activity that could not be explained by conditioning
L - therefore, behaviorist explanations may lack validity because they present an oversimplified version of human behaviour

Question 31

What is the PEEL paragraph for the evaluation point, ‘learning theory has some explanatory power’?

Answer 31

P - one strength of learning theory is it can explain some aspects of attachment
E - infants do learn through association and reinforcement, but food may not be the main reinforcer. It may be that attention and responsiveness from a caregiver are important rewards that assist in the formation of attachment
E - such reinforcers were not part pf the learning theory account. It may also be that responsiveness is something that infants imitate and thus learn about how to conduct relationship
L - learning theory may not provide a complete explanation of attachment, but it still have some value

Question 32

What is the PEEL paragraph for the evaluation point, ‘an alternative explanation’?

Answer 32

P - one of the main reasons that learning theory was rejected as an account of attachment is that a better theory appeared
E - Bowlby’s theory has many strengths compared to learning theory. First of all it can explain why attachments form, whereas learning theory can only explain how they might form
E - for example, it can explain Shaffer and Emerson’s findings that infants are not always most strongly attached to the person who feed them. Learning theory also offers no explanation of the strengths of attachment. According to Bowlby’s theories the strengths include protection from harm and thus increased chances of survival.
L - in this way, Bowlby’s theory offers a more complete explanation of attachment that learning theory

Question 33

What is the continuity hypothesis?

Answer 33

the idea the emotionally secure infants go on to be emotionally secure, trusting and socially confident aduls

Question 34

What is the critical period?

Answer 34

a biologically determined period of time, during which certain characteristics can develop. Outside of this time window, such development will not be possible

Question 35

What is the internal working model?

Answer 35

a mental model of the world which enables individuals to predict and control their environment. In the case of attachment, the model relates to a person’s expectations about relationships

Question 36

What is monotropy?

Answer 36

the idea that the one relationship that the infant has with his/her primary attachment figure is of special significance in emotional development.

Question 37

What is a social releaser?

Answer 37

a social behaviour or characteristic that elicits caregiving and leads to attachment

Question 38

What led John Bowlby to propose his first theory?

Answer 38

he observed whilst treating emotionally disturbed children that many had experienced early separation from their families

Question 39

What was J Bowlby’s first theory?

Answer 39

theory of maternal deprivation

Question 40

What did Bowlby propose in his theory of maternal deprivation?

Answer 40

that children deprived of an early, strong attachment may suffer permanent long-term emotional maladjustment

Question 41

What is the main principle of Bowlby’s theory of attachment?

Answer 41

that strong attachment and the consequences of such attachment are adaptive

Question 42

Where does the idea of ‘adaptiveness’ in Bowlby’s theory come from?

Answer 42

Darwin’s Theory of Evolution

Question 43

What is Darwin’s Theory of Evolution?

Answer 43

states that any genetically determined behaviour that enhances an individual’s survival and reproduction, will be naturally selected

Question 44

How does Bowlby incorporate key concepts of the evolutionary approach into his explanation of attachment?

Answer 44

he argued that there would have been a strong selective pressure for close attachment between an infant and its mother during evolution.

Question 45

What s EEA?

Answer 45

Environment of Evolutionary Adaptedness - the environment to which any species is adapted and the selective pressured that existed at that time

Question 46

Whn was humans most recent period of evolutionary change?

Answer 46

roughly 2 million years ago - when humans moved from a forest life to the developing savannahs in Africa

Question 47

How did Lorenz influence Bowlby?

Answer 47

his research on imprinting led Bowlby to assume that a similar process was operating in humans - i.e. that attachment behaviour evolved because it serves an important survival function - an infant who is not attached is less well protected. Our distant infant ancestors would’ve been in danger if they did not remain clos to an adult

Question 48

Must the attachment also be reciprocated by the parent?

Answer 48

YES !!

Question 49

Why must the attachment be reciprocated by the parent?

Answer 49

in order to ensure that they are cared for and survive. It is only the parents who look after their offspring that are likely to produce subsequent generations

Question 50

Do babies have an innate drive to become attached (according to Bowlby)?

Answer 50

YES

Question 51

What is the critical period for attachment?

Answer 51

3-6 months

Question 52

What happens if infants do not have the opportunity to form an attachment?

Answer 52

they have difficulty forming attachments later on

Question 53

According to Bowlby, what determined who an infant will attach to?

Answer 53

sensitivity - infants who are most strongly attached are the ones whose mothers were more responsive, more cooperative and more accessible than less closely attached infants

Question 54

Why are social releasers important during the critical period for attachement?

Answer 54

to ensure that attachments develop from parent to infant

Question 55

Give 2 examples of social releasers

Answer 55

smiling, making a ‘baby face’

Question 56

What so social releasers elicit?

Answer 56

caregiving

Question 57

Are social releasers innate?

Answer 57

YES

Question 58

Who is often the one emotional bond (monotropy) that the infant forms?

Answer 58

the biological mother

Question 59

What is the role of secondary attachments for an infant?

Answer 59

to act as a safety net, and are important for healthy and psychological and social development

Question 60

What is the importance of monotropy?

Answer 60

important that an infant has one special relationship and forms a mental representation of this relationship called an internal working model

Question 61

What are 2 consequences of the internal working model?

Answer 61

1. short term - gives he child insight into the caregiver’s behaviour and enables the child to influence the caregiver’s behaviour, so that a true partnership can be formed
2. long term - it acts as a template for all future relationships because it generates expectations about what intimate, loving relationships are like

Question 62

What are the 3 evaluation points for Bowlby’s explanation for attachment?

Answer 62

1. attachment is adaptive
2. a sensitive period rather than ‘critical’
3. continuity hypothesis