Learning Theory

• What is the Cupboard love theory?

  A learning theory that argues that infants become attached to their caregiver because they learn that the caregiver provides food.
• What is the types of conditioning that infants do to associates food to mom?

  Classical Conditioning
• How does Classical conditioning explain attachment?

  Learning due to association.

  Food is initially unconditioned stimulus - instinctively provides pleasure which is an unconditioned response.

  Mother present every time baby is fed, mother becomes associated with pleasure of being fed.

  • She changes from being a neutral stimulus to a conditioned stimulus.

  Presence of mother = conditioned pleasure response.
• How does Operant conditioning explain attachment?

  Learning due to patterns of reinforcement.

  Positive reinforcement is when a behaviour is made more likely when receiving a pleasurable stimulus.

  • In attachment, when a parent feeds crying baby, the baby is more likely to to continue the behaviour.

  Negative reinforcement is when a behaviour is made more likely when unpleasant stimulus is removed.

  • Parent feeding is negatively reinforcing baby to keep crying to be fed.
• Who proposed the Cupboard Love Theory?

  Dollard and Miller
• What are primary drives?

  Instinctive.

  • We do not need to learn to want to sleep or eat because they are based on biological needs
• What are secondary drives?

  Learnt.

  Secondary drives ultimately lead to satisfying primary drive - in this case hunger.

  Secondary drive is useless by itself.
• EVALUATION - STRENGTH

  The learning theory has face validity; it makes sense that babies cry more when they learn crying gains them attention and ultimately food.
• EVALUATION - STRENGTH/WEAKNESS

  The behaviourist principles that have been used to explain this attachment are supported by lots of research such as Pavlov and Skinner's study.

  However, these studies are highly controlled and it is impossible to do the same for babies for ethical reasons which leads to the questioning of the reliability of the evidence being used to support the theory.
• EVALUATION - WEAKNESS

  The learning theory when applied to human attachment can be seen as environmentally reductionist.

  • This is because behaviourist argue that the complex interactions between caregivers and infants is just the result of simplistic stimulus associations, learnt responses and patterns of reinforcement.
  • Most parents would say that their relationship with their children is more complicated and that they consciously to take care of their infants.
• WEAKNESS - WEAKNESS

  Research evidence which rejects the cupboard love theory.

  HARLOW's research on rhesus macaques showed that infant monkeys did not become attached to the surrogate mother that gave food but rather to the cloth mother who did not provide milk but comfort.

  • This suggests attachment is not learnt but instinctual.