Explanations Of Attachment: The Learning Theory Flashcards
Who proposed the Learning theory of attachment
Dollard and Miller (1950)
What is this approach often referred to as
“Cupboard love’ - emphasises the importance of the caregiver as a provider of food
How does the baby learn to form an attachment with its mother
Through classical conditioning
The process of attachment through classical conditioning
-Through classical conditioning, the child learns to associate the carer with food.
-Food is an unconditioned stimulus which is associated with pleasure.
-Originally, the carer is a neutral stimulus- one that produces no response.
-Over time, when the carer regularly feeds the child they become associated with food and becomes a conditioned stimulus which evokes the conditioned response of pleasure, even without the food being present.
-This is how attachment develops
The process of attachment according to operant conditioning
-Operant conditioning explains attachment as a learned process through reinforcement.
- A baby feels discomfort due to hunger, creating a drive to reduce this discomfort.
-When the caregiver feeds the baby, the discomfort is relieved, acting as a reward- this is positive reinforcement.
-The caregiver also experiences negative reinforcement as feeding stops the baby’s crying, and so avoids something unpleasant.
-Over time, the baby associates the caregiver with comfort and forms an attachment.
What is drive reduction
-Baby’s have an innate motivation to eat to reduce hunger. When the mother rewards the baby by feeding it, the discomfort caused by hunger is reduced, acting as a negative reinforcer. As a result the infant becomes attached to the mother.
What is operant conditioning
Learning by consequence
What is classical conditioning
Learning through association
Evaluation of the Learning theory
-Useful for understanding some aspects of attachment
-Based on animal studies (e.g skinner)
-Ignores the role of contact comfort in attachment
-Bowlby’s theory of attachment
