L5 - Explanation Of Attachments - Learning Theories

Question 1

Learning theory

Answer 1

• proposes all behaviour is learned not inborn
• babies are born as blank states

Question 2

What do behaviourists suggest

Answer 2

All behaviour (including attachment) is learned either through classical or operant conditioning

Question 3

The learning theory is also known as

Answer 3

• Cupboard love theory
• it suggests attachment is based on the providing of food (milk) alone

Question 4

Classical conditioning & example general

Answer 4

• Classical conditioning is based on learning through association.
• Pavlov with his experiments on dogs found that dogs could salivate at the sound of a bell
  Food (UCS) = Salivation = (UCR)
  Bell = NS = no response
  Food (UCS) + Bell (NS) = Salivation (UCR)
• Through repetition an association is created between the bell and food and classical conditioning has occurred because the sound of a bell now elicits salivation

Question 5

Classical conditioning - attachments

Answer 5

• milk/food is unconditioned stimulus
• provides pleasure/relief from hunger - unconditioned response
• caregiver/mother is neutral stimulus
• overtime the baby starts to associate the provider of milk with milk itself - conditioned response
• caregiver becomes associated with the feeling of pleasure/relief
• neutral stimulus is more conditioned stimulus (caregiver)
• conditioned response is pleasure - love - forms an attachment,ent

Question 6

Operant conditioning

Answer 6

• Operant conditioning is based on learning through rewards (reinforcement which can be positive or negative) and punishments (which can also be positive or negative)
• Behaviours which lead to a reward will be repeated. Every time a behaviour has pleasant consequences it is ‘stamped in’ or reinforced. There are two types of reinforcement
• Positive reinforcement- gaining pleasure
• Negative reinforcement- the removal of discomfort/displeasure
• Behaviours which lead to a punishment are less likely to be repeated.

Question 7

Operant conditioning general study

Answer 7

Skinner- found that rats could learn to press a lever to gain a reward

Question 8

Operant conditioning applied to attachments

Answer 8

• explains why baby cry for comfort
• crying leads to response from caregiver e.g. feeding
• if the caregiver provided the correct response then crying is reinforced
• baby directs crying for comfort to caregiver who responds with comforting ‘social suppressor’ behaviour
• this is positive reinforcement
• at the same time the negative reinforcement as crying stops - escaping from something unpleasant
• interplay of mutual reinforcement strengthens attachment

Question 9

Attachment as a secondary drive

Answer 9

• As well as conditioning, learning theory draws on the concept of drive reduction.
• Hunger is a primary drive- it’s an innate biological motivator. We are motivated to eat in order to reduce the hunger drive.
• The person who supplies the food – the caregiver is associated with pleasure and the removal of discomfort and becomes a secondary drive and a source of reward in his/her own right.
• Attachment is thus a secondary drive learned by an association between the caregiver and the satisfaction of a primary drive.

Question 10

Evaluation of learning theory

Answer 10

strengths
- learning theory is plausible
- newer explanation - social learning theory
weaknesses
- learning theory is based on animal studies
- attachment isn’t based on food
- learning theory ignores other factors associated with forming attachments

Question 11

Learning theory is plausible

Answer 11

• although there is little doubt that the learning theory is not a complete explanation of why attachments are formed, it does nonetheless explain one reason why attachments happen i.e. due to food
• There is also no doubt that many attachment behaviours e.g. hugging, kissing do provide the baby with comfort and feeling of pleasure
• Similarly most babies do form attachments with caregivers who feed them the most. (e.g. breastfeeding mothers)

Question 12

Newer explanation - social learning theory

Answer 12

• This is a further development of the learning theory by Albert Bandura.
• Dale Hay and Jo Vespo (1988) suggested that modelling (imitating the behaviour of role models) could be used to explain attachment behaviours.
• They proposed that children observe their parents’ affectionate behaviour and imitate this.
• Parents would also deliberately instruct their children about how to behave in relationships and reward appropriate attachment behaviours such as giving kisses and hugs.
• In other words a baby attaches to the caregiver because they may see significant others also attached. - - The social learning explanation has the further advantage that it is based around two-way interaction between baby and adult, so it fits better with research into reciprocity.

Question 13

Learning theory is based on animal studies

Answer 13

• A criticism of learning theory that it is largely based on studies with non-human animals such as Skinner used Pigeons and rats and Pavlov used dogs.
• Behaviourists such as Pavlov and Skinner believe that humans are really no different from other animals in terms of how they learn.
• Our behaviour patterns are constructed from the same basic building blocks of SR and they argue it is therefore legitimate to generalise from animals to humans.
• However, attachments which can be argued to be a complex behaviour cannot possibly be explained by conditioning – in fact attachment behaviours have been argued to be inborn and necessary for survival!

Question 14

Attachment isn’t based on food

Answer 14

• There is undoubtedly a wealth of both human and animal research that shows that attachment formation has absolutely nothing to do with feeding the baby
  e.g. Lorenz’s study showed that the baby goslings imprinted on Lorenz even though he did not feed them.
• Similarly Harlow’s research also shows that the baby monkeys were most attached to the cloth monkey even though the wire monkey provided them with milk.
• Furthermore Schaffer and Emerson’s study on human babies showed that many of the babies did not form primary attachments with the person who fed them the most
• in fact, 40% of babies in their study did not have their first primary attachment with their physical carer suggesting attachments are not based on feeding.

Question 15

Ignores other factors associated with forming attachment

Answer 15

• The learning theory is reductionist as it focuses too much on conditioning in terms of food and pleasure and ignores factors like interactional synchrony and reciprocity which are definitely not based on food and are important prerequisites in forming an attachment.
• In addition, studies have shown that the best quality attachments are with sensitive carers that pick up infant signals and respond appropriately.