Lesson 5 - Learning Theory of Attachment

Question 1

Learning Theory

Answer 1

All behaviour is learned rather than being innate or inherited from parents

People learn behaviour through two types of conditioning:

• Classical Conditioning
• Operant Conditioning

Question 2

Classical Conditioining

Answer 2

An infant is born with certain reflex responses which are unconditioned responses
Food is an unconditioned stimulus producing reflex of pleasure
Person giving food is a neutral stimulus but over time becomes associated with pleasure from food
Person becomes a conditioned stimulus producing a conditioned response
This is how attachment bond develops and is the reason children feel pleasure in presence of caregiver

Question 3

Operant Conditioning

Answer 3

Strengthens attachment
Baby receives positive reinforcement (behaviour produces a pleasant consequence) for crying when they are fed
The caregiver receives negative reinforcement (when behaviour removes something unpleasant) for feeding their baby when they cry as feeding the baby makes the crying stop

Question 4

Learning Theory of Attachment Evaluation Points

Answer 4

Plausible
Harlow (1959)
Schaffer and Emerson (1964)
Bowlby’s Theory of Attachment
Simplistic

Question 5

Learning Theory of Attachment Evaluation
Plausible
Positive

Answer 5

Plausible and scientific as it is founded in established theory
Likely that association between the provision of needs and the person providing those needs can lead to strong attachments

Question 6

Learning Theory of Attachment Evaluation
Harlow (1959)
Negative

Answer 6

Separated infant Rheus monkeys from their mothers and put them in cages
Milk was provided either by a wire mesh ‘surrogate mother’ or one made of comfortable south cloth
Monkey clung to soft cloth ‘mother’, especially when scared by an aversive stimulus even if it did not provide milk
Suggests comfort is more important than food in determining who a baby will attach to

Question 7

Learning Theory of Attachment Evaluation
Schaffer and Emerson (1964)
Negative

Answer 7

Food is not necessary for attachment to form
Discovered babies are often attached to people who play with them rather than feed them
In 39% of cases even though mother was the one who fed the baby, the baby was more attached to someone else

Question 8

Learning Theory of Attachment Evaluation
Bowlby’s Theory of Attachment
Negative

Answer 8

Theory explains how attachments form but not why they form

According to Bowlby’s theory of attachment, infants form an attachment to their caregiver to ensure they are protected

Question 9

Learning Theory of Attachment Evaluation
Simplistic
Negative

Answer 9

Learning theory is environmentally reductionist as it explains a complex human behaviour in an overly simplistic way
Infant and caregiver relationship is very varied, sophisticated and complicated behaviour and there are different types of attachment
Therefore it is very unlikely that attachment it merely the result of the caregiver providing the infant with food
Learning theory is environmentally deterministic as it states early learning determines later attachment behaviours