Some conditioning may be involved

• P- one strength of learning is that elements of conditioning could be involved in some aspects of attachment
• E- it seems unlikely that association with food plays a central role in attachment, but conditioning may still play a role
• E- for example a baby may associate feeling warm and comfortable with the presence of a particular adult, and this may Influence the baby’s choice of their main attachment figure
• L- this means that learning theory may still be useful in understanding the development of attachment
• Both classical and operant conditioning explanation see the baby playing a relatively passive role in attachment simply responding to association with comfort however research shows that babies take a very active role in the interaction that produce attachment (Feldman 2007)