learning theory

• What is the learning theory?

  - A set of theories from the behaviourist approach that emphasise the role of learning in the acquisition of behaviour, and the importance of the caregiver as a provider of food.
• What does learning theory suggest?

  - Learning theory suggests that all infants are born as ‘blank slates’ and that ALL behavior is ‘learned’ rather than innate.

  --> In other words, attachment is a result of nurture rather than nature.

  - suggests that the infant becomes attached to a caregiver because it ‘learns’ that the caregiver will meet their physiological (nutritional) needs (i.e. becomes attached to the caregiver who provides the infant with food)

  - Behaviourists suggest that attachment is learned by classical and operant conditioning (learning by association and reinforcement).
• Define classical conditioning.

  Ivan Pavlov pioneered classical conditioning, describing learning through association.

  - main assumption: behavior is learned by associating stimuli.

  Example: We learn to respond to new events and people similarly to how we respond to familiar events.
• What is classical conditioning?


  - learning involves associating two stimuli, allowing a response to one as we would to the other.

  - in attachment, the mother's provision of food (unconditioned stimulus) prompts relief from hunger (unconditioned response).

  - the neutral stimulus, the feeder, becomes the conditioned stimulus through repetition.

  - the sight of the feeder (conditioned stimulus) triggers relief (conditioned response) when the baby is hungry.

  - from a learning perspective, this conditioned response is termed love, forming an attachment between caregiver and infant.
• What does classical conditioning in attachment suggest?

  - Classical conditioning suggests that a child learns to associate their caregiver with their needs being met (feeding them) and so an attachment is formed.

  - The stimulus of food produces pleasure (an unconditioned stimulus which produces an unconditioned response).

  The person providing the food (usually the mother) becomes associated with this pleasure and therefore becomes a conditioned stimulus.

  - Over time, as an association is formed, the food-giver becomes a source of pleasure regardless of whether they provide food or not.
• What is operant conditioning'?

  - learning through consequences of behavior, involving reinforcement

  - pleasant consequence encourages repeated actions; punishment discourages repetition.

  - crying in babies may be explained as getting a comforting response (food or cuddles), reinforcing the behavior.

  two-way reinforcement: baby reinforced for crying, caregiver negatively reinforced as crying stops, reinforcing caregiving behavior.

  This mutual reinforcement strengthens attachment.
• What is the 'drive reduction' theory? (attachment as a secondary drive) (Sears et al)

  - draws on the concept where hunger is a primary, innate motivator.

  - Sears et al. (1975) proposed that as a caregiver provides food, the primary drive of hunger generalizes to them.

  - attachment is considered a secondary drive, learned through the association between the caregiver and satisfying the primary drive of hunger.
• counter-evidence from animal studies 


  P: limitation - lack of support from studies conducted on animals

  E: Harlow monkeys displayed attachment behavior to soft surrogate mothers in preference to wire on who provided milk

  E: so no support for importance of food for attachment

  L: therefore factors other than food are associated with forming attachments
• counter-evidence from studies on humans

  P: limitation - lack of support from studies on human babies

  E: The researcher found that babies tend to form first attachment to mothers regardless of whether she fed them

  E: researcher found a high level of interactional synchrony predicted quality of attachment

  L: therefore food not main factor in human attachments
• some conditioning may be involved

  P: strength - elements of conditioning involved

  E: unlikely association with food plays a central role in attachment but conditioning may still play a role

  E: e.g. baby may associate warm, comfortable feelings with the presence of a particular adult which may influence the babys choice of first attachment

  L: therefore learning theory useful in understanding attachment
• counterpoint 


  P: limitation - conditioning inadequate explanation

  E: both classical and operant conditioning see baby as playing passive role in attachment - responding to associations with comfort/reward

  E: Research shows baby takes a more active role in the interactions that produce attachment

  L: therefore conditioning inadequate explanation
• reinforcement 


  positive Reinforcement: give something good

  negative Reinforcement: take away something bad
• punishment 


  positive Punishment: Removing something good

  negative Punishment: Taking something good