Bowlbys Theory Pf ttachemnt

Question 1

Intro

Answer 1

Inspired by evolutionary theory and used this as a basis for his explanation of why babies bond with care givers
Suggested bond is formed between a caregiver and a child to heighten chances of surivival as children are attracted to warmth, food and protection
Children need caregivers to survive and pass on genes to neck generation
Harlow and Zimmerman - monkeys go to primary caregiver for comfort regardless of which surrogate mother gave food (cloth or wire)
Shows comfort is more important in development of attachment than food

Question 2

Critical period

Answer 2

Bowlby suggested is a critical period 2.5 to 3 years
Attachment must be established and maintained to have healthy consequences & everthing must be learnt
Lorenze (1935)
Geese attached to a human parent in 32 hours - shows geese have a critical period where they learn who is caregiver
However, anthropomorphic

Question 3

Monotropy

Answer 3

Form one attachment to caregiver most sensitive to baby’s social releases
Schaffer and Emerson supported this when they found babies protested more intensely to a particular attachment, supporting monotropy
Showed higherarchy as they were more distressed if their monotropic attachment left
However, cannot be generalised as they used Glaswegian babies so is a culture bias and other cultures may have differing results

Question 4

Internal working model

Answer 4

Acts as a template as the baby gets older and child becomes more emotionally secure in relationships
Supported by Hazen & Shaver (1987) study as it found securely attached were more likely to have belief and were trusting of new partners (692 respondents to love quiz), those insecurely attached were more likely to hold beliefs that romantic relationships were based in one session, jealousy showing primary attachment affects as you are older.
However, study lacks validity as it is based on self reported data cannot be falsified and may have demand characteristics

Question 5

Caregiver sensitivity

Answer 5

Other conclusions by Russel observed mothers interacting with their babies at 1,4 and 9 months and assessed quality of attachment at 1 year and found the most strongly attached babies were to the mothers most sensitively responsive suggesting the sensitivity of mothers has an impact
In contrast,
Kayan 1984 proposed temperament hypothesis taking into account individual differences in innate personality of the baby and that some babies are emotionally difficult making it hard for mothers to attach suggesting many contributing factors to attachment are present before parental input
Therefore attachement May also be due to babies personality and not just caregiver sensitivty

Question 6

Conclusion

Answer 6

Bowlby theory of attachment had big impact on the way we parent in terms of how caregivers form attachments with children e.g. hostpial hours and day care
However ignores other factors e.g. personality
Also routed in evolution so unfalsifiable