Attachment - Explanation of attachment> Bowlby's monotropic theory Flashcards
What is Bowlby’s monotropic theory?
That a child has an innate (i.e. inborn) need to attach to one main attachment figure. This is called monotropy. The need to attach is for security which results in survival.
Whose theories did Bowlby base his monotropic theory on?
Lorenz’s imprinting and Harlow’s contact comfort theories
What is the critical period for humans?
Attachment must happen in the first 2/3 years. Failing results in long lasting negative social consequences- from Lorenz’s work.
What is the internal working model for attachment?
Attachment to the mother provides a blueprint for future relationships. The internal working model is a guide on if people can be trusted / if relationships are loving
How is strength of attachment measured?
Measured by secure base behaviour (using mum as a base to explore)
Stranger anxiety and Separation anxiety
What are social releasers and how are they used?
Babies instinctively use signals (crying, smiling, and vocalisations). Adults are biologically programmed to find these behaviours cute so that they can give the infant attention/attachment.
What are the strengths of Bowlby’s monotropic theory?
EXPLAINED EVOLUTIONARY ADVANTAGES
Based on Lorenz, imprinting studies on geese demonstrate strength of attachment to a single caregiver, explained evolutionary by significant survival advantages.
SUPPORTING EVIDENCE : BAILEY ET AL.
There is supporting evidence from Bailey e.t. Through the observation of 99 mothers and the recording of their children’s attachment type using the Strange Situation, the researchers found that poor, insecure attachments coincided with the mothers themselves reporting poor attachments with their own parents. This suggests that internal working models are likely to be formed during this first, initial attachment and that this has a significant impact upon the ability of children to become parents themselves later on in life.
What two categories are social releasers put into? Give examples of each.
Physical - the typical ‘baby’ face - big eyes, small nose, small chin, high forehead
Behavioural - e.g crying cooing, gripping
Bowlby recognised that attachment is a _______ process.
Reciprocal –> both the mother and baby have an innate predisposition to become attached and social releasers trigger that response in caregivers.
What are the weaknesses of Bowlby’s monotropic theory?
SOCIALLY SENSITIVE
The idea of monotropy may stigmatise ‘poor mothers’ and pressure them to take responsibility. Despite Bowlby not specifying that the primary attachment figure must be the mother, it often is (in 65% of cases). Therefore, this puts pressure on working mothers to delay their return to work in an effort to ensure that their child develops a secure attachment. Any developmental abnormalities in terms of attachment are therefore blamed on the mother by default.
MAY NOT BE EVIDENT IN ALL CHILDREN
Monotropy is unlikely to be a universal feature of infant-caregiver attachments, as believed by Bowlby and so is a strictly limited explanation of some cases of attachment. For example: Schaffer and Emerson found that a small minority of children were able to form multiple attachments from the outset. This idea is also supported by van Izjendoorn and Kronenberg, who found that monotropy is scarces in collectivist cultures where the whole family is involved in raising and looking after the child.
What acronym is used to summarise the monotropic theory?
A - adaptive
S - social releasers
C - critical period
M - monotropy
I - internal working model
