Learning theory- attachment

• who were the two psychologists who said attachment could be explained by the learning theory

  Dollard and Miller
• what else is this approach called and why


  "cupboard love" because it shows the importance of the caregiver as the provider of food. Children learn to love people who feed them
• What's classical conditioning?


  Learning through association, learning to involve two stimuli together so we can respond the same way we respond to the other.
• in attachment what is the unconditioned stimulus, neutral stimulus and cs, cr , ucr 

  so food is the unconditioned stimulus because with food we get pleasure and we dont learn that so its an unconditioned response . caregiver starts of as the neutral stimulus , when that person consistently provides food they become associated with the food, the they become the conditioned stimulus , once conditioning has happened the sight of the caregiver gives them a conditioned response of pleasure, according to learning theorists this is love.
• What can operant conditioning explain?

  why babies cry for comfort- this is an important behaviour to explain attachment.crying leads to a response from caregiver (feeding)
• What does operant conditioning involve?

  Learning to repeat behaviour, or not, depending on its consequencespositive reinforcement- will make it more likely for person to repeat behaviour.negative reinforcement- person will do things to avoid this
• what happens if caregiver gives a good response

  the behaviour is reinforced. The child may cry for comfort from the caregiver who responds with "social suppressor" behaviour both caregiver and infant are reinforced positively, with positive reinforcement for the child for crying and negative reinforcement for the adult. Both are being rewarded infant is being rewarded with food (pr) and the caregiver is being rewarded with the removal of crying. Mutual reinforcement strengthens attachment.
• As well as conditioning, Learning Theory draws on the concept of...

  Drive Reduction.Hunger can be thought of as the Primary Drive - it is an innate, biological motivator. We are motivated to eat to reduce the hunger.Sears et al suggested as a caregiver provides the food, the primary drive of hunger becomes Generalised to them. Attachment is thus a Secondary Drive learned by an Association between the Caregiver and the satisfaction of a Primary Drive.
• Outline the A03 points for The learning theory

  counter evident from animal studies

  counter-evidence from human research

  support for importance of conditioning

  learning theory ignores other factors linked with attachment
• Outline counter-evidence from human research

  research with human infants show feeding is not important for attachment.schaffer and emersons study showed babies were attached to thier mothers regardless of eho fed them.isebella found high levels of interactional synchrony predicted the quality of attachment. Shows food isnt the main factor of human attachments.
• Outline support for importance of conditioning

  although its unlikely for food to play a big role in attachment conditioning may play a small role.for example babies mat associate feeding and feeling comfortable to an adult which could influence their choice on attachment figure which shows learning theory could still be important for attachment , however lt see babies as playing more of a passive role wheras other studies show babies playing an active rolemfor example feld man amd eidleman in reciprocity and isebella and melzoff and moore in interactional synchrony
• Outline learning theory ignores other factors linked with attachment

  research in early infant and caregiver attachments suggests quality of attachments and is associated with reciprocity and interactional synchrony. studies show best quality of attachment is with sensitive carers that pick up infants' signals and respond.hard to reconcile these findings with cupboard love.if attachment was based on feeding there would be no purpose of important interactions and we wouldn't find any relationship between them and the quality of caregiver and infant interaction.
• Learning Theory


  A concept in psychology that explains how we acquire new knowledge and skills.
• Drive Reduction


  A key concept in Learning Theory that suggests we are motivated to take actions that reduce physiological needs or drives, such as hunger.
• Primary Drive


  An innate, biological motivator that we are born with, such as hunger.
• Secondary Drive


  A learned motivation that is acquired through experience and association, such as attachment as a result of being cared for by a caregiver.
• Outline Counter evidence from animal studies 

  Lorenz research the geese imprinted before they got fed and maintained those attachments no matter who fed them. In Hallows study the monkeys preferred the warm blanket-covered wire mother compared to the cold-wired mother even if that was the one feeding them. shows animals dont get attachment by feeding but by comfort and security , this would link to humans too since rhesus monkeys are mammals.