Bowlby's monotropic theory Flashcards
What did Bowlby suggest?
That attachment is an innate (unlearned, instinctual) process, which is evolutionarily beneficial - those infants that did become attached would be more likely to be cared for, by an adult, therefore more likely to survive and pass on this behaviour genetically.
Define the term monotropic.
A child’s innate need to attach to one main attachment figure.
This one caregiver is more important than all the rest.
Usually, this is the mother, although this is not essential.
What is the law of continuity?
States the more constant and predictable a child’s care, the better the quality of the attachment.
What is the law of accumulated separation?
States the effects of every separation from the mother add up.
What are social releasers?
These are innate infant behaviours and characteristics which encourage an innate nurturing response from an adult (linking to the idea of attachment as reciprocal). Social releasers include ‘cute’ facial features, such as big eyes and a small nose, or crying, which is unpleasant and triggers a drive to stop it in the adult.
How is attachment a reciprocal process?
Both mother and baby are ‘hard-wired’ to become attached.
Interplay between them gradually builds relationship beginning in the early weeks of life.
What is the critical period?
Bowlby proposed that an infant must form an attachment around 6 months when infant attachment is most active and they’re maximally sensitive and this could possibly extend to 2 years old once this passes, an attachment can never be formed.
What is the internal working model?
A template we use to form expectations for our future adult relationships.
Strong monotropic experience as an infant have effective relationships as adults thanks to a strong internal working model.
Negative monotropic experience show that bullies and loners at school have antisocial behaviour because of their faulty internal working model.
What are the strengths of Bowlby’s monotropic theory?
Support for social releasers - Brazelton et al. (1975).
Support for internal working model - Bailey et al. (2007).
What is the strength of social releasers?
There is evidence to show that social releasers are intended to initiate social interaction.
Brazleton found that when primary attachment figures were asked to ignore their babies’ signal (social releasers), the babies showed initial distress but when they continued to ignore them they responded by curling up and lying motionless. This strong response indicates the importance of infant social behaviour in eliciting care-giving.
What is the strength of internal working model?
Bailey et al. assessed attachment relationships in 99 mothers and their one-year-old babies. The researchers measured the mothers’ attachment to their own primary attachment figures. The researchers also assessed the attachment quality of the babies. They found that mothers with poor attachment to their own primary attachment figures were more likely to have poorly attached babies.
Give a counterpoint for the support for internal working model
There are other important influences on social development. For example, some psychologists believe that genetic differences in anxiety and sociability affect social behaviour in both babies and adults. These differences can also impact parenting ability (Kornienko 2016).
Overstated importance of internal working model.
