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
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