John Bowlby: Attachment Theory Laura Johnson COUNS 605A March 10‚ 2012 Historical Background Edward ‘John’ Mostyn Bowlby was born in London on February 26‚ 1907 and died in 1990‚ one of the middle children of six siblings‚ to upper class parents. John’s father was a surgeon to royalty‚ later knighted first Baronet‚ only saw the children on Sundays. John’s mother believed parental attention and affection would lead to dangerous spoiling of the children‚ as was customary of the day
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ATTACHMENT THEORY – JOHN BOWLBY AND MARY AINSWORTH Psychologist John Bowlby believed that childhood development depended upon a child’s ability to form a good strong relationship with at least one caregiver‚ this would usually be the parents. Bowlby’s studies led him to believe that a strong attachment provides the necessary sense of security but he found that those without such relationships in place were fearful and less willing to learn from new experiences unlike those who have strong parental
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Many have studied attachment; however‚ John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth are the researchers responsible for the origination of the attachment theory in the late eighteenth century‚ and in turn‚ also became catalysts for research on attachment. The attachment theory claims that attachment “related behaviors‚ are activated in times of personal distress” (Bernier. Larose‚ & Whipple‚ 2005‚ p. 172). Attachment‚ as defined by Ainsworth‚ is “‘an affectional tie’ that an infant forms with a caregiver—a tie
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Describe and Evaluate Bowlby’s theory of attachment. An attachment refers to ‘a close two-way emotional relationship between two people. In Child Psychology this focus is on the main care-giver most commonly (but not exclusively) our mothers.’ According to Bowlby‚ children develop an attachment to one main caregiver which is qualitatively different than any others e.g. warm and continuous relationship with mother. This attachment has to occur within the sensitive period (6-24 months) or there could
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put forward different explanations of attachment‚ such as learning theory and Bowlby’s theory. Outline and evaluate one or more explanations of attachment One explanation of attachment is Bowlby’s theory who described attachment as "lasting psychological connectedness between human beings" Bowlby believed that the earliest bonds formed by children with their caregivers have a tremendous impact that continues throughout life. According to Bowlby‚ attachment also serves to keep the infant close
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Outline the learning theory explanation of attachments. The learning theory proposes that attachment behaviours are learnt through the imitation of the attachment figures meaning they are not innate. One explanation of how this happens is through Classical Conditioning. In the Learning Theory Classical Conditioning is the forming of an attachment through association. The Learning Theory states that when a baby is born they naturally want food. When the mother feeds the baby it automatically associates
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Ethological Theory: Development of Attachment Phases Krystle Garcia Excelsior College This paper was prepared for Lifespan Development Psychology taught by Doctor Peggy Lauria. Abstract John Bowlby was a psychoanalyst who believed that mental health and behavior problems could be attributed to early childhood. This paper goes over Bowlby’s development of attachment during the first 2 years of life. This paper will be discussing the four phases of attachment which are: Pre-attachment phase
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Outline and evaluate learning theory as an explanation of attachment. Classical conditioning - Before attachment is learned‚ the infant gains pleasure through being fed. Food is the unconditioned stimulus and pleasure is the unconditioned response. When the infant is being fed‚ the infant associates the person providing the food with the food. The primary caregiver is the neutral stimulus‚ which becomes associated with food (the unconditioned stimulus). When the attachment has been learned
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learning theory has two main concepts to help explain attachment formation. One concept is operant conditioning which explains attachment formation through a reinforced response. When an infant gets food its discomfort from its hunger will become happiness. The infant will now associate the happiness with food and so the food becomes the primary reinforcer. The person feeding the infant will also become associated with the happiness and becomes the secondary reinforce and an attachment will be formed
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According to Feldman (2008)‚ the emotional bond that develops between a child and a certain individual is referred to as attachment. In nonhumans‚ this process begins in the first days of life with “imprinting‚” which is essentially the infant’s readiness to learn (Lorenz‚ 1957‚ as cited in Feldman‚ 2008‚ p.89). The bond is facilitated by mother-child physical contact during imprinting. A similar phenomenon is observed between human mothers and their newborns‚ which is why mother’s are strongly encouraged
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