Lesson 6- Explanations of attachment- Bowlby’s Monotropic Theory

Question 1

What was John Bowbly’s stance on attachment?

Answer 1

John Bowlby rejected the learning theory & proposed an evolutionary explanation

Question 2

What is the evolutionary theory?

Answer 2

Evolutionary theory:
• Attachments are innate (infants born to form them)- aid survival
• Infants who stuck close to 🤰- ⬆️ likely to survive & … pass genetic trait to own 👶
• Imprinting & attachment ensures young animals stay close to caregivers- protects them from hazards & feeds them … have innate drive to imprint & attach (long term benefits)

Question 3

What characteristics did Bowlby propose that aid the formation of an attachment?

Answer 3

1) Monotropy
2) Social releasers
3) Critical period
4) Internal working model

Question 4

What is monotropy?

Answer 4

Monotropy- bias towards one individual (primary attachment figure)

Question 5

How does monotropy aid the formation of an attachment?

Answer 5

Usually 🤰 BUT ✖️ necessarily biological 🤰 (person who responds most sensitively to 👶’s needs

Explained by:
1) Law of continuity- the ⬆️ constant & predictable a child’s care, the better quality of attachment
2) Law of accumulated separation- effects of every separation from 🤰 add up … ✖️ separation best

• Primary attachment figure provides main foundation for emotional development, self-esteem & later relationships with peers 💙, lovers❤️ & one’s own 👶
• Hierarchical attachments- primary attachment most important … top of hierarchy & rest secondary attachments
• Secondary attachment figures- also important in emotional & social development

Question 6

What are social releasers?

Answer 6

Social releasers- innate ‘cute’ 🏃‍♂‍ e.g. 😊, cooing etc- encourages attention/care from adults

Question 7

How do social releasers aid the formation of an attachment?

Answer 7

• Important during time attachment being formed because both the 🤰 & 👶 have innate urge to become attached & social releasers trigger that response in caregivers
• … attachment reciprocal (2-way) process (👶 has needs e.g. 🥛 etc & social releasers encourage adults to provide these needs)

Question 8

What is the critical period?

Answer 8

The critical period- limited window for 1st attachment to occur- Bowlby argued 1st 2 years of 👶 life

Question 9

How does the critical period aid the formation of an attachment?

Answer 9

If 1st attachment ✖️ formed in period, then extremely difficult for 👶 to form further attachments

Question 10

What is the internal working model?

Answer 10

Internal working model- when a 👶 forms a mental representation of relationship with primary caregiver

Question 11

How does the internal working model aid the formation of an attachment?

Answer 11

Acts as template of what future relationships will be like/what to expect from others, whether others can be trusted etc

Question 12

What is a secure base & why is it important?

Answer 12

Attachment- important for protection- secure base from which 👶 can explore world & return to when threatened … attachments help in fostering independence

Question 13

What is the continuity hypothesis & why is it important?

Answer 13

Internal working model- means consistency between early emotional experiences & later relationships
… continuity hypothesis- early attachment relationship impacts later emotional 🏃‍♂‍

• Securely attached 👶- socially & emotionally competent
• Insecurely attached 👶- ⬆️ social & emotional difficulties later in childhood & adulthood

Question 14

What are the evaluation points to Bowlby’s monotropic theory as an explanation of attachment?

Answer 14

👎- idea that attachment ✖️ formed after critical period challenged- although harder still possible- Tizard & Hodges found 21/22 of children adopted at 4 years old formed secure attachment with adopted parents by age 8
👍- animal research support for imprinting & critical period- Lorenz’s research supports view that imprinting innate- Lorenz found that baby 🐦 imprint on 1st moving object when 🐣- similar to human 👶- generally 👶 imprint on 🤰- ALSO- Lorenz found that if baby 🐦 ✖️ imprint in critical period- unable to imprint in future- Bowlby found same for humans-similar process likely to have evolved in many species (including humans) to aid survival
👎- idea that poor 1st attachment relationship-> poor future relationships- challenged
research shown that individuals with difficult childhoods & insecure attachments can develop ➕ & secure relationships in adulthood- due to ➕ school experiences/strong adult attachments-> develop feelings of security & trust later in life
👍- support for internal working model- Bailey et al. (2007) observed 99🤰with 1 year old 👶 on quality of attachment & compared to 🤰 own 🤰 using interviews- mothers who reported poor attachment to own parents in interviews ⬆️ likely to have poor attachment with own 👶 classified as poor according to the observations- relationship standards ⬇️
👎- Bowlby ignores the role of father … theory outdated & sexist- Bowlby focuses ⬆️ on role of 🤰 & sees father only as secondary attachment figure (role primarily economic)- BUT society changed- fathers play important role nowadays in upbringing of 👶