EXPLANATIONS OF ATTACHMENT: BOWLBY'S THEORY

Question 1

BOWLBY’S MONOTROPIC THEORY

Answer 1

• rejected learning theory as an explanation and instead proposed an EVOLUTIONARY explanation: that attachment was an innate system that gave a survival advantage

Question 2

MONOTROPY

Answer 2

MONOTROPIC: placed great emphasis on a child’s attachment to ONE particular caregiver and believed that the child’s attachment to this person is different and more important than others
- LAW OF CONTINUITY: the more constant and predictable a child’s care, the better the quality of their attachment
- LAW OF ACCUMULATED SEPARATION: the effects of every separation from the mother add up: ‘the safest dose is zero’

Question 3

SOCIAL RELEASERS & THE CRITICAL PERIOD

Answer 3

• babies are born with a set of innate ‘cute’ behaviours, e.g. smiling, cooing and gripping that encourage attention from adults –> SOCIAL RELEASERS
  
  • purpose = activate the adult attachment system
• both the mother and baby have an innate predisposition to become attached and social releasers trigger that response in caregivers.
• gradually builds the relationship between infant & caregiver in the early weeks of life
• proposed a CRITICAL PERIOD around 6 months when the infant attachment system is active
• extended this to 2 years: SENSITIVE PERIOD
• a child = maximally sensitive at the age of 2, but if an attachment is not formed by then, a child will find it much harder to form one later in life

Question 4

INTERNAL WORKING MODEL

Answer 4

• a child forms a mental representation of their relationship with their primary caregiver and serves as a model/blueprint for what relationships are like
• powerful effect on the nature of the child’s future relationships
• future relationships will directly mirror their attachment/relationship with their primary caregiver
• affects the child’s ability to be a parent themselves
• most ase their parenting on their own experiences of being parented

Question 5

AO3: SUPPORT FOR SOCIAL RELEASERS

Answer 5

• clear evidence to show that cute infant behaviours are intended to initiate social interaction
  BRAZLETON (1975) observed mothers and babies during their interactions, reporting existence of interactional synchrony
• extended their observation to an experiment
• primary attachment figures ordered to ‘ignore’ their babies’ signals –> babies initially showed some distress but when continued to ignore –> responded by curling up and lying motionless
• the fact that children responded so strongly supports Bowlby’s ideas about the significance of infant social behaviour in eliciting caregiving.

Question 6

AO3: SUPPORT FOR INTERNAL WORKING MODEL

Answer 6

• testable as it predicts attachment patterns will be passed on from one generation to the next
  BAILEY (2007) assessed 99 mothers with 1 year old babies on the quality of attachment with their own mothers in an interview
• also assessed the attachment of the babies to the mothers by observation
• the mothers who reported poor attachments to their own parents in the interviews were much more likely to have children classified as poor
• supports the idea that an IWM = passed through families
  HOWEVER, as this was conducted through a self-report interview, it is hard to trust the VALIDITY of these answers, as we cannot be certain that these mothers are telling the truth
  ALSO, the observation of attachment of the babies = SUBJECTIVE

Question 7

AO3: MONOTROPY = SOCIALLY SENSITIVE IDEA

Answer 7

• major implications for the lifestyle choices mothers make when their children are young
• the Law of Accumulated Separation states that having substantial time apart from a primary figure risks a poor quality of attachment that will disadvantage the child later
• feminists point out that this places a burden of responsibility on the mother, setting them up to take the blame if anything goes wrong in the rest of the child’s life
• pushes mothers into particular lifestyle choices, e.g. not returning to work
• SOCIALLY SENSITIVE RESEARCH: mothers may be judged by society for spending time away from their children whilst living their own lives. May bring back sexist ideals
• LACKS TEMPORAL VALIDITY: modern-day women have more personal freedom and work more, therefore these ideals are outdated