Primary and secondary drive

• The body has a number of drive states that infants will communicate with their caregiver it’s needs to reduce the drive state
• They learn that contact with their caregiver is reinforcing
• This leads to an attachment forming as a result of these consequences
• Learning theory focuses on drive reduction, hunger is a primary drive as it is innate and biological motivator
• Robert Sears (1957) suggests that as caregivers provide food, the primary drive becomes generalised to them
• Because the caregiver helps to reduce hunger, the infants attachment to the caregiver becomes a secondary drive as a result of the satisfaction