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However, Pavlov discovered that any object or event which the dogs learnt to associate with
food (such as the food bowl) would trigger the same response.
Classical conditioning is "classical" in that it is the first systematic study of basic laws of
learning / conditioning.
Response
UCS
UCR
Food
Pleasure
CS + UCS
UCR
Caregiver + Food
Pleasure
3
CS
CR
Caregiver
Pleasure
Skinner introduced the concept of reinforcement into this area of psychology. Behaviour
which is reinforced tends to be repeated (i.e. strengthened); behaviour which is not
reinforced tends to die out-or be extinguished (i.e. weakened).
Skinner coined the term operant conditioning; it means roughly changing of behaviour by
the use of reinforcement which is given after the desired response.
Skinner identified three types of responses or operant that can follow behaviour.
Reinforcers: Responses from the environment that increase the probability of a
behaviour being repeated. Reinforcers can be either positive or negative.
Punishers: Responses from the environment that decrease the likelihood of a behaviour
being repeated. Punishment weakens behaviour.
Neutral operants: Responses from the environment that neither increase nor decrease
the probability of a behaviour being repeated.
Skinner studied operant conditioning by conducting experiments using animals which he
placed in a Skinner Box
The rats quickly learned to go straight to the lever after a few times of being put in
the box.
The consequence of escaping the electric current ensured that they would repeat
the action again and again.
In fact Skinner even taught the rats to avoid the electric current by turning on a light
just before the electric current came on.
The rats soon learned to press the lever when the light came on because they knew
that this would stop the electric current being switched on.
These two learned responses are known as Escape Learning and Avoidance Learning.
Learning theory
General points:
o Learning theory argues that behaviour is learned rather than inborn.
o Individuals are born as blank states and everything they become is based on the
experiences they have.
o Learning theory is associated with behaviourists who focus solely on observable
behaviour rather than internal mental states.
o Behaviourists argue that attachment, like all behaviour, is learned through classical
or operant conditioning!
The strengths
Explains learning through association and reinforcement. Nevertheless, food may
not be the main reinforcer, it may be that attention and responsiveness from a
caregiver are important rewards that create the bond.
The weaknesses
The role of food in this explanation has been criticised and there is evidence to
suggest that feeding has little to do with attachment.
Harlow (1959) objected to the idea of attachment as cupboard love. Harlow went
on to investigate the hypothesis that it was contact comfort rather than food that
was crucial in the development of love
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Wire/Cloth Mother
Lactating wire mother with a feeding
bottle of milk
Cloth mother wire wrapped in soft
cloth
Attachment behaviour
Some feeding!
The monkey spent most of its time clinging
to the cloth mother, especially when
frightened (proximity behaviour
characteristic of attachment,
Learning theory might have predicted that the monkey showed more attention to
the lactating monkey who offered a reduction of the hunger drive. However the
monkeys spent more time with the comforting cloth covered monkey.
Does a study using animals apply to humans?
- problems of extrapolation
Schaffer and Emerson (1964) observed 60 babies from mainly working class homes in
Glasgow for 1 year. They found that infants were more attached to the person who
interacted with them the most and were the most responsive. They were less
attached to the person who fed them!
Such studies indicate that cupboard love may not be the strongest explanation for
attachment.
Nevertheless, learning theory concepts such as association and reinforcement may be part
of the explanation.
Activity
1. What is learning theory and how might classical and operant conditioning be related
to attachment? (Dollard and Miller, 1964)
2. How has the role of food in learning theory been criticised? Make reference to the
research studies?
(12 marks)
AO1
AO1
AO1
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AO2
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The background
John Bowlby believed that mental health and behavioural problems could be attributed to
early childhood.
Bowlbys evolutionary theory of attachment suggests that children come into the world
biologically pre-programmed to form attachments with others, because this will help them
to survive.
