Attachment learning theory (explanation of attachment)

Question 1

Who was the learning theory explained by

Answer 1

Dollard and Miller

Question 2

Importance of food was also called? meaning…

Answer 2

Cupboard love - emphasises the importance of food in attachment formation. Children learn to love whoever feeds them

Question 3

What was the role of classical conditioning

Answer 3

Involves learning to associate two stimuli:
UCS(food) leads to an UCR(feeling of pleasure)
The response is not learned

Question 4

How does the baby learn that the mother produces a sense of pleasure?

Answer 4

Unconditioned stimulus -> Unconditioned response
(food) (pleasure)

Neutral stimulus -> No response
(caregiver)

UCS+NS -> UCR
(food+caregiver) -> (pleasure)

Conditioned stimulus -> Conditioned response
(caregiver) -> (pleasure

Conditioned pleasure response = basis of love
Now an attachment has formed - caregiver becomes an attachment figure

Question 5

Role of operant conditioning

Answer 5

It explains why babies cry for comfort
Crying leads to a response from the caregiver e.g feeding
As long as the caregiver provides the correct response, crying is reinforced because it produces a pleasureable consequence

Question 6

Negative reinforcement

Answer 6

Same time baby is reinforced for crying, the caregiver receieves negative reinforcement because crying stops (NR- escaping from something unpleasant -> reinforcing)
Interplay of positive/negative reinforcement strengthens an attachment

Question 7

A03:
One limitation of learning theoru is counter-evidence from animal studies

Answer 7

Lorenz’s geese imprinted on the first moving object they saw. Harlow’s monkeys attached to soft surrogate in preference to a wire one with milk

In both these studies animal studies imprinting/attachment did not develop as a result of feeding

Showing factors other than feeding are important in attachment formation

Question 8

A03:
One limitation is counter evidence from human studies

Answer 8

Schaffer and Emerson showed that for many babies main attachment was no to the person who fed them

Isabella found that interactional synchrony (unrelated to feeding) predicted attachment quality

Also suggesting other factors are more important in attachment formation than feeding

Question 9

A03:
One strength is that some elements of conditioning could be involved

Answer 9

Seems unlikley that association with food is central to attachment.However conditioning may still play some role in attachment

e.g baby’s choice of primary attachment figure may be determined by the facr that a caregiver becomes associated with warmth and comfort

Suggesting conditioning could be still important in choice of attachment figures, though not the process of attachment formation

Question 10

A03:
Hay and Vespo

Answer 10

Parents teach children to love them by modelling attachment behaviour e.g hugging and kissing

Parents also reward with approval when they display their own attachment behaviour

Meaning theory provides better explanations , including explaining the active role taken by babies in attachment development