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explanations of attachment - Coggle Diagram
explanations of attachment
learning theory of attachment
proposes behaviour is learnt rather than inborn and babies are born as blank slates
classical conditioning
sees infants as becoming attached to people who feed them and look after physical needs. recognises humans have drives such as hunger which we are motivated to reduce. caregiver who feeds them (often mother) becomes associated with pleasure through satisfying main drive of hunger. infants associate pig with pleasure as they need them to have their needs satisfied and eventually this feeling of security generalises to whenever the pig is present
operant conditioning
infant has made the association between the care-giver and satisfaction of their drives and engages in behaviours that encourage the care-giver to remain present. eg. when babies engage in a behaviour which get them a response it is rewarding, or reinforcing, so a baby learns to repeat this behaviour to get the same reward of a response. If behaviour gets an unpleasant result and makes the infant feel unhappy (known as punishment) then the behaviour is not reinforced and is not likely to be repeated.
dollard&miller suggest when infants are hungry they are uncomfortable and enter a drive state as they are driven to seek ways to lessen this discomfort. food=primary reinforcer as reduces unpleasant feelings of hunger and mother=secondary reinforcer as helps provide baby with food. babies become more attached to mothers as seen as source of reward
evaluation
strength- improved position of the father as person who feeds the baby is the most important rather than emphasising the importance of the mother.positive economic implications as less pressure for mother to remain at home as not vital for healthy development in contrast to bowlby
limitation- contrasting research from Harlow demonstrating infants prefer comfort over food forming attachments with soft cloth mothers than wire mothers providing milk. suggests other factors more important than food when forming attachments which undermines learning theory
bowlbys monotropic theory
rejected learning theory and suggested attachment was an innate system that gave a survival advantage
says attachment is biological and instinctive as attached newborns more likely to grow up and pass on its genetic makeup
adaptive
believed that babies behaviour has evolved to behave towards their pcg in ways that ensure their survival. Infants who stay close to their mothers more likely to avoid dangers and survive until sexual maturity.
social releasers
Infants are born with a drive to become attached. They encourage care giving from others by social releasers such as facial features, smiles and cries. Bonds are formed with adults who are most sensitive to these social releasers
critical period
Bowlby believed if mothering was delayed for 12 months it was useless for most children and if delayed for 3 years it was almost useless for all children.
monotropic
Bowlby believed that infants form one special relationship – monotropy. The first attachment relationship serves as an ‘Internal Working Model’ (or template) that is the basis of all expectations and rules regarding relationships in later life.
internal working model
Securely attached children develop a positive working model of themselves, based on their feelings of security derived from having an emotionally responsive primary caregiver. Insecure resistant and avoidant children have a primary caregiver who is inconsistent or absent so the children tend to have a negative self-image and exaggerate their emotional responses as a way to obtain attention. If a positive Internal Working Model is not formed, the lack of an initial attachment will affect later relationships.
The internal working model proposes there is continuity in social development from infancy to adulthood. This ‘Continuity Hypothesis’ provides one explanation that early patterns of attachment are related to later child characteristics.also influences the child’s self-concept.
evaluation
supporting research demonstrated a relationship between infant attachment and adult relationships suggesting quality of first attachment is crucial as provides template that will affect nature of all future relationships including romantic and friendships. correlation between initial and later relationships provides support for bowlbys internal working model
limitation- monotropy has economic consequences for mothers as bowlby states substantial time apart from pcg will damage future relationships .although bowlbys aim was to boost status of mother she is less likely to return to work and doesn't want to affect baby so negatively impacts the economy