Bowlby was very much influenced by ethological theory (study of animal behaviour) in
general, but especially by Lorenzs (1935) study of imprinting (See picture below). Imprinting
involves an innate readiness to develop a strong bond with a mother figure, which takes
place during a critical or sensitive period. Lorenz showed that attachment was innate (in
young ducklings) and therefore has a survival value.
Bowlby believed that attachment behaviours are instinctive (innate behaviour) and will be
activated by any conditions that seem to threaten the achievement of proximity, such as
separation, insecurity and fear.
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Bowlby (1969, 1988) also argued that the fear of strangers represents an important survival
mechanism, built in by nature. Babies are born with the tendency to display certain
behaviours which help ensure proximity and contact with the mother or mother figure (e.g.
crying, smiling, crawling, etc.) these are species-specific behaviours.
During the evolution of the human species, it would have been the babies who stayed close
to their mothers who would have survived to have children of their own and Bowlby
hypothesised that both infants and mothers have evolved a biological need to stay in
contact with each other.
These attachment behaviours initially function like fixed action patterns and all share the
same function. The infant produces innate social releaser behaviours such as crying and
smiling that stimulate caregiving from adults. The determinant of attachment is not food but
care and responsiveness.
Bowlby suggested that a child would initially form only one attachment and that the
attachment figure acted as a secure base for exploring the world. The attachment
relationship acts as a prototype for all future social relationships so disrupting it can have
severe consequences.
3. Continuity hypothesis
Bowlby believed that a warm, intimate, continuous relationship with the motheror
permanent mother substitute was essential for healthy attachment to occur.
4. Internal working model
The relationship between caregiver and infant may be one of trust or uncertainty
and inconsistency
It is a relationship which acts a template for future relationships in terms of beliefs
and expectations about such relationships
The internal working model is a cluster of beliefs and concepts about relationships
and what to expect from others about whether relationships involve consistent or
inconsistent love, whether others make you feel good and anxious.
Emotionally secure infants go on to be emotionally trusting and socially confident
adults. This link between early attachment and later emotional behaviour is referred
to as the continuity hypothesis.
Activity
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
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The Strengths
Lorenzs research on goslings supports the view that imprinting is innate. A
similar process is likely to have developed in other species such as humans in
order to protect the young and enhance survival.
Hodges and Tizard found that children who had formed no attachments had later
difficulties with peers. This supports Bowlbys idea that it is difficult to form
attachments once the sensitive period has passed.
Tronick et al studied the Efe tribe in Zaire. Efe infants are breast fed and cared for by
other women in the extended family, but mainly sleep with their mother at night.
Despite this type of child care arrangement the infants at six months still showed
one primary attachment. This suggests that attachment has evolved, as Bowlby
suggested, to provide an important biological function and seems to be universal
despite different cultural child care practices as found in the Efe.
Bowlby accepted that infants form multiple attachments but these were hierarchical,
with one attachment being the most important for development. Tronicks (above)
research supports this! Schaffer and Emerson found evidence for multiple
attachments but the stronger attachment was not based on the time spent with the
child but rather the nature of the attachment. This suggests that it is quality
(sensitivity) rather than quantity of the attachment that is important.
Schaffer and Emerson observed that strongly attached individuals experienced
mothers who responded quickly to their needs and who offered their child the most
interaction. Poorly attached infants had mothers who failed to interact with them.
Harlows monkeys formed only one-way attachments with the unresponsive wire
mother. They developed as poor parents themselves suggesting that caring
interaction is at the centre of strong attachments.
The Minnesota longitudinal study followed Ps from childhood to late adolescence. Those
classified as securely attached infants displayed greater empathy and social competence as
adolescents. This appears to demonstrate the continuity hypothesis.
The Weaknesses
Bowlbys ideas had a great influence on the way researchers thought about attachment and
much of the discussion of his theory has focused on his belief in monotropy.
