learning theory
DESCRIPTION
TRANSCRIPT
Attachment
Definition: •An emotional bond between 2 people •2 way process that endures over time
•Serves the function of protecting the child
Emotional Protecting Endures bond 2 people child
Use all of the key words below to create a definition of attachment
Explanations of Attachment
You need to know 2 explanations of attachment
Learning Theory
Attachment is learned
Bowlby’s Theory
Attachment is innate
The Learning Theory – Miller & Dollard
Everyone is born as a blank slate
Behaviour is learned and therefore nurture rather than
nature
Infant becomes attached because they
‘learn’ that the caregiver will meet their
physiological needs (food) Classical
conditioning Association
A01
Classical Conditioning Learning through
association
Babies love food – FACT
The learning theory
suggests they will love their feeder as well…
Ivan Pavlov was the first Psychologist to describe learning through classical conditioning.
All behaviour is learnt through association
Babies learn to associate the person who feeds them with the pleasure of being fed
A01
Pavlov’s Dogs (You need to be aware of the theory,
not exactly how Pavlov trained his dogs!)
Unconditioned stimulus (UCS)
e.g. Dog food
produces Unconditioned response (UCR)
e.g. Salivation
BEFORE CONDITIONING...
DURING CONDITIONING...
Unconditioned stimulus (UCS)
e.g. Dog food
Neutral stimulus (NS)
e.g. Door bell
Unconditioned response (UCR)
e.g. Salivation
AFTER CONDITIONING...
Conditioned stimulus (CS)
e.g. Door bell
produces Conditioned response (CR)
e.g. Salivation
A01
Attachment through classical conditioning
Unconditioned stimulus (UCS)
e.g. Food
produces Unconditioned response (UCR)
e.g. Pleasure
BEFORE CONDITIONING...
DURING CONDITIONING...
Unconditioned stimulus (UCS)
e.g. Food
Neutral stimulus (NS)
e.g. Caregiver
Unconditioned response (UCR)
e.g. Pleasure
AFTER CONDITIONING...
Conditioned stimulus (CS)
e.g. Caregiver
produces Conditioned response (CR)
e.g. Pleasure
A01
Learning Theory – Evaluation (top and tail)
e.g. Lorenz found that newly hatched goose (after seeing
Lorenz shortly after hatching) following him everywhere and he became their ‘imprinted
parent’
e.g. Harlow found that rhesus monkeys who were separated
from their mothers after birth and were placed in a cage with
‘wire’ mothers went to the ‘mother’ who offered comfort
rather then food
e.g. Shaffer & Emerson found
that the first attachments formed by 39% of babies were not to the person
who fed and changed them – they attached to those
who played with them
e.g. Little Albert was conditioned to have a
phobia of fluffy animals and toys through classical
conditioning
Learning Theory – Evaluation Positive
Adequate Explanation
There’s evidence to suggest we learn other
behaviours by classical conditioning – why not attachment?
What other behaviours might we learn through association?
The learning theory makes
sense
A02
Learning Theory – Evaluation Negative
Shaffer & Emerson (1964)
Found that the first
attachments formed by 39% of babies were not to the
person who fed and changed them – they
attached to those who played with them
Why is that negative
criticism?!
A02
Learning Theory – Evaluation Negative
Harlow (1959) Found that rhesus monkeys who were
separated from their mothers after birth and
were placed in a cage with ‘wire’ mothers went
to the ‘mother’ who offered comfort rather
then food
Why is that negative
criticism?!
A02
There is a HUGE problem with
Harlow’s research – What is it?
Learning Theory – Evaluation Negative
Lorenz (1952) Lorenz found that newly
hatched goose (after seeing Lorenz shortly
after hatching) following him everywhere and he became their ‘imprinted
parent’
Why is that Negative
criticism?!
A02
Exam style questions
Have a go at answering the following question – Why? So you know how to answer in the
exam!
1. Outline the behavioural explanation of attachment formation.
(4 marks)
Exam style questions Have a go at marking the following question –
Why? So you can view the answer from the examiners perspective!
2. Outline two weaknesses of the learning theory explanation of attachment.
(2 + 2 marks)
One weakness of the learning theory of attachment is that it doesn’t explain why babies attached to people who do not feed them. For example, Shaffer and Emerson found that 39% of babies attached with those who played with them and not who fed them. This is a weakness because it demonstrates that food is not the only reason that babies will form an attachment, going against the learning theory.
A second point is that the theory makes sense. For example, we learn lots of behaviours through association so it makes sense that children might learn to attach. This is a strength as it adds validity to the learning theory explanation of attachment
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Key words In pairs write at least 15 key words that link to the Learning
Theory of Attachment
Glossary • Attachment – A 2 way emotional bond between 2 people that endures
• Learning Theory – Attachment is learned (Miller & Dollard)
• Classical conditioning – Learning through association • UCS – Unconditioned stimulus • NS – Neutral stimulus • UCR – Unconditioned response • CR – Conditioned response • CS – Conditioned stimulus • Harlow – Monkeys given ‘wire mothers’ • Lorenz – Geese (imprinting theory) • Shaffer & Emerson – 39% don’t attach to person who feeds