1. AliyahBibi 12SIB
Outline andevaluate the learningexplanationforattachment(12marks - 6 AO1 marks,6 AO2
marks).
Attachmentcanbe definedasanemotional relationshipbetweentwopeopleinwhicheachseeks
closenessandfeelsmore secure wheninthe presence of the attachmentfigure. Learningtheory
suggestsattachmentdevelopsthroughclassical andoperantconditioning.Accordingtoclassical
conditioningfood(UCS) producespleasure (UCR).Max’smotherwasassociatedwiththe foodand
becomesaconditionedstimulus.
Accordingto operantconditioningfoodsatisfiedMax’shungerandmade himfeel comfortable again
(drive reduction).Foodwasthereforeaprimaryreinforcer.Hismotherwasassociatedwithfoodand
became a secondaryreinforcer.Max became attachedtohismotherbecause she wasa source of
reward.Social learningtheorycouldalsobe credited.The explanationmustbe directlylinkedtoMax
and hismother.
DollardandMillerin1950, attachmentislearnedthroughclassical conditioning.Before attachment
islearned,the infantgainspleasurethroughbeingfed. Foodisthe unconditionedstimulus and
pleasure isthe unconditionedresponse.Whenthe infantisbeingfed,the infantassociatesthe
personprovidingthe foodwiththe food giver.The primarycaregiveristhe neutral stimulus,which
becomesassociatedwithfood(the unconditionedstimulus). Whenthe attachmenthasbeen
learned,the infantgainspleasure whenthe primarycaregiverispresent. The primarycaregiveris
nowthe conditionedstimulus andpleasure isnow the conditionedresponse.Attachmentcanalso
be learnedby operantconditioning.The presenceof the caregiverisreinforcingforthe infant.The
infantgainspleasure /rewardastheyare beingfed.The behaviourof the infantis reinforcingforthe
caregiver(the caregivergainspleasure fromsmilesetc. –reward).
The strengthsof the learningtheoryisthatmanystrengthssuchas, itsprinciplesare basedon
scientificprinciples.Forexample,classical andoperantconditioning are basedonresearchbyPavlov
and Skinnerandformpart of the behaviouristmodel.Thismeansthatthere isempirical evidence to
suggesthumansmaylearnbehaviours(suchasattachment) accordingtothese principles.
In addition,astrengthof the learningtheoryisthatHarlow usesa monkeytoexperimentif there is
an attachmentformedwiththe feederisformed.ThisisimportantasHarlow discoveredthatthe
monkeyassociatedthe firstcaregiverwiththe feeder,asithasa bottle of milk.Thissuggeststhat
the relationshipwiththe motherissecure because the nexttimethe monkeyseesthe motherit
associatesthe motherwithfood. ThisissupportedbyBowlby’sMonotrophy,wherethe childforms
one attachmentwiththe mother.
Howeverthe theoryis extremely simplified andthere isevidence thatinfantscanformattachments
witha personwho isnot the primarycare-giver. Schaffer&Emerson(1964) studiedthe attachments
formedby60 infantsfrombirth.Theyfoundthata significantnumberof infantsformedattachments
witha personotherthan the one doingthe feeding,nappychanging,etc.andthatthe primary
attachmentwasoftenwiththe fatherandnot the mother.Theyfoundthat itwas the qualityof
interactionwiththe infantthatwasmostimportant- strongerattachmentswere formedwiththe
personwhowasmost sensitiveandresponsive tothe infant'sneeds.