Explanationsof Attachment A.g

Front 1

State the 5 main features of attachment (Bowlby's Monotropic Theory)?

Back 1

1. Adaptive & innate

2. Critical period

3. Social Releasers

4. Monotropy

5. Internal working model

Front 2

1. Outline the feature Adaptive & Innate in Bowlby's Monotropic Theory.

Back 2

- Bowlby proposed an evolutionary explanation of attachment.

- Believed it was innate & adaptive process for infant & parent.

- Aids survival: ensures safety, food & protection.

Front 3

2. Outline the feature Critical Period in Bowlby's Monotropic Theory.

Back 3

- First 2 & a half years of life = critical period for psychological development.

- If child is deprived of emotional care b/c of frequent or prolonged separation from mother in the absence of suitable care then psychological damage is inevitable.

- Risk up until age of 5 = sensitive period.

- May be seen as deterministic.

Front 4

3. Outline the feature Social Releasers in Bowlby's Monotropic Theory.

Back 4

- Mother & baby have innate predisposition to become attached & social releasers trigger that response in CG.

- Social releasers = social behaviours that create a caregiving reaction, e.g crying & smiling.

-Necessary in the interaction between infant & caregiver.

- Infant becomes most strongly attached to person who responds most sensitively to their social releasers.

Front 5

4. Outline the feature Monotropy in Bowlby's Monotropic Theory.

Back 5

Believed human infants have an innate tendency yo become attached to one particular person = monotropy.

- Attachment is different & more important than others.

- More time spent w/ mother or primary attachment figure the better.

- 2 principles:

Law of Continuity: the more constant & predictable a child's care = better qualit6y of attachment.

Law of Accumulated Separation: effects of separation from mother adds up & safest dose is therefore 0.

Front 6

5. Outline the feature Internal Working Model in Bowlby's Monotropic Theory.

Back 6

- Child having their first relationship w/ primary attachment figure forms a mental representation of this relationship.

- Internal Working Model acts as a template for future relationships.

- Resembles a schema in that it is a structure in long term memory that provides the basis for forming expectations.

- Relates to a person's expectations about relation ships & their own success as a parent.

Front 7

Strength of Bowlby's Monotropic Theory: Evidence that Attachment is Adaptive & Innate

Back 7

- Newborn animals suh as goslings appear to form picture of their parents w/in hrs of birth & helps them stick closely to important source of protection & food.

-Lorenz believed imprinting has evolutionary value = likely to be safe from predators, to be fed & to learn how to find food = increases chance of survival& natural selection.

-However, care must be taken when extrapolating from Goslings to humans - imprinting may not be appropriate model for the development of attachment.

Hint 7

-Goslings form picture of mother in 1st few hr which helps them to what?

-Lorenz believe imprinting has evolutionary value b/c...

- Why must care be taken when extrapolating from Goslings to humans?

Front 8

Limitation of Bowlby's Monotropic Theory: Monotropy is a Socially Sensitive Issue

Back 8

- B/c has major implications for the lifestyle choices mothers make when children are young.

- Law of accumulated separation states having substantial time apart from primary attachment figure risks a poor quality attachment, will disadvantage child in a range of ways.

- Pushes mothers into particular life choices w/ economic implications, such as not returning bk to work or whether child id placed in daycare.

- Burman pointed out it places a terrible burden of responsibility on mothers.

- Limitation b/c is a controversial topic in individualistic cultures.

Hint 8

- Has major implications for what?

- What does the law of accumulated separation state?

- What does this push the mother into?

-Burman - burden

- Why is this a limitation.

Front 9

Strength of Bowlby's Monotropic Theory: Support for the Internal Working Model

Back 9

- Hazan & Shavers found adult romantic love can be related bk to an individual's attachment history.

- Secure attachment types had love experiences that were happy, friendly, trusting.

- Insecure types found relationships less easy, were more likely divorced & true love was rare.

- Simpson et al's longitudinal study assessed infant attachment type @ 1 year old & gathered data through interviews & questionaires up to age 20-23.

- Pp's who were securely attached as infants were rated as having higher social competence as children, closer to their friends at age 16, more expressive & were emotionally attached to their romantic partners.

- Supports view that attachment type does predict future childhood & adult relationships.

Hint 9

- What did Hazan & Shavers find about adult romantic love?

- What type of love experience did secure attachment types have?

- What abut insecure types?

- What did Simpson et al's longitudinal study assess & how did it gather data?

- What did he find about pp's who were securely attached as infants.

- What view does this support?

Front 10

Limitation of Bowlby's Monotropic Theory: Are Multiple Attachments as Important as Monotropy?

Back 10

- Research has suggested all attachment figures are equally important, questioning whether there is a need for a special relationship w/ 1 central person above others in hierarchy of attachments.

- Thomas suggested the tendency to form a single main attachment isn't good for healthy psychological development & it may be more desirable to have a variety of different attachments to meet growing needs of the infant.

- Thomas found in Caribbean & European cultures children developed many equally important attachments.

-Suggests there is mixed evidence for monotropy as a hierarchical attachment weakening the validity of Bowlby's explanation.

Hint 10

- What has research suggested and what does this question?

- Why isn't it good to form just a single main attachment (Thomas)?

- What did Thomas find in Caribbean & European cultures?

- Mixed evidence, validity?

