Bowlbys Monotropic Theory

Question 1

what is monotropy

Answer 1

the term given for the unique attachment between an infant and its mother
the mother acts as a secure base whilst

Question 2

what is Bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation

Answer 2

the thoery that if the childs montropic attachment is interrupted during the critical period through deprivation, the consequences to the childs social, intellectual and emotional skills is negative and irreversible

Question 3

how long is the crtical period

Answer 3

2.5 years

Question 4

what are the consequences of maternal deprivation

Answer 4

delinquency
affectionless psychopathy
Low IQ

Question 5

whats delinquency as a result of

Answer 5

disrupted social development > leads to petty crimes

Question 6

whats affectionless psychopathy and what is it as a result of

Answer 6

disrupted emotional developement > leads to children not being able to show caring behavioue and empathy towards others
they also suffer from little to no guilt

Question 7

what is a low IQ as a result of

Answer 7

due to disrupted intellectual development so their cognitive abilites are lower than their peers

Question 8

whats the link between the montropic attachment and the IWM

Answer 8

as the monotropic attachment is the first and most important relationship that the infant forms, it acts as a ‘template’ (schema) for future relationships (internal working model)

Question 9

what does the continuity hypothesis suggest

Answer 9

deprivation is caused by prolonged separations from the mother which limits the ability of the infant to develop an effective internal working model which leads to issues with future relationships and parenting skills

Question 10

what is the research support of Bowblys theory

Answer 10

44 thieves study
- 88 thieves were interviewed to assess affectionless psychopathy
- 44 were emotionally disturbed
- 44 acted as a control group
- families of the 44 distubred were interviewed about maternal deprivation during the critical period
- 14 had suffered from affectionless psychpathy and 12 of them experienced maternal deprivation

This supports the idea that theres a link between maternal deprivation and delinquency aswell as affectionless psychpathy

Question 11

whats a limiting factor for the research evidence from the 44 thieves study

Answer 11

the evidence is correlational so there could be a third factor linked

Question 12

what is a postive impact of Bowlbys theory in the real world

Answer 12

changes to child welfare policies

Question 13

`whats a limitation of the monotropy theory

Answer 13

places too much emphasis on the mother as the primary caregiver and is biased