Explanations for Attachment - Evolutionary theory

Question 1

What are the key ideas of Bowlby’s theory

Answer 1

M - monotropy
A - adaptive
C - critical period
I - internal working model
S - social releasers

Question 2

Define Monotropy

Answer 2

The one primary attachment is different and more important than others

Question 3

Define adaptive

Answer 3

It provides survival advantages

Question 4

Define critical period

Answer 4

The period after birth (first) 2 1/2 years in which babies are best adapted to form attachments if an attachment isnt formed it is much more difficult to form an attachment later

Question 5

Define internal working model

Answer 5

The mental representation of the child’s first attachment

Question 6

Define social releasers

Answer 6

Innate behaviours like crying and smiling designed to elicit adult responses.

Question 7

define monotropic

Answer 7

A term used to describe Bowlby’s theory, the mono means one and indicates that one attachment is different from the others and is of central importance to the child’s development.

Question 8

what 2 principles did Bowlby put forward

Answer 8

The law of continuity
+
The law of accumilated seperation

Question 9

explain The law of continuity

Answer 9

stated that the more constant and predictable a child’s care, the better the quality of their attachment

Question 10

explain the law of accumulated seperation

Answer 10

the effects of every seperation from the mother adds up ‘and the safest does is therefore a zero does’

However this was published at a time women were trying to join the workforce and therefore may be bias/ exaggerated

Question 11

Evaluate monotropy

Answer 11

One attachment was the most important. Only after this attachment was established could a child form multiple attachments this is not supported by Schaffer and Emerson as they found most babies did attach to one person first.
However, they also found that a significant minority appeared able to form multiple attachments at the same time it is also unclear whether there is something unique about the first attachment. Studies of attachment to mother and father tend to show that attachment to the mother is more important in predicating later behavior however this could simply mean that attachment to the primary attachment figure is just stronger than other attachments, not necessarily that it is different in quality.

Question 12

Support for social releasers

Answer 12

Tronick et al. 1970’s – Still face experiment
Observed the interaction between mothers and babies focusing on interactional synchrony where the mother would interact and respond to their child’s social releasers then turn away and turn back with a blank face as well as then not responding to the social releasers. This then caused the infant to act out by crying and increasing their social releasers. This therefore supports the Bowlby’s theory showing that the social releasers are designed to elicit response

Question 13

Support for the internal working model

Answer 13

The support for the internal working models can easily be tested as if it is true then the patterns of attachment should be passed down through generations
Bailey et al (2007) wanted to see whether the internal working model was true.Using a standard interview test, they tested 99 mothers with babies aged 1 on how they interacted with their own mother. They then also observed the attachment between the mother and 1 year old baby.
It was found that the mothers who reported poor attachments to their own parents in the interviews were much more likely to have children classified as poor according to the observations
This supports Bowlby’s idea that an internal working model was being passed down through families

Question 14

strength

Evaluate Bailey et al 2007

Answer 14

A methodological strength of this experiment is that there are 99 babies and mothers participating. This is a strength because there is a high number of people. This means that there is a lot of data which can be drawn from, and you can get the most accurate result because of how many people there are.

Question 15

weakness

Evaluate Bailey et al 2007

Answer 15

A methodological weakness for this experiment is that the researchers knew the results from the original interview before observing the baby’s behavior with its mother. This is a weakness because the researchers may have had some bias when observing the baby with their own mother as they wanted the experiment to prove the internal working model theory. This means that they may have had a bias which is a negative as it means the experiment isn’t accurate in proving the internal working model theory.

Question 16

Not bailey et al 2007

Support for internal working model

Answer 16

Harlow’s research found that the monkeys who were raised by the wire and cloth mothers were bad parents and would abuse or kill their children. This supports Bowlby’s research as having neglectful parents makes you into a neglectful parent.

Question 17

strengths

Evaluate Bowlby’s theory of attachment

Answer 17

A strength of the explanation Is that there is a lot of research that supports Bowlby’s theory, eg: Bailey, Tronick
The research isn’t only shown in humans but has also been shown in monkeys

Question 18

weaknesses

Evaluate Bowlby’s theory of attachment

Answer 18

Bowlby says the mother can only be the primary caregiver and monotropy can be a socially sensitive idea, additionally the research was caaried out in a time where women were trying to join the workforce and being actively discouraged.

Temperament may be as important as attachment. Temperament is the child’s genetically influenced personality. Temperament researchers often accuse Bowlby of over-emphasising the importance of a child’s early experiences and the quality of their attachment.