Топик №7: Throries of attachment

Three very different theories have been given.

Since the original work with imprinting it has been found that imprinting can occur only during a limited period of life.

It has been suggested that human infants may form their social attachment by an imprinting-like process, in which the basic social responses of the infant-sucking, clinging, and smiling are elicited by the mother.

The learning theory holds that the infant becomes attached with the alleviation of certain primay drive states, primarily hunger and thirst. Every time a baby is fed by his mother, he learnes to associatr her with the warm, comfortable feelings that come from the relief of his hunger.

Gradually, through this process of conditioning, the child learns to “love” his mother, and this love generalizes to other people. Affection, or the need for others, becomes- as the behaviorists would describe it – a “learned drive”

A classical conditioning in learning is Pavlov`s famous dog, which salivated when a bell that had been assicoated with food was rung, has made this process famous.

Evidently, social interaction is necessary for normal development.

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