LEARNING THEORY ATTACHMENT

• Dollard and who (1950) made up the learning theory?

  Miller
• CLASSICAL CONDITIONING IN ATTACHENT

  • Food = UCS ➡ Pleasure = UCR
  • Carer = NS ➡ NR from baby
  • Carer (NS) + Food (UCS) overtime ➡ Pleasure = UCR
  • Carer = CS ➡ Pleasure = CR
• As long as carer gives right response, the babies crying is positively reinforced
• In OC, the carer responds with ' social suppressor ' behaviour
• Is the carer or food the reward for the baby in OC?

  Food
• NEGATIVE REINFORCMENT

  • Carer receives this as the babies crying stops when they respond
  • This is to ' escape ' from unpleasant behaviour
  • The reinforcement between CG + baby = mutual
• ATTACHMENT AS SECONDARY DRIVE

  • Hunger = ' primary drive' as it is an innate + biological behaviour motivator - helps with drive reduction
  • Attachment = secondary drive as carer = food provider so is associated with food
• STRENGTH - Some conditioning may be involved

  E - Food not central role but conditioning still involved - Baby associate feeling comfortable with particular adult - influence choice of main attachment figure

  L - LT still useful in understanding development of attachments
• LIM 1 - Lack of animal studies support

  E - Harlow - no food importance - Monkeys displayed attachment to to soft cloth ' mother ' not the wire one which provided milk

  + Lorenz's geese imprinted on first thing they saw - not food

  L - Factors other than food = more important
• LIM 2 - Lack of support from human studies

  E - Schaffer + Emerson (1964) -formed main attachment with mother even if didn't feed them + Isabella et al - high levels of interactional synchrony predicted attachment quality - unrelated to food
• LIM 3 - Social learning theory = better alternative

  E - Parents teach child to ♡ them by modelling attachment behaviour + reinforce ♡ behaviour by approval of baby displaying own attachment behaviour (interactive not passive)

  L - Not explain how similar attachment is so not dominant theory