LEARNING THEORIES

• learning theory

  by dollard and miller
• used learning theory

  to explain why an infant develops an attachment to their primary caregiver

  their primary caregiver is a provider of food

  infant learns to love whoever feeds them
• classical conditioning

  attachment is learnt through association
• order of classical conditioning

  1. food is unconditioned stimulus
  2. pleasure is the unconditioned response
  3. the caregiver is the neutral stimulus
  4. after food is given, caregiver becomes conditioned stimulus
  5. pleasure is the conditioned response
• operant conditioning

  attachment is learnt through reinforcement

  positive and negative
• operant conditioning develops the attachment

  as the infant seeks the person who can supply the reward
• positive reinforcement

  offering a reward to encourage patterns of behaviour
• negative reinforcement

  taking away an unwanted stimulus to encourage good behaviour
• 1. a limitation of learning theories of attachment is that there is counter evidence from animal research

  as animal studies have shows that the attachment formed is not entirely due to food
• 2. (limit of learning theory due to food) this is supported by evidence from

  lorenz's geese imprinted on the first moving object they saw, not whoever fed them first
• 3. (limit of learning theory due to food) further evidence that feeding is not an important factor in forming attachments

  harlow's experiment with monkeys displayed that when given a choice, when frightened, monkeys displayed attachments to the cloth-covered mother, instead of the one offering food|
• 4. (limit of learning theory due to food) this is a problem as

  as it shows food is not the only factor that forms attachments
• 5. (limit of learning theory due to food) therefore suggesting that

  factors other than association with food are important in the formation of attachments
• 1. another limit to learning theories is that they ignore other factors associated with attachments

  like reciprocity, interactional synchrony, sensitivity levels
• 2. (limit of learning theories - ignore factors) this is a problem as

  these factors undermine the idea of 'cupboard love'

  infants and caregivers have much more complex interactions that leads to strong relationships
• 3. (limit of learning theories - ignore factors) bowlby's theory of attachment is more valuable as

  it explains why attachments form and the advantages of an attachment (like protection from harm which enhances survival)
• 4. (limit of learning theories - ignore factors) however it can be argued that learning theory does have some value

  as infants do learn through association and reinforcement

  but food may not be the main reinforcer

  more likely to be attention and responsiveness from caregiver
• 5. (limit of learning theories - ignore factors) therefore can be argued that

  there are other factors that are better at explaining how an attachment forms and that learning theory is too simplistic

  and now seems outdated