Explanations of attachment: Bowlby's theory

Question 1

Why did Bowlby (1988) reject learning theory as an explanation for attachment

Answer 1

‘were it true, an infant of a year or two should take readily to whomever feeds him and this is clearly not the case’

Question 2

True/False: Bowlby (1988) agreed with learning theory

Answer 2

False: he rejected learning theory as an explanation for attachment

Question 3

Who criticised learning theory, saying ‘were it true, an infant of a year or two should take readily to whomever feeds him and this is clearly not the case’

Answer 3

Bowlby

Question 4

Who’s ideas did Bowlby (1988) look at when proposing his evolutionary explanation of attachment?

Answer 4

Lorenz and Harlow’s

Question 5

Bowlby (1988) produced an ____________ explanation of attachment

Answer 5

evolutionary

Question 6

Bowlby (1988)’s evolutionary explanation of attachment proposed that attachment was an ______ system that gives a survival advantage

Answer 6

innate

Question 7

Bowlby (1988)’s evolutionary explanation of attachment proposed that attachment was an innate system that gives…

Answer 7

a survival advantage

Question 8

Bowlby (1988) proposed that attachment, like imprinting, evolved as a mechanism to… by…

Answer 8

keep young animals safe by ensuring they stay close to adult caregivers

Question 9

Bowlby (1958, 1969)’s theory is described as __________ because he placed great emphasis on a child’s attachment to one particular caregiver

Answer 9

monotropic

Question 10

Why is Bowlby (1958, 1969)’s theory described as monotropic?

Answer 10

He placed great emphasis on a child’s attachment to one particular caregiver (hence the word mono)

Question 11

True/False: Bowlby believed that a child’s attachment to its one main caregiver is what compared to others?

Answer 11

Different and more important than others

Question 12

What did Bowlby call a child’s one particular attachment figure?

Answer 12

the ‘mother’

Question 13

True/False: Bowlby called a child’s one particular attachment figure because it was always the child’s biological mother

Answer 13

False, it didn’t need to be the biological mother or a woman at all

Question 14

Bowlby believed that the more time a baby spent with this ______-figure (or primary attachment figure), the better

Answer 14

mother

Question 15

What did Bowlby refer to primary attachment figures as?

Answer 15

mothers

Question 16

Bowlby believed that the more time a baby spent with this mother-figure (or primary attachment figure), the…

Answer 16

better

Question 17

What did Bowlby’s law of continuity state?

Answer 17

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

Question 18

What did Bowlby’s law of accumulated separation state?

Answer 18

The effects of every separation from the mother add up ‘and the safest dose is therefore a zero dose’ (Bowlby 1975)

Question 19

What were the two principles/laws that Bowlby put forward called?

Answer 19

The law of continuity and the law of accumulated separation

Question 20

Bowlby suggested that babies are born with a set of innate ‘____’ behaviours

Answer 20

cute

Question 21

Bowlby suggested that babies are born with a set of innate ‘cute’ behaviours such as…

Answer 21

smiling, cooing and gripping

Question 22

Bowlby suggested that babies are born with a set of innate ‘cute’ behaviours that encourage what?

Answer 22

Attention from adults

Question 23

What did Bowlby call the ‘cute’ behaviours that are innate to babies?

Answer 23

Social releasers

Question 24

What is Bowlby referring to when he says social releasers?

Answer 24

A set of innate ‘cute’ behaviours like smiling, cooing and gripping that encourage attention from adults

Question 25

Why did Bowlby call babies' innate 'cute' behaviours social releasers?

Answer 25

Their purpose is to activate adult social interaction and so make an adult attach to the baby

Question 26

Bowlby recognised that attachment was a __________ process

Answer 26

reciprocal

Question 27

True/False: Bowlby said that both mother and baby are not hard-wired to become attached

Answer 27

False, he said they are

Question 28

True/False: Bowlby said the interplay between baby and adult attachment systems gradually builds the relationship between baby and caregiver

Answer 28

True

Question 29

Bowlby said the interplay between baby and adult attachment systems gradually builds the relationship between baby and caregiver, beginning at what stage of life?

Answer 29

In the early weeks

Question 30

Bowlby proposed that there is a critical period around what age when the infant attachment system is active?

Answer 30

six months

Question 31

Bowlby proposed that there is a ________ ______ around six months when the infant attachment system us active

Answer 31

critical period

Question 32

Bowlby viewed the critical period as more of a _________ period

Answer 32

sensitive

Question 33

Bowlby said that a child is maximally sensitive at how many months?

Answer 33

six

Question 34

Bowlby said that a child is maximally sensitive at six months and this possible extends up to the age of...

Answer 34

two

Question 35

Bowlby said that if an attachment is not formed during the sensitive period, a child will...

Answer 35

find it much harder to form one later

Question 36

Bowlby proposed that a child forms a ______ ______________ of their relationship with their primary attachment figure

Answer 36

mental representation

Question 37

Why is Bowlby's proposition that a child forms a mental representation of their relationship with their primary attachment figure called an internal working model?

Answer 37

it serves as a model for what relationships are like

Question 38

A child whose first experience is of a loving relationship with a reliable caregiver will tend to form what expectation?

Answer 38

An expectation that all relationships are as loving and reliable

Question 39

A child whose first experience is of a loving relationship with a reliable caregiver will tend to do what with these qualities?

