3.3: The learning theory Flashcards
Two mothers at the toddler and parent group are chatting.
“I always felt sorry for my husband when Millie was a baby. He used to say his bond with Millie was not as strong as mine because I was breastfeeding.”
“I’m not sure”, replies the other mother. “I think there’s something about a mother’s love that makes it more special anyway – and so important for future development.”
Discuss the learning theory of attachment and Bowlby’s monotropic theory of attachment (16 marks).
Refer to the conversation above in your answer.
The learning theory emphasises the importance of food in the formation of attachment - children love those who feed them.
Classical conditioning creates the attachment, as the association of the caregiver (NS) with food (UCS) causes a conditioned response (CR) of pleasure.
Operant conditioning strengthens the attachment, as crying is positively reinforced by the caregiver and the caregiver receives negative reinforcement when crying stops.
The first mother’s view is consistent with the principles of learning theory – her bond with her daughter is based on food.
The husband’s bond with Millie is not as strong, as she has not formed an association with her father and pleasure.
Bowlby’s monotropic theory emphasises the importance of a primary attachment figure.
The bond with the mother-figure is unique.
The more time spent with the mother-figure, the better, because of the law of continuity and the law of accumulated separation.
The internal working model is that the first attachment is a blueprint for future relationships, as the child forms a mental representation.
The second mother’s view is consistent with the monotropic theory that the bond with the mother (the ‘mother’s love’) is unique and special.
She also suggests that the maternal bond is ‘important for future development,’ which is consistent with Bowlby’s view of the internal working model.
The first AO3 PEEL paragraph is that there is research support for the learning theory.
For example, Dollard and Miller (1950) found that infants learn to associate the caregiver with the feeling of pleasure when they are fed (classical conditioning) and that infants are reinforced in the behaviours that will produce these desirable responses from others (for example, being fed when they cry - operant conditioning).
This suggests that learning theory is a valid explanation of attachment.
The second AO3 PEEL paragraph is that mothers are not special in the way that Bowlby believed.
This is supported by Rutter, who found that infants display a range of attachment behaviours towards attachment figures other than their mothers and that there is no particular attachment behaviour used specifically and exclusively towards mothers.
What does this do?
This lessens support for Bowlby’s theory
