The Learning Theory Flashcards
Classical conditioning
Learning through association
How does classical conditioning happen?
We do not need to learn that food is pleasurable, this means that the food is an unconditioned stimulus and the pleasure is an unconditioned response. As the caregiver doesn’t naturally provide the food, they become a neutral stimulus. The caregiver provides food for the child so they begin to associate the mother with the food and pleasure. The mother then becomes a conditioned stimulus and the pleasure is a conditioned response.
Operant conditioning
Learning by reinforcement
How does operant conditioning happen?
If a behaviour is positively reinforced (adding something positive or removing something negative) makes it more likely to repeat the behaviour. In attachment the main behaviour being reinforced is crying. A child will cry to show their distress and the caregiver responds by feeding the child so the childs discomfort is reduced and learns to repeat the behaviour. This is known as +ve reinforcement. The infant reinforces the behaviour that feeding the child will stop the child crying. This means that the caregiver will repeat the action and this is known as +ve reinforcement.
Disadvantage of the learning theory: evidence against comes from Harlow.
E: 8 rhesus monkeys were separated from their mother after birth and placed with 2 wire mothers. One fed the monkey and one was covered in cloth. Harlow found that the monkeys spent the most time with the cloth mother. It was concluded that the monkeys valued comfort over the ability of the mother to provide food. This is problematic because it suggests that the learning theory is inaccurate as the monkeys should’ve learned to associate the food mother with pleasure and attached to them instead.
Disadvantage of the learning theory comes from Lorenz’s theory of ‘imprinting’.
E: newborns imprint an image of of the first moving object that they see (usually their parents)within hours of being born which allows them to stick closely to this important source of protection and food.
E: Lorenz (1935) he used newly hatched greylag geese who, after seeing Lorenz shortly after hatching, they followed him everywhere as he became their imprinted mother.
L: suggests that attachment is innate as the infants were too young to have learned anything at this stage.
Disadvantage of the learning theory: Schaffer and Emerson 1964 provide evidence against the learning theory.
E: infants from Glasgow had formed many attachments to mothers, fathers and grandparents and they weren’t always attached most to the person who fed them.
E: concluded that attachments could be formed with many different people and that interaction and sensitivity were more important than food.
L: the learning theory does not suggest why people attach.
Advantage of the learning theory: scientific and plausible explanation
E: learning theory and classical conditioning can explain how humans develop many behaviours in response to their environment.
E: behaviourists have shown that many phobias develop when we learn to associate certain situations with danger even if the association is irrational.
L: Learning may play a similar role in attachment as we clearly learn through association.
Disadvantage to the learning theory: tronick et al 1992 provides evidence against the learning theory.
E: studied an African tribe, the Efe, from Zaire, in this tribe it is tradition for infants to be looked after and even breastfed by different women in the tribe.
It was found that despite being fed by different women, at 6 months the infants still shopped a primary attachment to their biological mother.
L: -ve as the learning theory would expect infants to be attached to the individual who feeds them, therefore this study would suggest that the learning theory is an inaccurate explanation of human attachment.
What happens before conditioning in the learning theory?
There is an unconditioned stimulus (the food) and a unconditioned response (pleasure)
What happens during conditioning?
The mother doesn’t naturally provide a pleasure response so she is a neutral stimulus.
Neutral stimulus + unconditioned stimulus = unconditioned response
What happens after conditioning?
Over time the caregiver provides food so the child learns to associate the caregiver with pleasure.
Conditioned stimulus = conditioned response
What is the positive of the learning theory?
It is a scientific and plausible explanation
What are the negatives of the learning theory?
Harlow, lorenz’s theory of imprinting, Schaffer and Emerson, Tronick et al
