Bowlby’s Work on Attachment Flashcards
Why do attachments form
Natural selection
If ancestors children did not have attachment to parents, they would die
Parents become attached to babies as those who weren’t became bad carers and reproduced less successfully
What is attachment
Deep and enduring emotional bond that connects one person to another across time and space not always reciprocal
Environment of evolutionary adaptedness
Environment in which a given adaptation is said to have evolved
how does attachment behaviour benefit babies (1) and parents (2)?
more likely to survive and pass on their genes if they are well protected as babies (attachment promotes proximity=protection)
parents become attached to their babies which evolved as parents who were not good carers were less reproductively successful as their genes weren’t passed on (babies die)
internal working model?
expectations about the self, significant others, and the relationship between the two, that stem from early attachment experiences
Monotropy
Bias of a child to attach to one in particular
Secondary attachments
Emotional safety net to comfort the bbaby if the mother isnt present
Safe base
When an attachment figure is used as a safe base from which to explore the world
What time period to children form attachments
Sensitive period
6 months old
What if they do not form attachments at 6 months
They never will
Who do children attach to
People most sensitive to their needs (most responsive, cooperative, accessible)
Social releasers in how attachments form
Baby-link behaviours and feature that elicit caregiving
Behaviours naturally selected because they lead to survival and successful reproduction
What is monotropy the theory of
Babies form one primary attachment to particular person (usually biological mother)
Form secondary attachment to the emotional safety net = prefer mother but equally comforted by father, sibling, grandparent etc
Why is monotropy important
Forms basis template about what relationships are like, with an internal working model
What are babeis internal working models 2 consequences
Short term = give child insight into carer’s behaviour and enables child to influence it
Long term = template for future relationships, creating expectations about what good relationships are like
What is the continuity hypothesis
There is continuity from infancy to adulthood in terms of emotional type
What is the difference between those babies who are strongly attached and those who aren’t
Strongly attached = socially and emotionally competent
Unattached = social and emotional difficulties in childhood & adulthood
Strength study
Isabella (1993)
Isabella (1993) participant group
Children aged 1, 4, 9 months old and their mothers
What were Isabella (1993)’s findings
Most strongly attached had mothers most sensitive responsive
Supports importance of sensitivity in formation of close attachment
Weakness study
Kagan’s (1984)
Kagan (1984) hypothesis name
Temperament hypothesis
What is temperament hypothesis
Baby’s innate temperament has an important influence on attachment relationship
What was Kagan’s theory
Some babies are more emotionally difficult from birth affecting the mother’s ability to form a close attachment
How attachments form depend on multiple factors not just sensitivity of caregiver
Another strength study
Rutter (2011)
Rutter (2011) theory
Not possible to form attachments after 6 months
Rutter agrees that it is less likely to attach after this period
But believe it is not impossible to form after
Why is monotropy important
Special relationship that forms the basis for a template about what relationships are like
