Learning theory of attachment

• Classical Conditioning

  Claims that food is unconditioned stimulus (UCS) which produces an unconditioned responses (UCR) of pleasure
• Classical Conditioning

  1. During the infants early weeks, certain things become associated with food because they are present when the infant is fed

  2. The mother, who is referred to as the neutral stimulus (NS)

  3. If a neutral stimulus is associated regularly with the UCS, it will produce the same response as the UCS which is pleasure

  4. The NS becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS) which produces a conditioned response (CR)
• Mother love

  The newly formed stimulus-response
• Operant Conditioning - Dollar and Miller (50) argued attached is based on operant conditioning and the ‘drive reduction theory’. ‘Drives’ motivate behaviour. - When an infant is hungry, this causes discomfort so the infant is driven to reduce these unpleasant feelings - When infant is fed, drive reduces producing pleasure- positive reinforcement - The food becomes primary reinforcer and the person who supplies the food becomes the secondary reinforcer and a source of pleasure in his/her own right. - Attachment occurs because the child seeks the person who can supply the reward.