Food (UCS) produces a sense of pleasure (UCR) in an infant. When they are fed, the infant begins to associate the person (who is the CS) to food and eventually associates them with a sense of pleasure.
So, association between the person and a sense of pleasure is what forms an attachment bond.
OPERANT CONDITIONING
Operant conditioning is about learning through reinforcement (via rewards) and punishment.
If a person is rewarded with a pleasant consequence when they show a behaviour, it is likely they will repeat the behaviour in the future (so the behaviour is reinforced). However if the behaviour is met with a unpleasant consequence it is unlikely they will repeat the behaviour.
Donard & Miller applied operant conditioning to the creation of an attachment. When an infant is hungry, thus uncomfortable, it creates a drive to reduce this discomfort. When they are fed, the drive is reduced and they gain a sense of pleasure. The food becomes a primary reinforcer (as it reinforces the behaviour that avoids discomfort) while the feeder is the secondary reinforcer (a pleasure in their own right) as they are also associated with avoiding discomfort.
So, an attachment is formed by the infant seeking the person who can supply the reward.
VALIDITY
The learning theory is mainly based on studies with animals (non-human), so we can’t generalise to humans, as we are influenced by high order thinking and emotions. So, they LT lacks validity as it oversimplifies human behaviour.
However, behaviourists argue that human behaviour is based on the same building blocks of stimulus and rewards, so it is fair to generalise.
EVALUATION
STRENGTH
- Learning theory provides an adequate explanation of attachment (as we do learn through associations and reinforcements) but it is unlikely that food is the main reinforcer. It is more likely that attention and responsiveness, from the caregiver, is what an infant seeks as a reward.
WEAKNESSES
The main weakness is that the LT suggests that food is the main component in forming a attachments. People do believe this, as fathers often feel relegated to a lesser position if their partner provides the food.
However, Harlow’s study on monkey completed disagreed with this. He created two wire monkeys (one with a food bottle attached and another covered in cloth) and according to the LT, they monkey should have become attached to the lactating mother. Instead, they became attached to the cloth mother, often clinging to her (a proximity seeking behaviour) when frightened.
This study was conducted on animals but Schaffer and Emerson’s study supports this. They observed 60 babies, from working homes in Glasgow, and found they formed the closest attachment to the person that interacted with them the most, not the person who fed them.
