Attachment - Psychology
Developmental
Psychology
Early Social Development:
Attachment
Attachment
An emotional bond between two people. It is a two-way
process that endures over time. It leads to certain behaviours such as clinging and proximity-seeking and serves the function of protecting the infant.
Primary attachment figure
The person who has formed the closest bond with a child, demonstrated by the intensity of the relationship. Usually the biological mother, but other people can fulfil the role.
Learning theory
A group of explanations which explain behaviour in terms of learning rather than any innate or higher order tendencies. Mainly used by behaviourists who rather focus their explanations purely on what behaviour they observe.
Learning Theory
Classical Conditioning (Pavlov)
Unconditioned Stimulus (US) - food
↓
Unconditioned Response (UR) - pleasure
↓
Neutral Stimulus (NS) – the feeder
↓
Conditioned Stimulus (CS) – food from a feeder
↓
Conditioned Response (CR) – pleasure/attachment
Learning Theory
Operant Conditioning
Reinforcement
When doing something results in a pleasant consequence, the behaviour is more likely to be produced.
Punishment
When doing something results in an unpleasant consequence, the behaviour is unlikely to be produced.
Dollard and Miller (1950) explain attachment using operant conditioning: When an infant is fed it reduces discomfort and increases pleasure, this serves as a reward and is the primary reinforcer. The person supplying the food is associated with avoiding discomfort and is the source of reward which becomes the secondary reinforcer. Attachment occurs because the child seeks the person who supplies the reward. Evaluating the Learning Theory
Strengths
It can provide adequate explanations of how attachments form.
Behaviourists argue that since we are made up of the same building blocks of stimulus/response environments
Psychology
Early Social Development:
Attachment
Attachment
An emotional bond between two people. It is a two-way
process that endures over time. It leads to certain behaviours such as clinging and proximity-seeking and serves the function of protecting the infant.
Primary attachment figure
The person who has formed the closest bond with a child, demonstrated by the intensity of the relationship. Usually the biological mother, but other people can fulfil the role.
Learning theory
A group of explanations which explain behaviour in terms of learning rather than any innate or higher order tendencies. Mainly used by behaviourists who rather focus their explanations purely on what behaviour they observe.
Learning Theory
Classical Conditioning (Pavlov)
Unconditioned Stimulus (US) - food
↓
Unconditioned Response (UR) - pleasure
↓
Neutral Stimulus (NS) – the feeder
↓
Conditioned Stimulus (CS) – food from a feeder
↓
Conditioned Response (CR) – pleasure/attachment
Learning Theory
Operant Conditioning
Reinforcement
When doing something results in a pleasant consequence, the behaviour is more likely to be produced.
Punishment
When doing something results in an unpleasant consequence, the behaviour is unlikely to be produced.
Dollard and Miller (1950) explain attachment using operant conditioning: When an infant is fed it reduces discomfort and increases pleasure, this serves as a reward and is the primary reinforcer. The person supplying the food is associated with avoiding discomfort and is the source of reward which becomes the secondary reinforcer. Attachment occurs because the child seeks the person who supplies the reward. Evaluating the Learning Theory
Strengths
It can provide adequate explanations of how attachments form.
Behaviourists argue that since we are made up of the same building blocks of stimulus/response environments