Explanation of attachment: Learning theory

Question 1

What is ‘cupboard love’?

Answer 1

The idea that children learn to become attached to their caregiver because they give them food

Question 2

What is classical conditioning?

Answer 2

Learning is due to associations being made between different stimuli

Question 3

What is operant conditioning?

Answer 3

conditioning that is due to behaviors being altered via patterns of reinforcement and punishment.

Question 4

What is reinforcement?

Answer 4

Rewards

Question 5

What kind of stimulus is food?

Answer 5

unconditioned

Question 6

What kind of response does food produce?

Answer 6

An unconditioned response

Question 7

What kind of stimulus is the caregiver?

Answer 7

A neutral stimulus

Question 8

What kind of response does the caregiver produce?

Answer 8

No response

Question 9

When you pair the neutral stimulus with the unconditioned stimulus what kind of response do you get?

Answer 9

An unconditioned response

Question 10

Eventually, after the mother is frequently paired with the food, what kind of stimulus does the mother turn into?

Answer 10

Conditioned stimulus

Question 11

What kind of response does the conditioned stimulus provide?

Answer 11

A conditioned response

Question 12

Fill out this diagram on learning by association (classical conditioning)

Answer 12

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Question 13

What did Dollard and Miller suggest about operant conditioning?

Answer 13

That a hungry infant feels uncomfortable and this creates a drive to reduce the discomfort.

Question 14

What kind of reinforcer is the food? Why is this?

Answer 14

The food is the primary reinforcer and this is because it directly satisfies hunger.

Question 15

What kind of reinforcer is the caregiver? Why is this?

Answer 15

The caregiver is the secondary reinforcer and this is because they are associated with the primary reinforcer (the food)

Question 16

What sort of behaviors are unlikely to be repeated in infants?

Answer 16

Any behavior that result in punishment is ‘stamped out’ and unlikely to be repeated by the infant

Question 17

What sort of behaviors are likely to be repeated in infants?

Answer 17

Any behavior that result in rewards is positively reinforced and likely to be repeated by the infant

Question 18

What did Dollard and Miller believe about how children attached?

Answer 18

That it evolves classical and operant conditioning

Question 19

What are the two types of conditioning?

Answer 19

Classical conditioning Operant conditioning

Question 20

What are the 4 points for the evaluation of learning theory of attachment?

Answer 20

Ample opportunity for reinforcement Contact comfort is more important than food However, learning theory does have some explanatory power Alternative explanations- John Bowlby (1969)

Question 21

Explain the argument for ‘ample opportunity for reinforcement’

Answer 21

P= Their is research evidence conducted by Dolland and Miller that provides support for the learning theory of attachment. E= They argued that during the baby’s first year of life they are fed 2000 times (mainly by the primary caregiver). This creates ample opportunity for the primary carer to become associated with the removal of the unpleasant feeling of hunger (the removal of negative reinforcement). E= This gives support to the idea that attachment is learnt through operant conditioning. C= However this is a fairly weak argument as their is no direct evidence that the infants are becoming conditioned to respond to the primary caregiver and as a result becoming attached.

Question 22

Explain the argument for ‘contact comfort is more important than food’

Answer 22

P= There is one limitation to learning theory as an explanation of attachment. E= For example, learning theory suggests that food is the key element in the formation of attachment. However, the study conducted by Harlow showed evidence that infant rhesus monkeys spent more time with the cloth mother which had no food than with the wire mother which provided the food. E=This suggests that contact comfort is more important than feeding as the basis for attachment which directly contradicts the learning theory.

Question 23

Explain the argument fort ‘However, learning theory does have some explanatory power’

Answer 23

P = Although learning theory is relatively incomplete it does hold explanatory power as to how attachments form. E= Perhaps infants do learn through association and reinforcement but food may not be the main reinforcer. Instead it may be the attention and responsiveness from the caregiver are important rewards that aid in the formation of attachment. E= This provides support that the learning theory is in the most part accurate and thus a good explanation of how attachments are formed.

Question 24

Explain the argument for ‘Alternative exlplanation- John Bowlby (1969)

Answer 24

P= Learning theory is not the only explanation for how attachments form. E= For example, innate aspects play a just as important role in the process of attachment. This is suggested by Bowlby. He believed that infants are born with innate tendencies to form an attachment which serves to increase their chances of survival and that adults are also innately programmed to become attached to their infants, otherwise they would not respond to theory infant and an attachment bond could not develop. E=This challenges the learning theory as an explanation of attachment.