learning theory

• Attachment is merely the consequence of the mother's association with something that the young child needs - food.

  • because the mother provides food, which is reinforcing, and her presence predicts the coming of food, an attachment develops between her and the child
• UCS (food) -> UCR (pleasure)

  NS (mother) -> No response

  UCS + NS (food + mother) -> UCR (pleasure)

  CS (mother) -> CR (pleasure)
• Before attachment is learned, the child gains pleasure through being fed. The food is the unconditioned stimulus which led to pleasure which is the unconditioned response. When the child is being fed, over time they associate the person providing the food with the food. When the attachment has been learned, the child gains pleasure when the feeder is present without the food. This association between the feeder and a sense of pleasure is the attachment bond
• According to operant conditioning, food satisfies the infant's hunger and makes it feel comfortable again (drive reduction). Food is therefore a primary reinforcer. The infant becomes attached to the mother because she is a source of reward. If a behaviour produces an unpleasant consequence, it is less likely to be repeated
• operant conditioning can explain why babies cry for comfort:

  • a hungry baby will cry because it is distressed
  • feeding a baby will make it more comfortable, and so crying is learned through negative reinforcement
  • overtime the pleasure of being made comfortable by being fed becomes associated with the primary caregiver
  • baby has now learned to cry to get primary caregiver's attention, and it feels pleasure when the primary caregiver is present; attachment has now been learned
• criticisms:

  • Lorenz and Harlow's studies
  • both studies showed that feeding does not cause an attachment
  • same must be applied to humans
• Criticism:

  • Schaffer and Emerson reinforced the idea of food not being the key role in developing attachment. They observed 60 babies for a year and found out that the children were not most attached to those that fed them but it was who interacted the most
  • it was the quality of interaction that was most important