This section contains 665 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) |
Attachment and Learning Theory in Child Development
Summary: How psychological and physical attachment to a parent can be explained by the "learning theory" of psychology. Harlow's famous experiment with monkeys is flawed in showing that learning theory can explain attachment.
The learning theory refers to behaviourists' attempts to explain all behaviour in terms of conditioning. The learning theory suggests that through classical conditioning, which is to associate a stimulus with a response, in this case it is food, the baby becomes attached with the person feeding them, causing them to associate their caregivers with food. The baby feels secure around the caregiver because the caregiver is satisfying the babies' psychological needs. This theory is a `cupboard-love' theory because a baby will only become attached to someone who fulfils his or her psychological needs. This theory may have something to do with the development of attachment because the baby is dependant on the caregiver to feed them, and without food the baby will not survive. The baby will be becoming attached to the caregiver because it is relying on the caregiver to keep them alive and well. Research leading...
This section contains 665 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) |