PSYCHOLOGY AQA A – UNIT 1
Attachment is an emotional bond between two people, it is a 2 way process that endures over time, serving the function of protecting the infant and leading to certain behaviours (seeking proximity, distress on separation, pleasure on reunion and general orientation of behaviour)
There is a Primary attachment figure (PAF)

EXPLANATIONS OF ATTACHMENT: LEARNING THEORY
Learnt rather than inborn
Classical: Association
Proposes that food (UCS) naturally produces a feeling of pleasure (UCR). The feeder (NS) becomes associated with the food (UCS) when the infant is fed. The mother eventually produces the sense of pleasure associated with the food. Pleasure is now a Conditioned Response which causes attachment

Operant: Reinforcement (DOLLARD AND MILLER 1950)
When an infant if hungry, they feel uncomfortable and I drive is produced to reduce this discomfort. When the infant in fed, the drive is reduced and this produces a feeling of pleasure. The infant learns that the food is rewarding (Primary Reinforcer) and begins to recognise the person that provided the food (Secondary reinforcer). Attachment occurs because the infants seeks to be around the person that supplied the award.

Evaluating learning theory
Research by Harlow (1959) suggests attachment may not totally based upon the provision of food. Harlow removed baby rhesus monkeys from their mothers, and placed them into a cage. In the cage there were 2 wire mesh cylinders. One covered in towelling (contact comfort mother) and the other bare but with a bottle on the top (lactating mother) Harlow found that the babies spent most of their time clinging to the contact conform mother, especially when they were scared, and only visited the lactating mother occasionally to feed. This does not support leaning theory because it suggests that comfort may be more important than food in