Although Bowlby may not dispute that young children form multiple attachments, he
still contends that the attachment to the mother is unique in that it is the first to
appear and remains the strongest of all. However, on both of these counts, the
evidence seems to suggest otherwise.Schaffer & Emerson (1964) noted that specific
attachments started at about 8 months and, very shortly thereafter, the infants
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became attached to other people. By 18 months very few (13%) were attached to
only one person; some had five or more attachments.
Rutter (1981) points out that several indicators of attachment (such as protest or
distress when attached person leaves) has been shown for a variety of attachment
figures fathers, siblings, peers and even inanimate objects.
The continuity between early attachment and development can be explained
without reference to Bowlbys theory. Some individuals posses an innately trusting
and friendly personality and this may be the prime factor in securing attachments
and the development of close adult relationships. This is referred to as the
temperament hypothesis and involves the idea that children form secure
attachments because they have more easy temperament, whereas innately
difficult children are more likely to form insecure attachments and later
relationships.
Thomas and Chess (1977) suggest evidence for innate temperamental differences
with the identification of three basic infant personality types: easy, difficult and
slow-to-warm-up.
There are implications arising from Bowlbys work. As he believed the mother to be
the most central care giver and that this care should be given on a continuous basis
an obvious implication is that mothers should not go out to work. There have been
many attacks on this claim:
Mothers are the exclusive carers in only a very small percentage of human societies;
often there are a number of people involved in the care of children, such as relations
and friends (Weisner & Gallimore, 1977).
Ijzendoorn & Tavecchio (1987) argue that a stable network of adults can provide
adequate care and that this care may even have advantages over a system where a
mother has to meet all a childs needs.
There is evidence that children develop better with a mother who is happy in her
work, than a mother who is frustrated by staying at home (Schaffer, 1990).
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Behaviour Assessed
Use of parent as secure base
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Stranger anxiety
Separation anxiety
Reunion behaviour
Separation anxiety
Stranger anxiety
Reunion behaviour
As can be seen, the observers recorded the infants' and mothers' behaviours, especially noting the
following:
separation anxiety: the unease the infant showed when left by the caregiver
stranger anxiety: the infant's response to the presence of a stranger
reunion behaviour: the way the caregiver was greeted on return
exploration behaviour
Findings:
Ainsworth et al. (1978) combined the data from several studies, to make a total of 106 middle-class
infants observed in the strange situation.
The observational record led Ainsworth et al. to classify the infants into three broad groups:
Securely attached (66%) - one group of infants tended to explore the unfamiliar room; they were
subdued when their mother left and greeted her positively when she returned. The infants showed
moderate avoidance of the stranger, although were friendly when the mother was present. The
motherswere described as sensitive.
Insecure-avoidant (22%) - second group did not orientate to their mother while investigating the
toys and room; they did not seem concerned by her absence and showed little interest in her when
she returned. These infants also avoided the stranger, but not as strongly as they avoided the
mother on her return. It was observed that these mothers sometimes ignored their infants.
Insecure-resistant (12%) a third group showed intense distress, particularly when
their mother was absent, but they rejected her when she returned. These infants
showed ambivalent behaviour towards the stranger, similar to the pattern of
resistance and interest shown to the mother on
her return. These mothers appeared to behave ambivalently towards their infants.
Conclusions:
This study shows that there are significant individual differences between infants
It also shows that most American children are securely attached
There appears to be a distinct association between the mothers behaviour and the infants
attachment type, which suggests that mothers behaviour may be important in determining
attachment type.
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Evalutation:
It would be unreasonable to make generalisations about all infant behaviour on the basis of
this sample. The study and its findings are restricted to middle-class American infants, i.e.
are culturally biased. This is related to population validity.
The strange situation focuses on the relationship between the child and the mother.
However a childs significant attachment relationship may be with another care giver i.e.
father, grandparents or child minder. This could question the validity of the strange
situation. Reserchers in the 1980s noticed that children behave differently with different
care givers. However Bowlby argued that it is the relationship with the primary attachment
figure that becomes internalized so that it is a characterstic of the child. Attachment type is
related to one special relationship.
