learning theory attachment Flashcards
(17 cards)
What do learning theories emphasize?
The role of learning in behavior acquisition.
Learning theories encompass a wide range of perspectives on how behaviors are learned and acquired.
What was the dominant approach to learning in the 1950s?
The behaviorist approach.
This approach focused on observable behaviors and the ways they are learned through conditioning.
What does Dollard and Miller’s ‘cupboard love’ theory suggest?
Children learn to love those who feed them.
This theory highlights the caregiver’s role as a provider of food in attachment formation.
Who proposed the learning theory of attachment?
Dollard and Miller.
Their work emphasized the caregiver’s provision of food as central to attachment.
What does the term ‘cupboard love’ reflect?
Love is conditioned by the caregiver’s ability to satisfy basic needs.
This concept illustrates the connection between caregiving and emotional attachment.
What is the critical period in attachment formation?
A specific time frame in which attachments must form for healthy emotional development.
This concept is crucial for understanding the timing of attachment behaviors.
What is Bowlby’s internal working model?
Mental representations of self and others that influence future relationships.
This model plays a significant role in how individuals approach future social interactions.
What does classical conditioning involve?
Associating two stimuli, leading to a learned response.
This mechanism is foundational in understanding how attachments are formed.
In attachment theory, what is the unconditioned stimulus?
Food.
Food elicits pleasure (unconditioned response) without prior learning.
How does the caregiver initially function in attachment?
As a neutral stimulus.
The caregiver does not elicit a strong response from the infant until associated with food.
What transforms the caregiver from a neutral to a conditioned stimulus?
Repeated association with food.
This process leads to a conditioned response of pleasure from the infant.
What does operant conditioning involve?
Learning behaviors based on their consequences.
It reinforces behaviors that lead to positive outcomes.
What role does crying play in attachment formation?
It prompts caregiver responses such as feeding or comforting.
Crying is critical for creating and strengthening the attachment bond.
What is the mutual reinforcement process in attachment?
The baby is reinforced for crying, while the caregiver experiences negative reinforcement when the crying stops.
This dynamic enhances the attachment between caregiver and child.
What does drive reduction theory posit?
Biological drives motivate behavior to reduce discomfort.
Hunger is a primary drive that compels individuals to seek food.
What did Sears et al. (1975) propose about attachment?
Attachment becomes a secondary drive associated with caregivers providing food.
This illustrates how attachment is learned through the satisfaction of primary biological needs.
What is the significance of understanding attachment as a secondary drive?
It emphasizes the role of caregivers in fulfilling basic needs for emotional development.
This perspective aligns with the learning theory’s view that attachment is learned rather than instinctual.