Front 11

Limitation of Bowlby's Monotropic Theory: Role of the Father

Back 11

- Underestimated the role of the father & saw it is a primarily economic.

- Outdated & sexist view point as the role of the father has changed in recent yrs.

- Research support by Cohn, showed number of fathers that stay @ home & care for their chidren has quadrupled over the past 25 yrs.

- Illustrates father can be the primary caregiver & questions whether Bowlby's monotropic theory can be generalised to other social & historical contexts.

Hint 11

- Saw the role of the father as primarily what?

- What type of viewpoint is this?

- What has Cohn's research show about the number of fathers who stay @ home?

- What does this illustrate about fathers & what does this question about Bowlby's monotropric theory?

Front 12

What does learning theory suggest/believe?

Back 12

- Infants become attached b/c they are fed & they become attached to person who feed them?

- Babies learn to be attached either through classical or operant conditioning.

Front 13

How can infants become attached by classical conditioning (learning theory)?

Back 13

- Learning by association.

- Food = UCS

- Mother = NS

- Pleasure = UCR

- Pleasure of feeding becomes associated w/ the person who feeds them.

-Person becomes a source of pleasure even when there is no feeding.

Front 14

How can infants become attached by operant conditioning (learning theory)?

Back 14

- Learning by reinforcement.

- Explained by Dollard & Miller.

- Hungry infant feels uncomfortable and will be 'driven' yo seek food to satisfy hunger.

- When infant is fed, drive is reduced & produces sense of pleasure (reward).

- Food is therefore a primary reinforce b/c it directly reduces discomfort & behaviour is likely to be repeated.

- Person who provides food that reduces drive = secondary reinforce.

- From then on, infant seeks to be w/ person who has become secondary reinforce because they are now a source of reward in themselves & attachment is therefore formed.

Front 15

Strength of Learning Theory: Evidence for Learning Through Association & Reinforcement

Back 15

- It is plausible & scientific & is based on an established theory.

- B/c plenty of psychological research which demonstrates that we do learn a lot of behaviours through association & reinforcement = no reason to believe that attachment would be any different.

- However, problem w/ learning theory is idea that feeding provides UCS, reinforcement or primary drive.

- It could be that association between primary CG & provision of comfort & social interaction helps to build an attachment.

- E.G Harlow's work w/ monkeys showed that it was contact comfort rather than food which was the important factor in attachment.

- Suggests different elements of conditioning needs to be considered when explaining attachment.

Hint 15

- It plausible & scientific...

- Why is there no reason to believe attachment would be different?

- What is a problem w/ the learning theory?

- What could the association be between?

- Give example of Harlow & the monkeys.

Front 16

Limitation of Learning Theory: Research into Infant-CG Interactions

Back 16

- Doesn't take into account the quality of infant-CG interactions.

- Research suggests quality of attachment is associated w/ factors such as developing reciprocity & good levels of interactional synchrony.

- Studies have shown that the best quality attachments are w/ sensitive carers that pick up signals & respond appropriately.

- Therefore, if attachment was purely as a result of feeding, there would be no purpose for these complex interactions.

Hint 16

- What doesn't it take into account?

-What does research suggest the quality of attachment is associated w/?

- Who have studies shown the best quality attachments are w/?

- If attachment was purely as a result of feeding what would there be no purpose for?

Front 17

Limitation of Learning Theory: Reductionist

Back 17

- Simplifies complex behaviour of attachment to purely a stimulus-response or through reinforcement

- Learning explanations focus on nurture ignoring nature, claiming attachments are innate.

-In a variation of Harlow's research, infant monkey continued to demonstrate attachment to highly abusive mothers who blasted them w/ cold air @ regular intervals.

- Attachment occurred in absence of reward, showing instinctive behaviour.

- These are significant omissions that are needed to gain a complete, holistic understanding of why attachment occurs.

Hint 17

- What does it simplify complex behaviour to?

- What do learning explanations focus on & ignore?

- In a variation of Haarlow's research what did the abusive mothers do and how did the monkeys react?

- Attachment occurred in the absence of reward so what does this show?

- Significant omissions are needed to gain what?

Front 18

Limitation of Learning Theory: Alternative Explanation

Back 18

- Hay & Vespo have proposed a newer explanation of infant-CG attachment based on social learning theory whereby attachment is acquired largely as a result of modelling & imitation of attachment behaviour by parents.

- Suggest parents teach children to love them by modelling attachment behaviour e.g. by hugging them & other family members & instructing & rewarding them w/ approval when they display attachment behaviour of their own (what a lovely hug).

- This explanation takes into account how attachment is learned indirectly rather than a direct approach as proposed by traditional learning theories.

Hint 18

- Hay & Vespo have proposed a newer explanation of infant-CG attachment based on what?

- What is attachment acquired as a result of?

-Parents teach children to love them by modelling the behaviour, e.g...

- What may parents say as a reward or approval.

- What does this explanation take into account?

Front 19

Differences between Bowlby's Theory & the Learning Theory of Attachment.

Back 19

1.B- Infants are innately programmed to form attachments (biological determinism)/L- Attachment is learned (environmental determinism)2. B- Sensitive period to form attachment/ L-Attachment is learned & can be relearned.3. B- We become attached to responsive figure/ L- We become attached to the person that provides food.