Bowlby’s Monotropic Theory Flashcards
Why does Bowlby’s theory think attachment between infants & caregivers form
Due to an instance that has evolved bc it increases chances of babies survival & parents passing on their genes
(It is therefore adaptive)
Infants who are attached to their caregiver will stay close to them so that they
Are well protected and will survive
Infants have what type of drive to become attached to an adult (Bowlby)
Innate
Innate behaviours usually have a [… | …] in which they must occur or they never will (Bowlby)
Critical period
What is the critical period for a child’s attachment to occur
2 years of age
If infants don’t form an attachment during the first 2 years they…
Face difficulty forming attachments later on
Bowlby proposed that attachment is determined by the caregivers […]
Sensitivity
E.g. infants who are most strongly attached tend to have a caregiver who is more responsive, co-operative & accessible
What are social releasers
Behaviours that elicit care giving eg. Smiling & crying
- babies display these to encourage caregivers looking after that
Why are social releasers important
To ensure that attachments develop between caregivers & their infants
Bowlby argued that infants have one special emotional bond called
Their monotropic bond.
-> often but not always with the biological mother
Infants also form what attachments
Secondary, which provide emotional safety and are vital for healthy psychological + social development
What is the importance of ‘monotropy’
That the infant uses this relationship to form a mental view of relationships (an internal working model)
Secure relationships = (…) working model
Positive
-> so future & current relationships e.g. with other & own future children will be positive & secure
What does the continuity hypothesis propose
That individuals who are securely attached in infancy continue to be socially & emotionally competent p, as a secure childhood leads to a positive model
AO3 (-) Schaffer and Emerson (1964) suggest that multiple attachments are more common in babies than monotropy. They found that…
by 18 months only 13% of the infants had only one person they were attached to.
AO3 (-) Socially sensitive / blames mothers + ignores role of the father
Feminists e.g. Erica Burman = monotropy = socially sensitive.
- burden of responsibility on mothers, setting them up to take the blame for anything that goes wrong in their child’s life.
- puts pressure on mothers to stay at home and give up their careers.
- ignores the role of the father - he saw father’s role as primarily economic: outdated view, many families view both parents as equally responsible for childcare, and in many families the father is the primary caregiver.
(-) AO3 Tizard and Hodges (1989) found that no such thing as a critical period?
children who had never formed any attachments by the age of four, and were then adopted, could still form attachments to their new adopted parents.
This goes against the idea of a critical period before two years of age during which an attachment must form or it never will.
(+) more detailed explanation
Explains both how & why attachment forms, unlike learning theory
AO3 (-) Impossible to test
Can’t test that attachment has persisted in the same form through our evolutionary history, therefore an unscientific theory
What did Kegan disagree with Bowlby on
AO3 (-)
Caregiver sensitivity determining attachment
-> Kegan thought that innate characteristics & temperaments made it harder / easier for babies to form attachments