learning theory of attachment

Question 1

What does the learning theory propose?

Answer 1

• all behaviour is learned
• infants are blank slates at birth and experiences influence who they become
• focuses on behaviour rather than what goes on in our minds
• suggests behaviour is learned through operation or classical conditioning

Question 2

What is classical conditioning and how does it relate to infant behaviour?

Answer 2

Learning through association

• During an infants early weeks:
An unconditioned stimulus such as food has an unconditioned response such as pleasure, and because a mother is CONSISTENTLY present when she feeds an infant, the infant might begin to associate her with the ucs - pairing them - and now the baby feels pleasure seeing the mother too.
• This means the neutral stimulus (mum) becomes a conditioned stimulus & causes a conditioned response

Question 3

What is operant conditioning and how does it relate to infant behaviour?

Answer 3

Learning through reinforcement

The drive reduction theory - a ‘drive’ being something that motivates behaviour e.g
• when an infant is hungry they get a drive to reduce the discomfort they feel from hunger
• the infant cries and the infant is fed (the drive to cry is reduced)
• feeding produces a feeling of pleasure (the reward) = positive reinforcement
• the baby repeats crying whenever it feels uncomfortable because it is hungry & wants the reward
• food becomes a primary reinforcer of the behaviour (crying) because it supplies the reward (pleasure and comfortability)
• classical conditioning - the baby begins to associate the person feeding them as a secondary reinforcer of the behaviour that supplies the reward
• the attachment occurs because the child seeks the person that supplies the reward

Question 4

What is a further development of the learning theory of attachment?

Answer 4

The SOCIAL learning theory of attachment

Question 5

Who suggested that modelling could be used to explain attachment behaviours and what did they propose?

Answer 5

Hay and Vespo (1988)

• Modelling can explain attachment
How?
• children imitate the affectionate behaviour they observe in their parents
• parents instruct infants on how to behave in relationships and reward appropriate attachment behaviours (such as giving kisses)

Question 6

Criticisms of the learning theory of attachment

Answer 6

• social learning theory is based on the assumption that food is the key to forming attachments - Harlow’s monkey study opposes this and suggests contact comfort matters more than food
• learning theory is based on research with animals - lacks validity because they present an oversimplified version of human behaviour
• drive reduction theory only explains a limited number of behaviours
• doesn’t explain why attachments form, only how they form (bowlby is better as it explains how they form)