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Attachment full topic, Social learning theory, Bowlby theory + more
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Attachment can be defined as an emotional bond between two people in which each seekscloseness and feels more secure when in the presence of the attachment figure.
Attachment does not have to be reciprocal. One person may have an attachment to an
individual which is not shared. Attachment is characterised by specific behaviour in children,
such as seeking proximity with the attachment figure when upset or threatened (Bowlby,
1969)
Reciprocity - A description of how two people interact. Caregiver - infant interaction is
reciprocal in that both caregiver and baby respond to each other's signals and elicits a
response from the other. (take turns responding)
Interactional synchrony - caregiver and baby reflect both actions and emotions of the other
and do so in a co-ordinated (synchronised) way. For example, a caregiver responds to a
baby’s smile by saying something, and then the baby responds by making some sounds of
pleasure.
Proximity - people try to stay physically close to their attachment figure.
Learning Theory
This theory states that infants become attached to whoever satisfies their biological drive for
food. As babies cannot feed themselves, they rely on other people to meet their biological
needs for food. The infant associates the person who feeds them, usually the mother, with
the pleasurable sensations of being fed and experiencing relief from hunger (classical
conditioning)
Attachment occurs because the infant learns to seek out the one who will feed them; the
mother becomes a positive reinforcer (operant conditioning) as she provides rewards for the
baby.
Strengths
Evidence suggests that emotional responses can be acquired through conditioning (e.g.
phobias link fear with a particular object / situation); this means that infants could logically
link a primary caregiver with pleasure so form a positive attachment with them.
Limitations
Schaffer & Emerson (1964) found that 4 in 10 infants formed their first attachment with
someone who did not feed them, but instead played with them; this means learning theory
cannot be the only explanation of attachment.
Harlow & Harlow (1959) baby monkeys who were separated from their mothers formed an
attachment with a soft cloth ‘mum’ (provided comfort) rather than a wire mesh ‘mum’ with a
feeding bottle (provided food); attachment is based on more than just food.
,Classical conditioning:
An attachment may be formed as a result of association
Before conditioning: unconditioned stimulus (uscs) produces an unconditioned response
(ucr).
Food (ucs) produces a sense of pleasure (ucr)
During conditioning:
The person who feeds the infant is a neutral stimulus (ns), i,e, that person has no ‘value’ or
‘meaning’.
Food (UCS) and person (NS) are paired because they occur together a number of times.
The NS gradually becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS)
After conditioning:
Conditioned stimulus (cs) produces a conditioned response (cr)
Person who feeds the infant (cs) produces a pleasure (now a cr)
Operant conditioning:
An attachment may be formed as a result of reinforcement
Primary Reinforcer
A hungry infant feels uncomfortable.
This creates a drive to reduce discomfort
When the infant is fed, the drive is reduced. This produces a feeling of pleasure (which is
rewarding/reinforcing)
This food is a primary reinforcer.
Secondary Reinforcer:
The person who supplies the food is associated with relieving discomfort. This person
becomes a secondary reinforcer. Attachment occurs because the child seeks the person
who can supply the same response of pleasure.
,Bowlby’s theory
Bowlby, working alongside James Robertson (1952) observed that children experienced
intense distress when separated from their mothers. Even when such children were fed by
other caregivers, this did not diminish the child’s anxiety.
Bowlby (1958) proposed that attachment can be understood within an evolutionary context
that the caregiver provides safety and security for the infant. Attachment is adaptive as it
enhances the infant’s chance of survival. This is illustrated in the work of Lorenz (1935) and
Harlow (1958). According to Bowlby infants have a universal need to seek close proximity
with their caregiver when under stress or threatened.
The first attachment is nearly always with the mother (‘monotropy’) and must be formed in
the ‘critical period’ before the child reaches the age of three years and provides the baby
with a template (‘internal working model’) for all future relationships.
The continuity hypothesis - Individuals who are securely attached in infancy continue to be
securely attached in later childhood and adulthood. This means they are likely to be socially
and emotionally more competent and form secure attachments with adult partners.
Insecurely attached children may have more social and emotional difficulties in childhood
and also in adulthood.
Strengths:
Imprinting/ bonding matters for survival in animals; it is reasonable to suggest evolution has
influenced human attachment formation.
Limitations:
Schaffer & Emerson (1964) multiple attachments, rather than single attachments, are
common for most infants; this challenges Bowlby’s monotropy theory.
Children adopted after the age of four can still attach to their new parents.
Schaffer and Emerson (1964) studied 60 babies at monthly intervals for the first 18 months
of life. The children were all studies in their own home and a regular pattern was identified in
the development of attachment.
A diary was kept by the mother to examine evidence for the development of attachment.
Three measures were recorded.
● Stranger anxiety - response to arrival of a stranger
● Separation anxiety - distress level when seperated from carer, degree of comfort
needed on return,
● Social referencing - degree that a child looks at a carer to check how they should
respond to something new.
, They discovered that baby’s attachments develop in the following sequence:
Asocial (0-6 weeks)
Very young infants are asocial in that many kind of stimuli, both social and non-social,
produce a favourable reaction, such as smile.
Indiscriminate attachment (6 weeks to 7 months)
Infants indiscriminately enjoy human company and most babies respond equally to any
caregiver. They get upset when an individual ceases to interact with them.
From 3 months infants smile more at familiar faces and can be easily comfortable by a
regular caregiver. They do not show stranger or separation anxiety.
Specific Attachment (7-9 months)
Special preference for a single attachment figure. The baby looks to particular people for
security, comfort and protection. It shows fear of strangers (stranger fear) and unhappiness
when separated from a special person (separation anxiety).
Multiple Attachment (10 months and onwards)
The baby becomes increasingly independent and forms several attachments. By 18 months
the majority of infants have formed multiple attachments.
The results of the study indicated that attachments were most likely to form with those who
responded accurately to the baby’s signals, not the person they spent more time with.
Schaffer and Emerson called this sensitive responsiveness.
Intensely attached infants had mothers who responded quickly to their demands, and
interacted with their child infants who were weakly attached had mothers who failed to
interact.
By the age of one year the majority of infants had multiple secondary attachments.
The most important fact in forming attachments is not who feeds and changes the child but
who plays and communicates with him or her. Therefore, responsiveness appeared to be the
key to attachment.
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