⭐️ explanations; learning theory✅ Flashcards
which 2 psychologists came up with the learning theory of attachment?
dollard and miller
what is the ‘cupboard love’ explanation?
emphasises the importance of food in attachment formation. children learn to love whoever feeds them
what are the two types of conditioning?
classical and operant
classical conditioning:
what is this learning through?
in the example of feeding, what Is the unconditioned stimulus which leads to the unconditioned repose?
why does this response happen?
association of two stimuli
UCS (food) →leads to→ UCR (feeling of pleasure)
the repose isn’t learned its an unconditioned response / natural
classical conditioning:
what stimulus does the mother become bc the baby associates the mother with pleasure?
overtime there mother becomes associated with food so what happens to the repose o the mother?
neutral stimulus
conditioned reponse of happiness when baby sees mom bc they’re assorted with food/pleasure
so the CS(caregiver) → leads to → CR(pleasure)
operant conditioning:
what was this learning through?
why do babies cry?
reinforcement and punishment
leads to a response form the caregiver, as long as the correct response is given, crying is reinforced bc it produced a pleasurable consequence
what is positive reinforcement?
what is negative reinforcement?
behavior is strengthened by rewards, leading to the repetition of desired behavior. The reward is a reinforcing stimulus. eg handing in hwk on time to prevent being told off
escaping from something unpleasant , the behav. is reinforced learn to avoid the unpleasant thing - the same time the baby is reinforced for crying, the caregiver is negatively reinforced bc the crying stops
drive reduction:
what is the primary drive?
why are we motivated to eat?
what is secondary drive?
what does the primary drive become when the CG provides food?
an innate motivator eg hunger
to reduce the hunger drive
drive thats learnt or determined such as earning money
the primary drive of hunger becomes generalised to them
AO3:
✅ strength? CA
✅ adequate explanation of how attachments form. eg. we do seem to learn in a number of ways through association in real-life (e.g. we associate certain situations with danger when we develop phobias even if that association is irrational). The case of Little Albert shows that classical conditioning is the process by which we learn a variety of behaviours. Little Albert’s case shows that when you combine a loud noise (an unconditioned stimulus) with a neutral stimulus (a rat) after much repetition, this creates a conditioned response (fear of the rat). This is positive because it suggests learning theory may at least play a part in attachment formation.
CA - idiographic approach, studied individual, other people may have reacted differently.
AO3:
❌ 3 weaknesses?
❌the theory ignores other factors linked top attachment - studies show high quality attachments form through which CG respond to the infants signal the most , not always though feeding
❌ critisxed by animal studies - Harlow’s research suggested monkeys became attached to the soft surrogate mother rather than the one who fed it. This goes against the learning theory of attachment. Lorenz found goslings imprinted on the first moving object they saw which suggest attachment is innate and not learnt.
❌human research also shows that feeding is not an important factor - Schaffer and Emerson found less than half of infants had a primary attachment to the person who usually fed them.
what did skinner study with rats?
Skinner showed how positive reinforcement worked by placing a hungry rat in his Skinner box.
The box contained a lever on the side, and as the rat moved about the box, it would accidentally knock the lever. Immediately it did so a food pellet would drop into a container next to the lever.
The rats quickly learned to go straight to the lever after a few times of being put in the box. The consequence of receiving food if they pressed the lever ensured that they would repeat the action again and again.
