Learning Theory

Learning Theory

1. Classical Conditioning

   • The idea that children are conditioned to attach to their caregiver because they feed them and associate the caregiver with food
   • Unconditioned Stimulus (Food) ---> Unconditioned Response (Pleasure)
   • Neutral Stimulus (Mother) ---> No response
   • Unconditioned S (Food) + Neutral (Mother) ---> Unconditioned R (Pleasure)
   • Conditioned Stimulus ---> Conditioned Response (Pleasure)
   • Pleasure is sometimes considered love by theorists

2. Operant Conditioning

   • This involves learning the behaviour and repeating it when they have a good outcome
     • Reinforcement
   • Babies cry for comfort which builds the caregiver-infant attachment
   • As long as the crying gets the correct response (i.e. food) then the baby will cry again
   • The caregiver experiences negative reinforcement as they stop the baby from crying to stop experiencing something unpleasant

3. Attachment with Secondary Drive

   • Hunger is innate and is thought as a primary drive
   • We are motivated to eat in order to reduce the hunger drive
   • Sears et al (1957) caregivers provide food which solves the primary drive, then the attachment is a secondary drive by association between caregiver and satisfaction of primary drive

4. Evaluation

   • Lorenz and Harlow's studies show that attachment isn't because the child needs food
   • Schaffer and Emerson shows that children attach to their mother first even when others feed the child
   • Isabella et al (1989) shows quality of attachment is associated with reciprocity and interaction synchrony and parents that pick up on children's signals
   • Some elements of LT could still be involved like CC with associating the caregiver with comfort and social interation but not just food
   • Dale Hay and Jo Vespo (1988) proposed new theory based on SLT where they suggest that parents teach children to love them by modelling attachment behaviour (cuddling etc)

5. John Dollard and Neal Miller (1950) and sometimes called 'Cupboard Love'