Learning theory Flashcards
how is attachment explained through learning theory.
it explains the learning theory by operant and classical conditioning. operant is learned through consequences and classical is learnt through association.
how does classical conditioning explains attachment.
in classical conditioning the baby associated the care with food. food in unconditioned stimulus which is associated with pleasure. Carer is the neutral stimulus which means a stimulus with no response. Overtime when the carer feed’s the child he/she gets associated with food and becomes the conditioned stimulus which evokes pleasure and through this attachment is formed between them.
how is attachment formed through operant conditioning.
in the operant conditioning if the behaviour result’s in agreeable consequences it likely to be repeated but if the behaviour results in disagreeable consequences then its likely to be declined. if crying result’s in feeding, then the consequences are unpleasant and the crying is reinforced escaping the unpleasant stimulus is also agreeable so its reinforcement. caregivers don’t like hearing children cry so therefore the cessation of crying is a negative reinforcement as the caregiver would behave in the way that would make them stop crying. Smiling of the child would be a positive reinforcement as the care -giver would act in a way that would evoke the child smile . through this the attachment between the caregiver na the infant is formed.
how is Harlow’s study is a limitation of learning theory.
because he found that the monkey went to the mother that gave contact comfort to him rather the mother who fed the monkey. this is limitation because it shows the food it not the main factor for attachment there are other factors that have a big impact on forming attachment. therefore this lacks the validity of the learning theory explanation.
how is a strength of learning theory it has some face validity.
because there is something about feeding that support the development of attachment between a care- giver and the infant it could be due to attention and responsiveness tats assist in the development of attachment formation but its not involve din the factors for learning theory. this is strength because if feeding is not the full explanation of attachment it still cant be be underestimated.
how is the bowlby theory a limitation of learning theory.
because the learning theory ignores the nature of the nature-nurture debate. As the bowl by theory claims that attachment evolved the behaviour that makes the survival and therefore it innate whereas the learning states that attachment is developed through classical and operant conditioning. this is a limitation because the learning theory lacks validity.
