children learn to become attached to their caregiver
learn this attachment usually by whoever gives them food - aka cupboard love
child can learn this by classical/operant conditioning
nurture - due to environment
classical conditioning & attachment?
food is uncon stimulus that produces unconresponse of pleasure in baby
at outset cg is neutralstimulus who produces noresponse
but as she is continuallypaired with uncon stimulus she slowly becomes associated with pleasure until eventually mother alone can producepleasure
mother has now become conditionedstimulus & pleasure she brings is conditionedresponse
operant conditioning & attachment?
when baby cries mother responds by feeding baby therefore giving baby positivereinforcement
so next time baby is hungry they are likely to repeat behaviour of crying in order to get same reinforcement
at same time by mother stopping crying it is a negative reinforcement to mother making her more likely to repeat same behaviour of feeding baby
by both mother & child being reinforced this strengthens & creates an attachment
4 X of learning theory of attachment?
evidence to contradict from harlows animal study
evidence to contradict from lorenz animal study
evidence to contradict from lambs study
reductionist
* scientific?
focuses on observable behaviour - can be physically seen & measured (empirical)
e.g can clearly see when baby is crying & if they are comforted after food
internal
uses empirical methods
can establish cause & effect relationship between att & learning through association
X harlows animal study?
1959
found rhesusmonkeys who were raised by 2artificialsurrogatemothers - one which provided food & one which provided comfort
monkeys spent most of their time cuddled to softcloth even when they had nomilk left
suggests att is based on contact-comfort not food.
theory implies that babiesform att from food
these findings show that even when food was present there was clear preference for seekingcomfort & emotionalsupport
other reasons for forming att
X lorenz animal study?
split clutch of geese eggs into 2 groups
one was left with natural mother (control) & other was placed in incubator (experimental)
made sure that when eggs hatched he was 1st moving object they saw
control followed their mother goose everywhere 2nd followed lorenz.
baby geese imprint the moment they hatch
highlights some forms of behaviour (imprinting) are present from birth
suggests att is innatenotlearnt - down to nature rather than nurture
X lambs study?
1987
children form strong att with fathers but for different reasons
through play
shows fathers have vital role in att but develops differently to role of mum.
evidence to suggest that att is not learned to gainfood but instead are formed through play
play may be a more importantreason to form att bond
X reductionist?
pro - allows to research area in great detail so likely to be scientific e.g uses empirical methods such as lab exp & observe behaviours which we can physically see
con - neglects other factors that may be important in forming att such as seeking contact-comfort & protection
too simplistic - suggests that everyone learns to form att purely based on presence of food
instead a more holistic approach to explaining behaviour would be best
define attachment?
an emotional relationship between two people in which each seeks closeness & feels more secure when in presence of attachment figure