Consider the extent to which psychological theories have been successful in explaining attachments.

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Consider the extent to which psychological theories have been successful in explaining attachments.

There are various psychological theories to regard as which have been successful in explaining attachments and I will be explaining the majority of them.

Sigmund Freud developed a theory of personality - an explanation of how each individual's personality develops. This theory can be used to explain many aspects of behaviour, including attachment.

Feud proposed that attachment grows out of the feeding relationship. In essence Freud claimed that infants are born with an innate drive to seek pleasure. He called this the pleasure principle, and suggested that one 'structure of the personality' (id) was motivated by this principle. The id is the primitive, instinctive part of our personality that demands immediate satisfaction. In infancy the id demands oral satisfaction. The person providing this satisfaction becomes the love object, and an object is formed.

This is another 'cupboard love' theory and can be dismissed with the same evidence as for behaviourist theory. This approach has been called the 'cupboard love' theory of attachment because it suggest that the infant becomes attached because he/she is fed, and that the infant becomes attached to the person who feeds him/her.
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Both Psychoanalytic and behaviourist theories are agreed on this primary source of attachments.

Behaviourist approach: An infant learns that certain individuals are associated with the feelings of pleasure and reduce feelings of discomfort. The infant becomes attached to these individuals. Psychoanalytic approach: Attachment is adaptive and innate. Infants elicit care giving and become attached to those individuals who respond most sensitively to their signals. The relationship with the primary caregiver acts as a template for all later relationships

However, the classic experiments of Harry Harlow (1959) on rhesus monkeys demonstrated that this theory was inadequate. This ...

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