Explanations of attachment: Learning theory Flashcards
What is learning theory?
Set of theories from the behaviourist approach, that emphasise the role of learning in the acquisition of behaviour
Who proposed the idea that caregiver-infant attachment can be explained by learning theory?
- Dollard and Miller
- (Cupboard love)
What is classical conditioning?
Learning to associate two stimuli together, so we respond to one in the same way we do to the other
How can classical conditioning be applied to cupboard love?
NS (mother)= no response
UCS (food)= UCR (pleasure)
NS (mother) + UCS (food)= UCR (pleasure)
CS (mother)= CR (pleasure/love)
(Mother provides food over time, so become associated with food- expectation of food from baby)
What is operant conditioning?
- Involves learning from the consequences of behaviour
- If a behaviour produces a pleasant consequence, the behaviour is likely to be repeated
- If a behaviour produces an unpleasant consequence, it is less likely to be repeated
How can operant conditioning be applied to cupboard love?
Antecedent > Behaviour > Consequence
Cold/hungry > Cries > Food/comfort
Baby repeats to receive the food/comfort (positive reinforcement for baby)
Baby cries > Feed/comfort baby > Crying stops (negative reinforcement for mother)
How is attachment a secondary drive?
- Learning theory draws on the concept of drive reduction
- Hunger= primary drive (innate, biological motivator)
- Sears et al- as caregivers provide food, the primary drive of hunger becomes generalised to them
- So attachment is secondary (learned through association)
Limitation:
I- Counter-research from animal studies
D- Lorenz’s geese imprinted on the first moving object, regardless of whether the object was associated with food. Harlow’s monkeys displayed attachment towards a cloth ‘mother’ over a wired one which provided milk
E- Shows factors other than association with food are important in attachment formation
Limitation:
I- Counter-evidence from human studies
D- Schaffer and Emerson found babies tend to form their main attachment to their mother, regardless of whether she was the one to feed them. Isabella et al found high levels of interactional synchrony predicted the quality of attachment (no relation to feeding)
E- Suggests food is not the main factors in the formation of human attachment
Strength:
I- Some conditioning may be involved
D- E.g: a baby may associate feeling warm and comfortable with the presence of a particular adult, which may influence their choice of their main attachment figure (classical conditioning)
E- Means learning theory may still be useful in understanding development of attachments
Limitation:
I- Little conditioning is actually involved in attachment
D- Classical and operant conditioning explanations see the baby playing a passive role in attachment development- responding to associations with comfort/reward. Feldman and Eidleman= babies take on an active role in interactions
E- Means conditioning may not be an adequate explanation for attachments
Limitation:
I- Schaffer’s ‘cupboard love’ challenges research
D- Schaffer says babies ‘eat to live’, not ‘live to eat’, so cupboard love puts things the wrong way round. Babies actively seek stimulation, not passively receive nutrition
E- Decreases the value of learning theory in attachments
Limitation:
I- Environmental reductionism
D- Research is too reductionist- reducing an attachment down to a simple stimulus response (food and comfort)
E- Ignores complexity of human attachment systems
What are the strengths of learning theory in attachment research?
- Some conditioning may be involved
What are the limitations of learning theory in attachment research?
- Counter-research from animal studies
- Counter-research from human studies
- Little conditioning is actually involved
- Schaffer’s cuoboard love
- Enviornmental reductionism
