Learning Theory

• Learning Theory of Attachment: Dollard and Miller (1949):

  • The Learning theory of attachment is a behaviourist explanation that suggests that attachments develop through classical and operant conditioning.
  • It is sometimes referred to as the cupboard love theory, as the infant attaches to the caregiver who provides the food.
• Classical Conditioning explaining Attachment:

  • Neutral Stimulus: Mother
  • Unconditioned Stimulus: Milk
  • Unconditioned Response: Comfort
  • DURING CONDITIONING: NS AND UCS are paired continuously
  • Conditioned Stimulus: Mother
  • Conditioned Response: Comfort
• Operant Conditioning from Pavlov:

  • Learning through reward, reinforcement, or punishment.
  • Reinforcement: Making a behaviour more likely to occur.
  • Positive Reinforcement: Add something positive.
  • Negative Reinforcement: Remove something negative.
  • Punishment: Add something negative.
• Positive Reinforcement in Attachment development:

  • A Drive Reduction Theory:
  • Attachment is learned through the consequences of feeding.
  • The Baby is hungry (this is the drive).
  • The Baby cries for food.
  • The Baby is fed (this relieves the drive).
  • Feeding = rewarding
  • Food = primary reinforcer to provide the reward.
  • Caregiver = secondary reinforcer.
• Negative Reinforcement in Attachment:

  • From the Caregiver’s perspective, comforting the infant leads to the crying stopping, so this behaviour will be repeated by the caregiver.
  • This is negative reinforcement because they are continuing a behaviour to avoid a negative outcome.
• Learning Theory in Attachment: Weakness:

  • The Learning Theory is undermined by Harlow’s findings.
  • His research found that baby monkeys preferred cloth mothers (which provided comfort but no food) over wire mothers (which provided food but no comfort).
  • This shows that babies are not always just attached to the caregiver because they provide food. This is because when frightened, the monkeys ran to the cloth mother for comfort.
  • Monkeys raised without a real mother showed long-term social and emotional damage, such as aggression, fearfulness, and difficulty mating or parenting.
  • Furthermore, Lorenz’s findings also show that infant animals do not attach due to the provision of food. He found that attachment is instinctive for survival purposes. Therefore, he refutes the conclusions of the learning theory.
• Learning Theory in Attachment: Weakness (2):

  • Pavlov and Skinner’s work involves animals, which means that there are issues in generalisability issues to humans. The results cannot be extrapolated.
  • Attachment theory is based on animal studies.
  • This is a weakness because human infant attachment is a complex bond and carries a reductionist viewpoint.
  • However, some may argue that this is not a big issue as the brain structures of rats and monkeys are similar to humans, so there is some relevance in using their research which consistently shows consistent findings.
• Learning Theory in Attachment: Weakness (3):

  • Various other theories are more fit for purpose as opposed to the Learning Theory.
  • For example, Bowlby’s monotropic theory outlines that infants have an innate readiness during the critical period to form an attachment to their caregiver to protect them from harm whilst they are young and vulnerable.
  • This is a stronger theory because the evolutionary perspective not only explains how an attachment forms, but also the reasons behind it (to enhance survival).
  • Furthermore, Bowlby’s theory accounts for biological predispositions, emotional bonds, and real-life observations, such as infants forming attachments even when caregivers don’t provide food. This is not considered by the Learning Theory which takes a more reductionist approach.