The validity of the strange situation can be determined in terms of its construct validity.
Other studies have identified the four attachment types; they are confirmed as distinctly
different categories. Also predictive validity has been demonstrated in the correlations
found between early attachment types and later behaviours (see Effects of Attchments
below).
Reliability of the strange situation has been assessed using inter-rater reliability - comparing
the ratings made by a panel of experienced judges Ainsworth et al. (1978) found almost
perfect agreement when rating exploratory behaviour they found .94 agreement between
raters (1.00 would be perfect). (Refer to you notes on correlations).
Some people think it is unethical to place children in a stressful situation. Ainsworth said the
situations were no more stressful than real life, but in episode six, 20% of the infants were
reported to cry desperately.
Activities
1. Watch the simulation of the Strange Situation on YouTube (with baby Lisa). Can you identify
the different steps in the procedure?
2. Can you identify three strengths and three weaknesses of Ainsworths work, referring to
validity and reliability where possible?
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Current love
experiences
Secure adults
Insecure-avoidant
adults
Insecure-resistant
adults
Relationships are
positive
Fearful of closeness
Preoccupied by love
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Attitudes towards
love
Temperament Hypothesis
This hypothesis shifts the responsibility from the care giver and suggests that it is the
temperamental characteristics of the infant which shapes the mothers responsiveness.
Suggested personality types are easy, difficult and slow to warm up. However the
evidence for the influence of infant temperament on attachment relationships is uncertain.
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Therefore Ainsworth provided Bowlby with the concept of the attachment figure as a secure
base from which an infant can explore the world, and pointed to the importance of
maternal sensitivity in the development of mother-infant attachment patterns.
Activities
1. How might the attachment type of an infant influence his/her future development?
2. To what extent is the mother responsible for the attachment type of the infant?
3. Does Ainsworths work support the learning theory or the evolutionary theory explanation
of attachment?
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Secure attachments (Type B) were the most common in all the cultures surveyed. The lowest
proportion of secure attachments (5%) was found in China and the highest (75%) in Great
Britain and Sweden.
Insecure avoidant attachments (Type A) were more common in West Germany than in other
western countries. Avoidant attachments were rare in Israel and Japan.
Insecure resistant attachments, also known as ambivalent attachments (Type C) were more
common in Israel, China and Japan. Scandinavian countries such as Sweden had the lowest
rate of resistant attachments.
As well as differences between cultures, Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg also found differences
within cultures. Their three studies carried out in West Germany showed very different findings. In
the two Japanese studies, one had no Type A babies whereas the second had around 20%, which is
roughly similar to Ainsworths original findings. Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg noted overall that
the intra-cultural variation (within cultures) was nearly one-anda-half-times the cross-cultural
variation. These differences within cultures demonstrate the common-sense point that it is an oversimplification to assume that all children are brought up in exactly the same way in any particular
country or culture.
Methodological issues
(12 marks)
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Bowlby (1951)
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Bowlby claimed that theres a critical period for attachment formation. Combined with his
theory of monotropy, he proposed his maternal deprivation hypothesis (MDH) in which
he suggested that if the mother-infant was broken during this critical period it could
permanently harm the childs emotional and intellectual development. Separation of the
child from its mother during this period for even a short time could cause the bond to break
irretrievably.
Bowlby didnt claim that this would happen to every child, but argued that as it was
impossible to know which children would be affected no mother should take the risk and, as
such, should never leave their child alone during the critical period.
The MDH was based largely on studies conducted on children being brought up in
orphanages and residential nurseries during the 1930s and 1940s. Drawing on both his own
work and that of other researchers, Bowlby presented his findings and theory to the World
Health Organisation in 1951 (see quotes from the report above).
(You wont be asked about MDH in the exam but its useful to know a little about it first,
the following studies are important though)
So, what was the evidence that deprivation (or separation) of the mother was important?
