Summary Intensive Notes for Learning Theory Explanation of Attachment

explanations of attachment -
learning theory
behaviour is explained in terms of nature vs nurture

this is because we view attachment as a behaviour - we can either explain this
from a biological point of view (nature) or an environmental point of view
(nurture)

attachment is either explained through the learning theory (nurture) or bowlby's
monotropic theory

the main strength of this study is that it is the first explanation of human
attachment explanation - it is always good to be the first explanation

explained in terms of nurture




learning theory ao1
devised by dollard and miller (1950)

first explanation of explanation of human attachment

this can be referred to as "cupboard love" - the children will attach to those that
feed them


explanations of attachment - learning theory 1

, attachment can be explained through operant and classical conditioning




classical - concerned with reflex responses (eg hunger)



operant - concerned with reinforcement and punishment (consequences)




classical conditioning
food —> pleasure

the person providing the food (usually the mother) is linked to food and so
becomes a source of pleasure

initially:

mother alone (ns) = no response
food (ucs) = pleasure (ucr)
mother (ns) + food (ucs) = pleasure (repeated over a period of time)
mother (cs) = pleasure (cr)




operant conditioning
positive reinforcement

positive reinforcement - the increase in frequency of a behaviour as a
result of adding a positive stimuli


dollard and miller hypothesised that we learn attachment relationships via
classical conditioning and maintain them via operant conditioning

operant conditioning suggests that we learn to repeat a behaviour (or not)
depending on its consequences


explanations of attachment - learning theory 2