lesson 5- learning theory of attachment

Question 1

classical conditioning

Answer 1

-infant is born with certain reflex responses, the stimulus of food is an unconditioned stimulus and it produces the reflex of pleasure, an unconditioned response
-person providing food is a neutral stimulus but over time they become associated with the pleasure gained from food
-person becomes a conditioned stimulus that produces pleasure as a conditioned response
-according to classical conditioning this is how the attachment bond develops and is the reason children feel pleasure in their caregiver’s presence

Question 2

operant conditioning

Answer 2

-strengthens attachment
-baby receives positive reinforcement for crying when they are hungry as the caregiver feeds them
-caregiver receives negative reinforcement for feeding their baby when they cry as feeding the baby makes the crying stop

Question 3

evaluation (1 strength 4 weakness)

Answer 3

-plausible and scientific, founded in established theory, likely that association between provision of needs and person providing needs can lead to strong attachments
-Harlow (1959) separated Rhesus monkeys from their mothers and put them in cages, milk was provided either by a wire mesh ‘surrogate mother’ or one made of comfortable cloth, the monkeys clung to the soft cloth mother especially when scared by an aversive stimulus, even if it did not provide milk, suggests that comfort is more important than food in determining whom a baby will attach to
-S&E (1964) also found food is not necessary for attachment to form, discovered babies are often attached to people who play with them rather than people who feed them, in 39% cases even though the mother was the one who fed the baby, was more attached to someone else
-explains how attachments form but not why, according to Bowlby’s theory infants form attachments to ensure they are protected
-environmentally reductionist, infant caregiver relationships is varied complicated behaviour, many different types, unlikely that attachment is merely result of caregiver providing food, environmentally deterministic-states early learning determines later attachment behaviours