Explanations of attachment

Learning theory - Dollard and Miller (1950)

Operant conditioning:


Skinner: LEVER FOOD
- Behaviourist, worked with rats, placed rat in cage.
- When rat pressed lever they got food.
- Repeated for food
Operant conditioning: behaviour =reward
Positive reinforcement: repeated
Negative reinforcement: not repeated due to punishment
-In reference to humans the child realises the person supplying the food becomes a source of reward and the infant becomes attached


Classical conditioning -learn through associationPavlov:
Dog associated keeper footsteps with meal

Unconditioned stimulus (reflex) =milk
Unconditioned response= satiation
Neutral stimulus= person feeding them
Conditioned response= pleasure and relief

Harlow (1959)-8 infant monkeys until 8 months.
-2 surrogate mothers, wire food and blanket.
-When frightened, monkey ran to blanket mum and formed attachment.

SLT:
modelling, observation, imitation BANDURA.

Evolutionary explanations


Attachment helps for babies survival, ensuring food and safety. Also provides template for future relationships. Similar to Lorenz' imprinting.
Bowlby- 3 important features
- infants and carers are programmed to become attached
- as attachment is a biological process, it takes place during a critical period of fevelopment or not at all.
-attachment plays a role in later development- monotropy and the continuity hypothesis.
Any inherited behaviour that increases an individuals chances of survival and reproduction will be passe don to the next generation.
-the result is infants are both programmed to become attached and adults are also programmed to form this relationship.

Support for the continuity hypothesis:
Hazan and Shaver (1987): LOVE QUIZ
Aim: to investigate the continuity hypothesis
Procedure: To complete a 'love quiz' in american paper reporting on 3 descriptions applied to feelings/experiences about romance and adjective checklist about childhood relationship with parents.
Randomly selected from paper p's and students.
Result: found strong relationship beyween childhood attachment and adulthood attachment type.
Concluded:
-secure: loveable
-anxious avoidant: depressing
-anxious ambivalent: fell in love easily


Support for monotropy:
schaffer and Emerson 60 GLASGOW BABIES
found:
65% first attachent was mother
3% babies from with father
27% joint attachment
Separation anxiety shown at 6-8 months =attachment formed.