Bowlby's monotropic theory Flashcards
Does Bowlby agree or disagree with the learning theory of attachment?
Disagreed
Does Bowlby suggest that attachment is innate or learned?
attachment is an innate system developed as an evolutionary process to aid survival
What reasons must an infant attach to a carer?
protection from harm
source of food
nurture / care
Why is Bowlby’s theory described as monotropic?
suggests the child forms an attachment to one key caregiver
What were Bowlby’s two principles?
law of continuity
law of accumulated separation
What is the law of continuity?
the more constant and predictable a child’s care the better the quality of attachment
What is the law of accumulated separation?
every separation from the primary attachment figure affects the child
How did Bowlby suggest that caregivers form attachments to infants?
babies are born with innate behaviours (social releasers) that help attachments to form
eg. smiling, cooing
What do social releasers do?
trigger the adult to interact with the infant so an attachment can be formed
How do social releasers relate to strength of attachments?
where caregivers are more responsive and accessible in response to social releasers there will be stronger attachments
Why is the critical period important?
if attachments are not made during the critical period then the child will find making attachments later on difficult
What is the internal working model?
Bowlby suggested that a child forms a model for what relationships look like using their attachment and relationship to their primary attachment figure
What is a strength of the theory (animal studies)?
studies supporting this theory include animal studies
lorenz (1935) found that gosling geese formed attachments to the first moving thing that they saw after hatching, suggesting attachment is an innate process
supports bowlby’s idea that attachment has developed as an evolutionary process to aid survival
What is a strength of the theory (social releasers)?
evidence to support the idea of social releasers
caregivers were instructed to ignore their baby’s social releasers whereby the babies then became increasingly distressed
this suggests that babies use social releasers as a way to elicit attention and attachment to their caregiver
these findings support bowlby’s theory
What is a limitation of the theory (multiple attachments)?
research suggests babies form multiple attachments rather than just one
schaffer and emerson (1964) propose that children form multiple strong attachments to a variety of caregivers from the age of 10-11 months
therefore this contradicts bowlby’s theory
