learning theory of attachment

• what does the learning approach believe about attachment?

  attachments are learned behaviour, it is not innate / instinctive and attachments develop through the conditioning and association
• innate


  inborn; natural
• learned behaviour


  nature
• classical conditioning & infant attachment to caregiver

  in classical conditioning, the attachment bond is formed due to the caregiver being associated with pleasure that feeding naturally brings (association)
• operant conditioning and infant attachment to caregiver


  in operant conditioning, the attachment bond is developed to caregiver due to the provision of food becoming associated with the removal of unpleasant sensation of hunger (reinforcement)
• cupboard love


  attachments are formed with people who feed infants
• classical conditioning and attachment

  before conditioning the mother was a neutral stimulus and the baby gave no response. the food was the unconditioned stimulus and pleasure was the unconditioned response. during conditioning the mother is the neutral stimulus and is paired with food the unconditioned stimulus. after conditioning, the mother becomes the conditioned stimulus and the pleasure becomes the conditioned response.
• operant conditioning and attachment

  attachment through reinforcement/reward (positive - praise/pleasure or negative - punishment)

  when a behaviour is rewarded through positive or negative reinforcement it is repeated, when it is punished the behaviour is stopped
• learning theory


  the belief that attachments develop through conditioning processes
• classical conditioning


  the development of an attachment bond due to a caregiver becoming associated with the pleasure that feeding naturally brings
• operant conditioning


  the development of an attachment bond to a caregiver through the provision of food becoming associated with the removal of the unpleasant sensation of hunger
• cupboard love theory


  The belief that attachments are formed with people who feed infants
• what is the learning theory of attachment?

  the behaviourist and social learning theory explanation of attachment. the learning theory suggests that all behaviour is acquired through the process of association
• Dollard & Miller (1950)


  dollard & Miller argued that in a baby's first year they are fed 2000 times generally by their main carer which creates the association of the carer and the removal of the unpleasant feeling of hunger which is a form of negative reinforcement. this gives support to the idea that attachments are learned through operant conditioning
• Schaffer & Emerson (1964)

  Schaffer & Emerson suggested feeding is not the primary explanation of attachment, going against learning theory. Schaffer & Emerson found that in 39% of cases the mother, usually the main carer was not the baby's main attachment figure
• Lorenz's research


  Lorenz randomly divided goose eggs. Half of them hatched in a natural environment with their mother. The others hatched in an incubator and the first moving thing they saw was Lorenz.

  Incubator group followed Lorenz and the control group followed the mother duck. This was imprinting where bird species that are mobile from birth attach to and follow the first moving object they see. Lorenz said imprinting is innate as geese form an attachment with the first moving object therefore inborn attachment behaviours aid survival. Lorenz criticised the idea that we learn to attach to the caregiver because they feed us.
• issues with the learning theory

  - methodological issues as the learning theory over relies on animals and behaviourist explanation provide and oversimplified explanation. attachment is a complicated emotional bond. learning theory may lack validity as it is difficult to generalise to humans from animals

  - Lorenz's research

  - learning theory is reductionist as complex behaviours such as the formation of attachment are reduced to simple stimulus response associations. although it does have some explanatory value. do not consider internal cognitive processes or the emotional nature of attachments.
• explain the development of attachment using learning theory (4 marks)

  learning theory believes attachments are learned behaviour through classical and operant conditioning - for example, an infant learns attachment through conditioning. in classical conditioning, an attachment bond is formed due to a caregiver being associated with the pleasure that feeding naturally brings. in operant conditioning, the attachment bond to the caregiver is developed due to the provision of food becoming associated with the negative reinforcement of the removal of the unpleasant sensation of hunger.
• outline research that challenges the learning theory of attachment (4 marks)

  a criticism of the learning theory of attachment is Lorenz's research. Lorenz states that imprinting is innate and instinctive rather than a learned behaviour. He shows this in his study where he proves geese form an attachment with the first moving object they see upon birth. Lorenz criticises the idea that we attach to the caregiver because they feed us.
• explain one criticism of the learning theory of attachment (4 marks)

  one criticism of the learning theory of attachment is that it has methodological issues. the learning theory heavily relies on animal studies and the use of animals in research, an example of this is Lorenz's geese study which can lead to the learning theory lacking validity as it is difficult to generalise to humans from animals. Furthermore, behaviourist explanations provide an oversimplified explanation while attachment is a complicated emotional bond.
• Learning theory


  The belief that attachments develop through conditioning processes
• Classical conditioning


  • The development of an attachment bond due to a caregiver becoming associated with the pleasure that feeding naturally brings
• Operant conditioning


  • The development of an attachment bond to a caregiver through the provision of food becoming associated with the removal of the unpleasant sensation of hunger
• Cupboard love theory


  The belief that attachments are formed with people who feed infants
• Learning theory


  • The behaviourist and social learning theory explanation of attachment
  • Attachment is a learned behaviour, it is not innate/instinctive
• Classical conditioning


  1. Before conditioning the mother was a neutral stimulus and the baby gave no response

  2. During conditioning the neutral stimulus (mother) is paired with the unconditioned stimulus (food)

  3. After conditioning the mother becomes the conditioned stimulus and pleasure becomes the conditioned response
• Operant conditioning


  1. If a behaviour is reinforced this makes it more likely that the behaviour will be repeated

  2. In early attachments, the main behaviour being reinforced is crying

  3. Positive reinforcement: when an infant cries they usually show distress and when the caregiver responds to soothe the child, this soothes the child and the child learns to repeat this behaviour in the future

  4. Negative reinforcement: the sound of the child crying is distressing for the caregiver and therefore soothing the child stops them crying allowing the caregiver to repeat this behaviour in the future
• Drive reduction theory (Dollard & Miller, 1950)

  • Applied principles of reward and reinforcement to explain human attachment
  • In a baby's first year they are fed 2000 times, generally by their main carer which creates the association of the carer and the removal of the unpleasant feeling of hunger which is a form of negative reinforcement
• Schaffer & Emerson (1964) found that in 39% of cases the mother, usually the main carer was not the baby's main attachment figure
• Strengths of learning theory of attachment

  • Learning theory is a scientific and plausible explanation
  • Learning theory and classical conditioning can explain how humans develop many behaviours in response to their environment
• Weaknesses of learning theory of attachment

  • Reductionist - conditioning best explains the learning of simple behaviours but attachments are more complex behaviours with an intense emotional component
  • Behaviourist explanations are reductionist as they explain complex behaviours in the simplest way possible and do not consider internal cognitive processes or the emotional nature of attachments
  • Lorenz's research suggests imprinting is innate - geese form an attachment with the first moving object therefore inborn attachment behaviours aid survival
• Explain the development of attachment using learning theory

  1. In classical conditioning, an attachment bond is formed due to a caregiver being associated with the pleasure that feeding naturally brings

  2. In operant conditioning, the attachment bond to the caregiver is developed due to the provision of food becoming associated with the negative reinforcement of the removal of the unpleasant sensation of hunger
• Lorenz's research shows that imprinting is innate and instinctive rather than a learned behaviour
• Lorenz's research criticises the idea that we attach to the caregiver because they feed us
• Criticism of learning theory of attachment

  • The behaviourist explanation of attachment is oversimplified and over relies on animal studies
  • Attachment is a complicated emotional bond
  • Learning theory may lack validity as it is difficult to generalise to humans from animals