Goldfarb (1943) studied 15 children raised in institutions (group 1) from about six months
until three-and-a-half years of age. These children lived in almost total social isolation during
their first year. They were matched with 15 children whod gone straight from their natural
mothers to foster homes (group 2).
At age three, group 1 lagged behind group 2 on measures of abstract thinking, social
maturity, rule following and sociability. Between the ages of 10 and 14, group 1 continued
to perform poorly, and their average IQs were significantly below that of group 2 (the scores
were 72 and 95 respectively).
Goldfarbs study is a natural experiment. What is meant by this term?
(2 marks)
(2 marks)
Identify one confounding variable with this study and explain why it is a problem. (3 marks)
Spitz (1945, 1946) studied children raised in some very poor-quality orphanages in South
America. Staff were over-worked and poorly-trained, and rarely talked to the babies or
picked them up, even for feeding. They were shown no affection and didnt have any toys.
The babies displayed anaclitic depression (a reaction to the loss of a love object). The
symptoms of this include weepiness, withdrawal, sadness, loss of appetite, weight loss,
inability to sleep, fear, and developmental retardation.
In a further study, Spitz & Wolf (1946) studied 91 orphanage infants in Canada and the USA.
Despite good nutrition and medical care over a third of them died before their first birthday.
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This was in comparison to a sample children raised by their mothers in prison, none of
whom died and who showed higher IQs than the orphanage children. Bowlby later argued
that these findings were due to the disruption of attachment bonds.
Evaluative Points
According to Bowlby, Goldfarb, Spitz and Wolf all of these institutions had one thing in
common namely a lack of maternal care. They argued that this was the crucial harmful
experience on the children growing up in these places. However, there are a number of
points of criticism that can be made concerning such research:
In Goldfarbs study the children werent randomly assigned to the two conditions as they
would be in a true experiment (this is a major weakness of natural experiments). It could be
that the children in group 2 were brighter than those in group 1 which may have explained
their higher IQ scores. Perhaps they were more sociable and healthy and thats why they
were fostered in the first place?
We also need to distinguish between deprivation (which refers to the loss through
separation of the attachment figure) and privation (which refers to the situation where no
attachment has been made in the first place). Rutter (1981) argues that some of these
studies were actually demonstrating the effects of privation rather than deprivation and so
were likely to yield more severe results.
Details
The immediate reaction to separation involves crying, screaming, kicking
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Detachment
Activity
Read through the article Children in brief separation: John by Richard Gross which is
taken from Psychology Review, September 2004.
This study was both a case study and a naturalistic observation. Explain what is
meant by these terms in the context of the John study and then give a strength and
weakness of each method.
Outline the new environment that John found himself in. What were the other
children like? Why do you think its a problem that no one nurse took responsibility
for Johns care?
Looking through the day-by-day account of Johns behaviour, and referring to the
table above, what were the behaviours that indicated that he was showing the signs
of distress in Bowlbys PDD model? When did each stage of despair occur?
Explain how, again in your own words, how this case both supported and challenged
Bowlbys MDH.
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Between the ages of 7/8 months (when attachments are beginning to develop) and
three years; Maccoby (1980) argued that theres a peak at 12-18 months
For boys, although there are also individual differences within each gender
If there have been any behaviour problems (such as aggressiveness) prior to the
separation
If the relationship with the mother has been too close (although its debatable how
this could be judged!)
If the child has never been separated from the mother before
If there arent other attachment figures who can provide love and care in the
mothers absence
(12 marks)
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Research Activity
Find out about Hodges and Tizards (1989) research and answer the questions below;
Hint: Hodges and Tizard: the impact of institutionalisation by Richard Gross, which is taken from
the Psychology Review, September 2001
1.Explain, in your own words, what is meant by the terms longitudinal study and cross-sectional
study:
2.This study is a natural experiment. What is meant by this term?
