Outline and evaluate one or more explanations of attachment

Classical conditioning is learning through association; food is an unconditioned stimulus and provides pleasure, which is an unconditioned response. The individual who feeds the infant is a conditioned stimulus and this individual becomes associated with pleasure, which is a conditioned response. When this association is made an attachment bond is formed between infant and ‘feeder’.

Operant conditioning is learnt when we are rewarded for doing something. Every time you do something and the result is pleasurable the behaviour is reinforced (repeated). On the other hand every time you do something and the result is not pleasurable it is less likely that the behaviour will be reinforced.

Learning theory assumes that an infant will be attached to the person who gives the most pleasure or drive reduction, usually the person who feeds the infant. However a limitation of this would be that Schaffer and Emerson (1964) found that this wasn’t always true. In their study their findings were that less than half of the infants had a primary attachment to the person who fed, bathed and changed them.

Another limitation against the role of reinforcement came from Harlow and Harlow’s rhesus monkeys study. This study showed that food was not the main source of reinforcement and not the basis of attachment.

However a criticism that supports the learning theory is that Harlow and Harlow found that comfort (emotional care) was the main source of reinforcement, but we cannot clearly generalize or compare the study of the orphan monkeys to human behaviour.

This theory is also criticised for being reductionist, which means the complexities of behaviour are reduced to over simple ideas such as stimulus, reinforcement and response. It then uses these concepts to explain human behaviour such as attachment.

However a criticism to support the learning theory is that we do learn through association and reinforcement. But this theory is too focused on food being the main reinforcer. Attention and responsiveness from a carer are also rewarding too.

Jodie Kenyon