Bowlbys Theory

Question 1

When was it written

Answer 1

1957

Question 2

What view point does it take

Answer 2

Evolutionary

Question 3

What does bowlby believe

Answer 3

Forming an attachment had evolutionary advantages due to attachments/imprinting being seen in a variety of species

Question 4

what is the monotropic theory

Answer 4

Emphases the one special relationship a child has with its primary attachment figure

Question 5

Who did bowlby take the idea of the critical period and proximity seeking from

Answer 5

Lorenz

Question 6

What is the critical period

Answer 6

Imprinting has to take place between 3-30 hours, with the peak being 16 hours

Question 7

What is proximity seeking

Answer 7

The desire to be physically close to a a persin

Question 8

What did bowlby believe based off of Lorenz theory

Answer 8

bowbly believed that the attachment should occur in the first few months 3-6 of life which he termed that critical period,however estimated that human infants would need longer so he extended it to the first 2-3 years of life referred to as the sensitive period

Question 9

When is the sensitive period

Answer 9

2-3 years of life

Question 10

Who did bowlby take the idea of infancy and main care being important to development from

Answer 10

Freud

Question 11

What does the quality of the relationship an infant has with their monotropic person affect

Answer 11

The quality of all future relationships

Question 12

What is the internal working model

Answer 12

The first relationship serves as a prototype from which all future relationships would be based upon

Question 13

how did bowlby argue attachments occur?

Answer 13

By infants being physically close ( proximity seeking) with their paf
mothers being sensitive to child’s needs was important in the first two years of life
Babies are preprogrammed with social releasers to encourage attention from adults by releasing instinctive parenting behaviour

Question 14

When is the opportunity for an attachment lost

Answer 14

When a parent doesn’t respond to social releasers during the sensitive period, causing developmental issue

Question 15

What is a continuity hypothesis

Answer 15

When the developmental consequences that arise in childhood also continues into adult adulthood

Question 16

What are social releasers

Answer 16

• Innate cute behaviours like smiling, cooing that encourage attention from adults
• Attachment: reciprocal process - interplay between baby/adult attachment systems
• Critical period- 6 months to 2 years
• Harder to form attachment if one isn’t formed.

Question 17

Pros of bowlbys theory

Answer 17

• Research support for social releasers: Brazelton et al - observed babies and found babies trigger interactions using social releasers
• Researchers told primary attachment caregiver to ignore these and babies became distressed
• Increases validity - scientific credibility.
• Support for internal working models: Bailey et al = attachment relationships in 99 mothers and 1 yr old babies
• Measured attachment of mother and that to their babies
• Poor attachment to their own mothers - more likely to have poorly attached babies
• Increases validity.

Question 18

Cons of bowlbys theory

Answer 18

Mixed evidence: Schaffer and Emerson found that most babies form multiple attachments at the same time. Although the first attachment has a strong influence on later life doesn’t mean that there is difference in quality of other attachments
Lowers external validity as it is contradictory evidence.