Learning theory

• Classical conditioning

  > Milk is an unconditioned stimulus which provides an unconditioned response in the infant of pleasure

  > This response is automatic and does not need to be learnt

  > The neutral stimulus is the feeder, through repetition of feeding the infant learns to associate the feeder with food and pleasure

  > Therefore the feeder becomes a conditioned stimulus, just the sight of the feeder will indicate to the child that they will get fed - producing the conditioned response of pleasure
• Operant conditioning

  > Learning behaviour through rewards, reinforcements and punishments

  > Positive reinforcements - if we are rewarded for a behaviour, the behaviour will be repeated to gain the same reward

  > Negative reinforcements - if doing a behaviour avoids a negative consequence, the behaviour will be repeated to avoid the negative consequence again

  > Punishment - if we are punished for a behaviour, the behaviour will stop
• Operant conditioning linked to attachment

  > Can be used to explain why infants cry for comfort

  > When an infant is hungry and cries, this leads to a response from the caregiver - feeding

  > This is an example of positive reinforcement - infant receives the reward of food and the crying stops

  > At the same time when the caregiver feeds the infant, the crying stops, this is negative reinforcement for the caregiver as the negative stimulus of crying has been removed and the feeding behaviour is reinforced
• Learning theory AO3

  :( Environmental reductionism

  > Theory reduces complex human behaviour of attachment down to simple basic units of learning through stimulus, response and association

  > Neglecting the holistic approach, which would take into account a persons social and culture context

  > Therefore the learning theory may lack validity as it does not allow us to understand the behaviour in context
• Learning theory AO3

  :( RTC Harlow

  > Monkey’s spent more time with the surrogate mother who provided them with comfort, rather than the surrogate mother who provided them with food

  > Learning theorists believed that non-humans and humans are equivalent

  > Therefore, contradicting the learning theory’s assumption that we learn to attach to the person who feeds us via associations, thus limiting the learning theory of attachment
• Learning theory AO3

  :( RTC Schaffer and emerson

  > Infants tended to form attachments to their mother regardless of whether she was the one who usually fed them, attachment was more due to responding to infants signals and interacting with them

  > Research by Field into the role of the father, has also shown that the best quality attachments are with the caregivers that are sensitive and responsive to the infant’s needs – of which go beyond just feeding the infant

  > Therefore feeding doesn't appear to be the most important factor in forming an attachment