BOWLBYS MONOTROPIC THEORY

Question 1

What is the monotropic theory

Answer 1

he placed great emphasis on a childs attachment to one particular care giver (mono!) and he believed that the childs attachment to thus one caregiver is different and more important than the others

Question 2

bowlbys 2 principles that clarify primary attachment figure

Answer 2

• the law of continuity stated that the more constant predictable a child care, the better the quality of their attachment
• the law of accumulated separation stated that the effects of every separation from the mother add up

Question 3

Social releasers and the critical period

Answer 3

he suggested that babies are born with a set of innate ‘cute’ behaviours like cooing and gripping that encourage attention from adults. - social releasers.

• bowlby proposed that there is a critical period around 2 years when the infant attachment period is active .
• if an attachment is not formed by 2 it will be much harder to form one adter

Question 4

internal working model

Answer 4

the mental representation we all carry with us of our attachment to out primary caregiver. they are important in affecting our future relationships because they carry our perception of what relationships are like.
-if a child experiences loving relationships with a reliable caregiver, they will have the expectation that all relationships are loving and reliable.

Question 5

Evaluation- mixed evidence for monotropy

Answer 5

bowlby believed that infants generally formed one attachment to their primary caregiver and this was special
-schaffer and emerson didn’t support this they found that initially babies had one specific attachment but then went on to form multiple attachments

Question 6

evaluation - support for social releasers

Answer 6

BRAZLETON ET AL 1975 observed mothers and babies during their interactions, reporting the existence of interactional synchrony.

• when the babies social releasers were ignored, they showed distress and lied motionless
• shows importance of infant social behaviour to elicit caregiver

Question 7

evaluation- supprt for internal working models

Answer 7

bailey et al 2007
founf that mothers who reported poor attachments with their own parents were much more likely to have children who classified as poor according to the obserations
-supports internal working models passed through families