Learning Theory

• Dollars & Miller (1950)- The Learning Theory of Attachment

  • Babies- blank slate, everything is learnt through experience.
  • ‘Cupboard love’- importance of attachment figure being the provider of food.
  • Infants learn to associate caregiver with the feeling of pleasure when fed (classical conditioning), infants are reinforced in behaviours which will produce their desired responses from others (e.g. being fed after they cry).
  • Hunger is a primary drive and attachment is the result of an association formed between the caregiver and the satisfaction of a primary drive being reduced.
• Attachments are formed through associations (classical conditioning) and patterns of reinforcement (operant conditioning).
• Classical conditioning (learning an attachment by associations):

  1. NS (caregiver) -> no response
  2. UCS (food) + NS (caregiver) -> UCR (comfort)- repeated until caregiver becomes a CS
  3. UCS (food) -> UCR (comfort)- drive reduction (hunger is the primary drive, which is reduced by food, leading to comfort)
  4. CS (caregiver) -> CR (comfort)- attachment is formed, which is a secondary drive which reduces the primary drive (hunger)
  5. Caregiver provides the food which provides infant with comfort, infant forms attachment with caregiver by associating the comfort of being fed with the caregiver, not food
• Operant conditioning (learning an attachment through patterns of reinforcement):

  • Infant cries, which triggers the response of a caregiver to comfort them.
  • This happens more, causing the action of crying to be reinforced more since the infant associated the caregiver with the reward of comfort.
  • This means that the reward of comfort encourages the infant to cry more to receive more rewards.
  • Food is the primary reinforcer, the mother is the secondary reinforcer.
• Evaluation of the Learning theory of attachment:

  • Contradictory evidence- animal studies from Harlow showed that contact comfort was more important than food when forming attachments, lowers internal validity. However, could be argued that animal studies aren’t generalisable to humans.
  • Reductionistic- focuses on basic process, neglects interactional synchrony and reciprocity.
  • Environmentally deterministic- negative assumption that early behaviours impact later attachment behaviours.