explanations of attachment - bowlby's theory

Question 1

monotropic

Answer 1

a term sometimes used to describe bowlby’s theory. mono means ‘one’ and tropic means ‘learning towards’. this indicates that one particular attachment is different all others and of central importance to a child’s development.

Question 2

critical period

Answer 2

the time within an attachment must form if it is to form at all. i.e. 2.5 to 3 years old.

bowlby suggested that if an attachment is not formed in this time. it never will. if an attachment does not form, you will be socially, emotionally, intellectually and physically stunted.

Question 3

internal working model

Answer 3

our mental representations of the world, e.g. the representation we have of our relationship to our primary attachment figure. this model affects our future relationships because it carries our perception of what relationships are like.

Question 4

john bowlby (1988)

Answer 4

rejected learning theory as an explanation for attachment because, as he said, ‘were it true, an infant of a year or two should take readily to whomever feeds him and this is clearly not the case’.
instead bowlby looked at the work of lorenz and harlow for ideas and proposed an evolutionary explanation - that attachment was an innate system that gives a survival advantage.
so attachment, like imprinting, evolved as a mechanism to keep young animals safe by ensuring they stay close to adult caregivers.

Question 5

monotropy (1)

Answer 5

bowlby’s theory (1958, 1969) is described as monotropic because he placed great emphasis on a child’s attachment to one particular caregiver (hence the word mono).
he belived that the childs attachment to this one caregiver is different and more important than others. bowlby called this person the ‘mother’ but it was clear that it need not to be the biological mother (or indeed a woman).

Question 6

monotropy (2)

Answer 6

bowlby believed that the more time a bay spent with this mother-fihure - or primary attachment figure as we usually call them now - the better. he put forward two principles to clarify this.

Question 7

two principles

Answer 7

• the law of continuity stated that the more constant and predictable a child’s care, the better the quality of their attachment.
• the law of accumulated separation stated that the effects of every separation from the mother add up ‘and the safest dose is therefore a zero dose’ (bowlby 1975)