Bowlby's Monotropic Theory

Question 1

What did Bowlby believe the benefits of attachment are?

Answer 1

-Attachment helps ensure survival- caregivers keep us safe, warm and fed
-ensures that infants stay close to the caregiver for food and protection.
-increase the chances of survival and reproduction.

Question 2

Bowlby believed children had an ______ drive to form attachment. Fill the blank

Answer 2

Innate

Question 3

What did Bowlby see human attachment to be similar to?

Answer 3

Imprinting

Question 4

What is a monotropic attachment?

Answer 4

-the most important attachment that an infant can make

Question 5

Who did Bowlby believe would be a child’s monotropic attachent?

Answer 5

-the person who responds most sensitively to social releasers.
-any ever-present adult mother substitute

Question 6

Why is the monotropic attachment important?

Answer 6

-forms the Internal Working Model.

Question 7

What is the critical period?

Answer 7

-The time period when a child must form an attachment

Question 8

What did Bowlby believe the critical period to be for a human?

Answer 8

-From birth up to the age of 2/ 2 ½

Question 9

What did Bowlby believe would happen if an attachment did not form during the critical period?

Answer 9

-If attachment doesn’t happen by then it never will, and will damage the child socially, emotionally
and intellectually.

Question 10

What are social releasers? Examples of both types?

Answer 10

-Characteristics that elicit caregiving
-Can be both physical (e.g chubby cheeks, big eyes) and behavioral (e.g cooing, crying, smiling)

Question 11

What is the Internal Working Model?

Answer 11

-A template that is formed based on the monotropic attachment
-A special model for relationships- all the child’s future adult relationships will be based on their early attachment relationship.

Question 12

What is continuity hypothesis?

Answer 12

-This is the idea that there is a link between early attachments and later emotional behaviour.
-Your later attachment which is dictated by internal working model
-E.g, those who have a secure attachment as a child will continue to be socially and emotionally
competent.

Question 13

What are the strengths of Bowlby’s Monotropic Theory?

Answer 13

-evidence supporting the role of social releasers
-evidence supporting the internal working model.

Question 14

Explain the strength of Bowlby’s Monotropic Theory that: there is evidence supporting the role of social releasers?

Answer 14

-Brazelton observed mothers and babies during their interactions and discovered hat interactional synchrony existed.
-he also found that when parents were instructed to ignore their babies signals that the babies showed signs of distress and eventually curled up lying motionless.
-This illustrates the role of social releasers in emotional development and suggests that they are important in the process of attachment development, because when social releasers are not responded to, the interaction and relationship changes.

Question 15

Explain the strength of Bowlby’s Monotropic Theory that: there is support for the internal
working model?

Answer 15

-Bailey assessed attachment types in mothers and babies.
-Researchers measured the mother’s attachment to their own PAF and assessed the attachment quality of the babies.
-They found that mothers with poor attachment to their own PAF were more likely to have poorly attached babies.
-This supports Bowlby’s idea that mothers’ ability to form attachments to their babies is influenced by their internal working models (which in turn comes from their own early attachment experiences).

Question 16

What are the limitations of Bowlby’s Monotropic Theory?

Answer 16

-counter-evidence for the idea of monotropic attachment
-socially sensitive idea

Question 17

Explain the limitation of Bowlby’s Monotropic Theory that: there is counter-evidence for the idea of monotropic attachment

Answer 17

-Schaffer and Emerson (1964) found that children are able to form multiple attachments at the same time and that although the first attachment does appear to have a particularly strong influence on later behaviour, it may only mean it is stronger not different in quality from the child’s other attachments.
-Bowlby said only one important and strong attachment, Schaffer and Emerson said it was possible to have multiple.
-This means that Bowlby may be incorrect that there is a unique quality and importance to the child’s primary attachment.

Question 18

Explain the limitation of Bowlby’s Monotropic Theory that: it is a socially sensitive idea

Answer 18

-Theory has major implications for the lifestyle choices mothers make when their children are young.
-The laws of continuity and accumulated separation suggest mothers that work may negatively effect childrens’ development.
-Burman pointed out that this belief set up mothers to take the blame for future child developmental issues.
-This means that added pressure may be put on mothers to stay at home, even when it is not an economically viable option.