Answer 39

Bring them into future relationships

Question 40

A child whose first relationship involves poor treatment will tend to form...

Answer 40

further poor relationships in which they expct such treatment from others / treat others in that way

Question 41

Most importantly the internal working model affects the child's later ability to...

Answer 41

be a parent themselves

Question 42

True/False: The internal working model affects a child's later ability to be a parent themselves

Answer 42

True

Question 43

What do people tend to base their parenting behaviour on?

Answer 43

Their own experiences of being parented

Question 44

Children from functional families tend to have similar families themselves. Why?

Answer 44

People tend to base their parenting on their own experiences of being parented

Question 45

One limitation of Bowlby's theory is that the concept of monotropy lack ________

Answer 45

validity

Question 46

In criticism of monotropy Schaffer and Emerson (1964) found that although most babies did attach to one person at first...

Answer 46

a significant minority formed multiple attachments at the same time

Question 47

True/False: Schaffer and Emerson (1964) found that a significant majority of babies formed multiple attachments at the same time

Answer 47

False, not a majority but there was still a significant minority

Question 48

A baby's first attachment appears to have a particularly strong/weak influence on later behaviour

Answer 48

strong

Question 49

Although the first attachment does appear to have a particularly strong influence on later behaviour, this may simply mean it is ________, not necessarily different in quality fro the child's other attachments

Answer 49

stronger

Question 50

Although the first attachment does appear to have a particularly strong influence on later behaviour, this may simply mean it is stronger, not necessarily...

Answer 50

different in quality from the child's other attachments

Question 51

Why may a baby's first attachment be stronger but not necessarily different in quality from their other attachments?

Answer 51

Other attachments to family members provide all the same key qualities (emotional support, a safe base etc).

Question 52

Evidence presented by Schaffer and Emerson (1964) suggests that Bowlby may be incorrect that there is a unique _______ and __________ to the child's primary attachment

Answer 52

quality and importance

Question 53

True/False: There is evidence supporting Bowlby;s suggestion of the role of social releasers

Answer 53

True

Question 54

There is clear evidence that cute baby behaviours are designed to elicit...

Answer 54

interaction from caregivers

Question 55

Brazelton et al. (1975) observed babies' trigger interactions with adults using what?

Answer 55

Social releasers

Question 56

In Brazelton et al. (1975)'s experiment, researchers instructed the babies' primary attachment figures to do what in response to babies' social releasers

Answer 56

Nothing - ignore them

Question 57

What did Brazelton et al. (1975) find?

Answer 57

Babies, who were previously shown to be normally responsive, became increasingly distressed and some eventually curled up and lay motionless

Question 58

Brazelton et al. (1975) found that babies, who were previously shown to be normally responsive, became increasingly distressed and some eventually...

Answer 58

curled up and lay motionless

Question 59

What does Brazelton et al. (1975)'s observation of babies' trigger interactions with adults using social releasers suggest about the role of social releasers in emotional development?

Answer 59

They are important in the process of attachment development

Question 60

True/False: A further limitation of Bowlby's theory is that there is no support for the internal working model

Answer 60

False, there is support for it

Question 61

The idea that the internal working model predicts that patterns of attachment will...

Answer 61

be passed from one generation to the next

Question 62

Bailey et al. (2007) assessed attachment relationships in __ mothers and their one-year-old babies

Answer 62

99

Question 63

Bailey et al. (2007) assessed attachment relationships in 99 mothers and their ___-year-old babies

Answer 63

one

Question 64

Who did Bailey et al. (2007) measure the mothers' attachment to?

Answer 64

Their own primary attachment figures (i.e. their parents)

Question 65

Who did Bailey et al. (2007) measure the babies' attachment to?

Answer 65

Their mothers

Question 66

What did Bailey et al. (2007) find?

Answer 66

Mothers with poor attachment to their own primary attachment figures were most likely to have poorly attached babies

Question 67

Bailey et al. (2007)'s findings support Bowlby's ideas that...

Answer 67

mothers' ability to form attachments to their babies is influenced by their internal working models (which in turn comes from their own early attachment experiences)

Question 68

True/False: Some psychologists believe that genetic differences in anxiety and sociability affect social behaviour in both babies and adults

Answer 68

True

Question 69

Kornienko said that genetic differences in anxiety and sociability affect social behaviour in both babies and adults, and these differences could also impact...

Answer 69

on their parenting ability

Question 70

The suggestion of the role of genetic differences in parenting ability means that Bowlby may have overstated the importance of...

Answer 70

the internal working model in social behaviour and parenting at the expense of others

Question 71

Thaw laws of continuity and accumulated separation suggests that mothers who work may positively/negatively affect their child's emotional development

Answer 71

negatively

Question 72

What did Burman (1994) point out about the belief that mothers who work may negatively affect their child's emotional development?

Answer 72

This belief sets up mothers to take the blame for anything that goes wrong for the child in the future, and gives people an excuse to restrict mothers' activities, for example returning to work

Question 73

Prior to Bowlby's time people didn't think the ______'s role was important, and, in fact, many custody disputes were settled in favour of the ______ because...

Answer 73

mother, father, mothers were not regarded as necessary

Question 74

Bowlby's ideas have many real-world applications, such as...

Answer 74

key workers in a daycare who build an attachment with particular babies