3.What are the experimental variables?
IV
DV
On leaving care between the ages of 2 and 7, the children were either adopted or returned to their
own families. The institutions they grew up in provided good physical care and appeared to provide
adequate intellectual stimulation. However, staff turnover was high
4.Why might this be a problem?
5.Outline the findings at age 8 in your own words:
6.Outline the findings at age 16 in your own words:
7.How did both of these groups of children differ from a control group of children who had not been
institutionalised?
8.Explain the conclusions of these studies in your own words:
Evaluation
The findings are theoretically rich. The data both support and contradict Bowlbys MDH. For
example, they suggest that there may be a critical period for the formation of attachments to peers,
but there may not be one for forming attachments to adults.
9.What issues arise from the fact that this is a natural experiment?
10.Outline what is meant by attrition and explain why its a problem:
11.What issues arise from the use of questionnaires in terms of validity and reliability?
Key Terms:
Institutionalisation
Disinhibited attachment
Recovery is possible
Koluchova (1972) studied Czech twin boys whose mother died in
1960 when they were born. They were well cared for by a childrens
agency, and then an aunt, before going to live, at 18 months of age, with their father and
stepmother, who isolated and severely neglected them. When they were discovered, aged
7 years, they were retarded intellectually, physically, socially and emotionally. At the age of
8 years, they were fostered by two sisters whose high quality care enabled them to recover,
so that, by the age of 14, they were in mainstream school and had normal IQs. In
adulthood, they married and had families, and neither of them seemed to suffer long-term
adverse effects. This suggests that adverse early experience can be overcome even if the
sensitive period for attachment is missed. (good-quality early care and peer-bonding?)
Timing is important
Rutter et al (2007) carried out a longitudinal study of Romanian orphans who suffered
privation until being adopted. Those who were adopted before 6 months of age developed
as normally as a comparison group of UK adopted children when followed up at 4,6 and 11
years of age. Those adopted after 6 months however, showed indiscriminate attachments
to adults and had problems relating to peers, suggesting that the timing of intervention can
affect a childs prognosis.
The quality of care at the institution: Dontas et al. (1985) carried out two studies on
babies in a Greek orphanage to see if institutionally raised children could develop
attachments in the normal way. In one study, they looked at 15 babies aged
between seven and nine months (the important age that Bowlby suggests
attachments are formed). Each child had been given a member of staff to care
specifically for them and had formed an attachment with their carer. Dontas visited
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them two weeks after they had been adopted and found that the babies had
adjusted well and had started to form attachments to their new carers. In a second
study at the institution, 16 babies aged between five and twelve months were
observed playing with familiar and unfamiliar peers of a similar age. As in the above
study, each of the babies had been able to form an attachment with a carer at the
childrens home. Their play behaviour showed none of the apparent effects of
institutionalisation such as indiscriminate attention seeking that had previously been
noted in Tizard and Hodges study. This research shows how important it is for
children in institutions to be able to develop attachments to staff at the normal age
of between seven and eight months.
The age of the child when removed from privation or institutionalisation: children
who are removed from privation when still young, such as the Romanian orphans
adopted under six months, tend to make better developmental progress both
cognitively and emotionally than those who have experienced privation for longer.
The follow-on experiences in later life: there is evidence to suggest that adult
experiences and relationships can go some way towards repairing early adverse
circumstances. Quinton & Rutter (1984, 1988) compared two groups of women in
their twenties half had been in care for several years in their childhood. The care
group was more likely to have relationship breakdowns, criminal records and more
difficulties with parenting their children compared to the non-care group. But those
women in the care group who had positive experiences at school and later good
relationships or marriages fared much better. The researchers argued that this
shows that the early effects of institutionalisation can be overcome if they are
followed by good experiences in later life.
(12 marks)
Psychologists have studied children who have lived in institutions such as orphanages.
Outline and evaluate research into the effects of institutionalisation.
(12 marks)
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