Explanations of attachment: Learning Theory Flashcards
(11 cards)
What is a learning theory?
Learning theory: a set of theories from the behaviourist approach to psychology, that emphasize the role of learning in the acquisition of behavior. Explanations include classical and operant conditioning.
What did John Dollard and Neal Miller (1950) propose?
care giver-infant attachment can be explained by the learning theory.
Their approach is sometimes called ‘cupboard love’ because it emphasises the importance of the caregiver as a provider of food.
Children learn to love whoever feeds them.
How does ‘cupboard love’ link to classical conditioning
Attachments are said to be learned by the stimulus of food (UCS), which produces a natural response of pleasure that we don’t have to learn (UCR).
A caregiver starts as a neutral stimulus (produces a neutral response). When the same person provides food over time they become associated with ‘food’ – when the baby sees this person there is an immediate expectation of food.
The neutral stimulus (NS) has become a conditioned stimulus (CS).
After several paired presentations of caregiver and food- infant learns to associate pleasure with the caregiver, without any need for food (CR).
What is a limitation of ‘Cupboard love’
P: A limitation is that there is counter-evidence from human research.
E: Schaffer and Emerson’s study shows that many of the baby developed a primary attachment to their biological mother even though other carers did most of the feeding.
C: These findings are a problem for theory as it suggests that feeding is not the key element to attachment and so there is no unconditioned stimulus or primary drive involved.
How does operant conditioning link to ‘cupboard love’
Operant conditioning can explain why babies cry for comfort which is an important behaviour in building attachment.
Crying leads to a response from the caregiver, for example feeding. As long as the caregiver provides the correct response, crying is reinforced.
The baby then directs crying for comfort towards the caregiver who responds with comforting ‘social suppressor’ behaviour.
This reinforcement is a two-way process. At the same time that the baby is being reinforced for crying, the caregiver receives negative reinforcement because the crying stops, they are escaping from something unpleasant.
What is drive reduction?
Suggests that when humans experiences a
physiological or psychological need (such as hunger) they feel a drive to satisfy that need.
Primary drive = hunger
Secondary drive = individual who will feed them
Infants seek person who can supply the reward
What are the methodological issues with research evidence for learning theory as an explanation for attachment?
P: A limitation is that there are methodological issues with the research evidence for learning theory
E: Pavlov and Skinner’s research was conducted with rats and pigeons and is criticised for its over-reliance on animals.
C: This suggests that the learning theory explanation may lack validity as it is difficult to generalise animal findings to humans.
What is a limitation, from the view point of Lorenz, of the learning theory as an explanation for attachment?
P: A limitation of the learning theory is that it is refuted by Lorenz’s research.
E: He found that goslings followed the first moving object that they saw, known as imprinting which appears to be
innate to aid survival.
C: This shows that non-human animals demonstrate some inborn attachment behaviours which goes against the idea that we ‘learn’ to attach to a caregiver because they feed us.
What is a limitation, from the view point of Harlow’s, of the learning theory as an explanation for attachment?
P: A limitation is that learning theory is undermined by research by
Harlow.
E: He found that baby monkeys spent more time with a soft towelling monkey which provided no food, in comparison to a wire monkey that provided food. Suggesting that monkeys do not form attachments based on food alone and prefer contact comfort.
C: These findings go against the ‘cupboard love’
explanation and suggest alternative processes may have been ignored.
Briefly explain how learning theory explains human attachment. (4 marks)
Learning theory explains how infants learn to become attached to their primary caregiver through both classical and operant conditioning.
Classical conditioning is a process of learning by associating two stimuli together to condition a response. For example an infant learning to associate pleasure with their caregiver (food (UCS) paired with caregiver (NS) elicits pleasure as a response (CR).
Another explanation is operant conditioning, a process in which behaviour is learned through consequences. Positive reinforcement occurs when a caregiver provides food for their infant, producing feelings of pleasure which is rewarding. This is reciprocated for the caregiver as their baby will stop crying and will experience this as a reward in the form of negative reinforcement.
Outline research which challenges the learning theory of attachment. (4 marks)
Learning theory has been refuted and challenged by key animal research conducted by Harlow and Lorenz.
Harlow found that baby rhesus monkeys spent more time with a soft towelling monkey which provided food, in comparison to a wire monkey that provided food. This shows that baby monkeys do not produce attachments based on food alone and prefer contact comfort.
These findings challenge the learning theories ‘cupboard love’ explanation of attachment and suggests that alternative processes have been ignored.
