Monotropic Theory Flashcards
1
Q
Who developed it?
A
Bowlby
2
Q
What are social releasers?
A
- Bowlby suggested that babies are born with a set of innate ‘cute’ behaviours like smiling or cooing that encourage an adult’s attention.
3
Q
What is the purpose of social releasers?
A
- Bowlby called them social releasers because purpose is to activate the adult attachment system. Recognised that attachment was a reciprocal process. Both mother and baby have an innate predisposition to become attached and social releasers trigger that response in caregivers.
4
Q
What theory did Bowlby reject and why?
A
- Learning theory
- 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’
5
Q
Why is it considered an evolutionary approach?
A
- Bowlby looked at the work of Lorenz and Harlow for ideas and proposed an evolutionary explanation: that attachment was an innate system that gave a survival advantage.
- Imprinting and attachment evolved because the ensure that young animals stay close to their caregivers and this protects them for hazards.
6
Q
Label and explain the two laws of the theory?
A
1) The law of continuity: The more constant and predictable a child’s care, the better the quality of the attachment.
2) The law of accumulated separation: The effects of every separation from the mother adds up ‘and the safest dose is therefore a zero dose’.
7
Q
What is the critical period?
A
- Bowlby proposed that there is a critical period around two years when the infant attachment system is active.
- Viewed this as more of a sensitive period. A child is maximally sensitive at the age of two, but, if an attachment is not formed in this time, a child will find it much harder to form one later.
