The Father Of The Attachment Theory

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Candice Ogbu Ms. Livingston English 1101 24 September 2017 Attachment Theory Attachment is an emotional bond between two people regardless of space and time. The father of the psychological theory of attachment, John Bowlby, once said,” Attachment is characterized by specific behavior in children, such as seeking proximity with the attachment figure when upset or threatened.” Although scientists believe a child's development depends on their parenthood, the theory of attachment explains how children are pre-exposed to form attachments. The behaviorist concept of attachment is best explained as a learned trait the infant has to the attachment figure. The concept is supported by the 1950s research of Neal E. Dollard and John Miller. Their social learning curve contains four processes to overcome which include drive, cue, response, and reward. The first process, drive, explains what the infant what's which can consist of food and water. For instance, if an infant is hunger then it will be motivated to get food from the closet source. The child is hunger so it will have a drive to …show more content…

J. R. Harris, a well known contradictor, explains how Bowlby theory of attachment is false because of the nature versus nurture ruling. Nature is the genetics passed down from the parents, but nurture is the way parents bring the child up. Harris believes that most psychologist misuse nurture for environment rather than parental guidance. She believes, along with genes, parental upbringing can determine how you will later develop. For instance, if a child grows up in a bad neighborhood, but was brought up nicely by his parents then the overwhelming sensation of fitting in would lead him down the wrong path. In Bowlby’s theory the well- trained parents would be to blame, but it is evident that the pressure from peers are at fault. Harrie’s argument contradicts the findings of

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