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LEARNING THEORY AND
ATTACHMENT
Attachment- Lesson 5
Answer the following
1. The behavioural approach says all behaviour is
____________?
2. The behavioural approach includes classical
conditioning and what other type of conditioning?
3. What did they do to Little Albert?
4. Name all of the classical conditioning concepts e.g.
unconditioned stimulus
5. What is positive reinforcement?
6. What is negative reinforcement?
Answers…
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1. learnt
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2. operant conditioning
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3. Classically conditioned him into being scared of a white rat
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4. Unconditioned stimulus, Neutral stimulus, Unconditioned response
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Conditioned stimulus, Conditioned response
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5. when the consequences of your actions are pleasant, so you
repeat the behaviour to again get the positive reinforcer e.g. praise,
money.
6. Negative reinforcement- when you repeat a behaviour not
because you are receiving a reward or something pleasant but are
removing something unpleasant for example you take paracetamol
to get rid of your headache which is unpleasant.
Place the concepts into the diagram
• Conditioned
stimulus
• Unconditioned
stimulus
• Neutral stimulus
• Unconditioned
response
• Conditioned
response
Place the concepts into the diagram
Learning Theory
Learning Theory
Put the blue words in order
Learning Theory – Operant Conditioning
Cheska’s choice
Cheska is a baby. Her family has enlisted the help of a nanny
to help with practical care. Cheska is bottle fed and most of
her feeds are administered by the nanny. Cheska’s mother
works part-time so Cheska spends approximately the same
number of hours a week with her mother as with the nanny.
The nanny is mostly interested in practical care whereas
Cheska’s mother plays with her and spends lots of time
cuddling her.
1. Cheska’s mother is concerned that she will get more attached to her nanny because she usually
feeds her. Based solely on your understanding of learning theory should she be worried?
You must include the following words in your answer-unconditioned stimulus, unconditioned
response, Neutral stimulus, conditioned stimulus, attachment.
Based on other research- Why might Cheska’s mum not need to be
worried?
2.
Based solely on your understanding of learning theory should she
be worried?
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Yes she should be worried!
According to learning theory and classical conditioning
attachment is learnt by association.
Food is an unconditioned stimulus that will naturally makes
Cheska feel happy and contented (UCR).
Initially the nanny and mother will both be the neutral
stimulus as she will be as easily comforted by both
It is the person who feeds Cheska, the theory says, that will
move from being a neutral stimulus to a conditioned stimulus
with time and if this is the nanny then Cheska will associate
her with the food and the unconditioned response will be
attachment being formed to the nanny and NOT the mother.
You could also mention operant
conditioning
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According to operant conditioning the attachment
will be formed by a primary reinforcer (food) being
paired with whoever feeds her and then over time
they will become a secondary reinforcer and will
be reinforcing alone.
So this will be with the nanny and attachments will
be formed with her.
Actually she shouldn’t really worry
because
-counter evidence- animal studies-young animals don’t attach to who feeds it.
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Harlow’s monkeys preferred comfort monkey over wire food monkey every
time so shows not about food but comfort and as her mother is doing the
cuddling and playing and nanny only practical care she will be the more
sensitive and so should form attachments with the mother.
Schaffer-more than 50% of infants not attached to person that fed them but
biological mother with no unconditioned stimulus present so shows it is
possible for the mother to be the key attachment figure with sensitive
responding
Also ignores important concepts such as reciprocity and interactional
synchrony. Research shows these lead to attachment so if it was just about
food there would be no need for such complex interactions. The mother will
be playing with her and so lots more chance for reciprocity and interactional
synchrony than the nanny who is just feeding and changing so should still be
the mother she attaches to. She needs to make sure she responds to Cheska
and mirrors her as much as possible to improve attachment
Learning theory essay
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Essay title
Outline and Evaluate the explanation of
attachment according to learning theory (6 + 10
marks)
Learning theory essay
1)
A linking phrase can be as simple as:
However, critics might argue that…
2) Attachment behaviours such as gazing, cooing, smiling
and crying have evolved which make an attachment more
likely. Additionally, some physical characteristics of a baby
which appeal to adults, such as big eyes, make a bond
more likely.
3) These studies clearly show that food is of less
importance when forming bonds from infants to parents,
which is considered the single most important factor for
attachment in learning theory.
Learning theory essay
4) These infants had remained bonded to their biological
mothers, who were not their primary caregivers. This
rejects the concept that food is the primary driver for
attachment as predicted by the learning theory.
5) This shows that although it is logical to suggest that a
baby needs food to survive, it bonds to adults primarily
for emotional needs, contradicting learning theory.
6) Some
conditioned
full
scientists
Bowlby
Recap Questions
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1. Draw the classical conditioning diagram for
attachment.
2. Draw the operant conditioning flow diagram for
attachment
3. Learning theory is reductionist-what exactly does that
mean?
4. Explain how animal research contradicts learning
theory.
5.Explain how Schaffer’s research contradicts learning
theory.
6. What other factors does learning theory ignore when
explaining attachment?