Learning theory

• Learning theory suggests that attachments are no more than a set of learned behaviours established through conditioning. This makes it a behaviourist theory.
• Classical conditioning in attachment: where the infant learns attachment with a primary caregiver with the expectation of food, an unconditioned stimulus, which elicits the pleasure response.
• Food (UCS) --> Pleasure (UCR)

  Food (UCS) + Mother (NS) stimuli repeatedly paired --> Pleasure (UCR)

  Mother (CS) --> Pleasure (CR)
• operant conditioning and classical conditioning together form the dual-process model. Both combine into the cupboard love theory.
• Operant conditioning: When an infant is hungry, a drive is created to remove the unpleasant feeling. After they are fed, the drive is reduced, eliciting a feeling of pleasure. This is called negative reinforcement, and the behaviour that led to feeding is more likely to be repeated in the future (eg crying).
• Through classical conditioning, the person who supplies food becomes the secondary reinforcer as food is the primary reinforcer. Attachment occurs because the infant seeks the person supplying the reward.