learning theory of attachment

learning theory of attachment

1. importance of food

   • this explanation emphasises the importance of food because babies learn to love whoever feeds them.

2. Classical conditioning

   • learning through association of a stimili
     • baby learns that the mother produces a sense of pleasure
       • the UCS of the food leads to the UCR of pleasure
       • primary care giver starts off as the NS , this person providing food overtime will become associated with food so the NS becomes the CS.
         • once conditioning has taken place sight of the caregiver producer the CR of pleasure

3. operant conditioning

   • behavior is shaped and maintained by its consequenses
     • explains why babies cry for comfort - important building block for attachment
       • crying leads to a response from the caregiver such as feeding. crying is reinforced as it produces a pleasurable consequence (as long as the correct response is provided)

4. hunger is a primary drive, and innate biological motivator - we are motivated to eat to reduce the hunger drive

   • attachment is a secondary drive = learned by and association between the caregiver and the satisfaction of primary drive
     • sears suggests that as caregivers provide food the primary drive of hunger gets generalised

5. EVALUATION POINTS

   • WEAKNESS: animal studies provide evidence against food as basis of attachment
     • this is because lorenz's imprinted geese imprinted maintained attachments regardless who fed them. and Harlow's monkeys attached to a soft surrogate in preference to a wire one which dispensed milk
       • thus showing attachment did not develop as a result of feeding
         • weakens the validity of the theory that children learn attachment through a learning theory/ feeding basis
   • WEAKNESS: human research also shows that feeding isn't important
     • Schaffer and Emerson showed that for many babies (less than half) a primary attachment was not to the person who fed them
       • shows that feeding isn't the key element to attachment and so there is no unconditioned stimulus or primary drive
         • suggests that this explanation is deterministic as it only sees attachment as being learnt through classical/ operant conditioning and doesnt take account of any other factors influencing attachment such as reciprocity and interactional synchrony