explanations of attachment: learning theory

Question 1

what approach does the learning theory come from

Answer 1

behaviourist approach

Question 2

who proposed this theory

Answer 2

Dollars and Miller (1950)

Question 3

what is another name for this approach

Answer 3

cupboard love - emphasises importance of attachment figures providing food

Question 4

explain the role of classical conditioning

Answer 4

• associate two stimuli together
• food is unconditioned stimulus
• being fed gives pleasure that is an unconditioned response
• caregiver starts as neutral stimulus
• when caregiver provides good overtime they become associated with food. and when baby sees the person that expect food.
• neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus and the sight of the caregiver produces a conditioned response

Question 5

explain the role of operant conditioning

Answer 5

• involves learning from consequences of behaviour
• if behaviour produces pleasant response behaviour is likely to be repeated and reinforced
• if behaviour produces unpleasant consequence (punishment) it’s less likely to be repeated
• explains why babies cry for comfort. Caregiver reaponds by comforting ‘social suppressor’ behaviour.
• reinforcement is a two way process. At same time baby is reinforced for crying, caregiver revieves negative reinforcement bc crying stops and are escaping from something unpleasant is reinforcing.
• strengthens attachment.

Question 6

explain attachment as a secondary drive

Answer 6

• concept of drive reduction
• hunger thought of as primary drive- innate biological motivator. we are motivated to eat to reduce hunger drive
• sears et al 1975 suggested that as caregivers provide food the primary drive of hunger becomes generalised to them. Attachment is thus a secondary drive learned by association between caregiver and satisfaction of a primary drive.

Question 7

how is counter evidence from animal studies a limitation

Answer 7

• lack of support from animal studies
• Lorenz’s geese imprinted on first moving object they saw regardless of whether it was associated with food.
• when given a choice, Harllow’s mo keys chose the cloth mother over the wire mother that had food (milk)
• shows factors other than association w food are important for developing attachment.

Question 8

explain how counter evidence from studies on humans is a limitation

Answer 8

• Schaffer and Emerson 1964 found babies tended to form main attachment with mother regardless of whether she was the one who usually fed them
• Russel Isabella et al 1989 found high levels of interactional synchrony predicted the quality of attachment. These fa tors are not related to feeding
• suggests food is not the main factor of formation of human attachment.

Question 9

why is a strength that some conditioning may be involved

Answer 9

• elements of conditioning could be involved in some aspects of attachment.
• a baby may associate feeding with warmth and comfort with the presence of a particular adult which may influence the baby’s choice of a main attachment figure so leaning theory may still be useful.