Bowlby’s evolutionary/monotropic theory of attachment

• A01:

  Bowlby's suggested that attachment is an innate process that serves an important evolutionary function
• Evolutions:

  The change in the inherited characteristic of an organism over time. Characteristics that are adaptive (increase the organism's chances of survival) will be passed on to the next generation
• How does this explain attachment?

  - Attachment between infant and caregiver is a prime example of a behaviour pattern that is rooted in biology and evolution

  
  

  - Attachment behaviour has become programmed into human beings and is found to operate similarly in almost in all cultures

  
  

  - The purpose and function of attachment is the same regardless of ethnic or cultural difference: to keep the baby close to the caregiver for safety and protection; to allow the child to explore and learn within a safe context ("secure base"); and to develop a loving and reciprocal relationship which can be passed on through generations
• A01:

  The main principles of Bowlby's Theory are the notion that infants form one main attachment (monotropy), that attachments provide are an internal working model (template of expectations) for future attachments and that infants need to attach within a critical period (before the age of 2 1/2) or there may be lasting negative consequences
• Monotropy:

  This is the idea that a child forms an attachment to Bowlby believed the more time a baby spent with the primary attachment figure the better.

  
  

  The law of continuity states that the more constant and predictable a child's care, the better the quality of their attachment

  
  

  The law of accumulated separation states that the effects of every separation from the mother add up s
• Internal working model:


  Bowlby suggests that children form a mental representation of their caregiver. This is called an internal working model because it serves as a model for what relationships are like (schema.)
• What will happen if a child has a bad experience in their first attachment?

  They will tended to form further poor relationships in which they expect treatment from others/ treat others in that way

  
  

  It is suggested that IWM will impact on friendship relationships as well as the child's later ability to parent themselves, as they base their parenting behaviours on their own experience
• Critical Period:

  There is a critical period from where the attachment system is active. It is thought that if an attachment is not formed within this it will be very difficult for a child to form an attachment later on there is negative social, intellectual and emotional consequences
• Social relasers


  Bowlby suggested that babies are born with innate 'cute' behaviours which as smiling, cooing, gripping

  
  

  He called these social releasers because their purpose is to activate the adult attachment systems (e.g. make the adult feel love towards the baby).

  
  

  Bowlby recognised that attachment was reciprocal as adults have an innate predisposition to become attached and the social releasers trigger that response in caregivers .

  
  

  This exchange of behaviours between infants and caregivers gradually builds a relationships, within the early weeks of life
• A03 Evaluation:

  Weakness: this period is 'sensitive' not critical shown by later research on orphans (Rutter) and suitable care can lead to recovery (counter to peripheral damage)
• A03: useful real life application

  P- As when babies are born midwives and doctors ensure that babies are held close to their mothers to be able to spend more time more with them in the critical period

  E-adoption agencies and social services will be able tor recognise the importance of forming attachments and placing children with foster/permanent families before the age of 2

  E_so that they will not experience the long lasting negative consequences and instead have positive benefits
• A03: Brazelton el al. (1975) (Strength)


  P- observed mothers and babies during their interactions and found that international synchrony existed.

  E- In addition to this he found that when parents were instructed to ignore their babies' signals (social releasers) that the babies showed signs of distress and eventually curled up lying

  E- this adds credibility to the theory that social releasers are important in an attachment relationship between infant and caregiver
• A03: weakness/opposing study

  P- monotropy is a socially sensitive idea as it had major implications for the lifestyle choices mothers make when their children are young.

  E- it can make mothers feel potentially inadequate they may feel as

  E- if they aren't doing enough to ensure a 'perfect' attachment relationship is formed can put pressure on them
• A03: Weakness (Schaffer and Emerson) link to previous points monotropy


  P- Schaffer and Emerson found that children can form multiple important attachments at the same time.

  E- This suggest that children don't solely form attachments to their primary caregivers (mothers) and contradicts the theory of monotropy
• A03: Lorenz 1935 (Monotropy and Critical Period)


  P- Although Lorenz 1935 findings support the idea that we have innate attachment behaviours

  E- (he found geese imprint on the first moving objects, they see, suggesting that they are 'pre-programmed' to form an attachment to increase their chance of survival however the research and the importance of the critical period

  E- However it lacks generalisability as animal research results have been been extrapolated onto humans , humans do not imprint and geese form attachments in 17-18 hours whereas it takes humans significantly longer demonstrated by Schaffer and Emerson's stages

  L-oversimplification of human attachment behaviour as it is more complex
• A03: Harlow(Monotropy)

  P- Harlow found that the monkeys formed an emotional attachment to one mother,

  E- although the wire mother had food the monkeys formed an attachment to the cloth covered mother spending 17-18 hours with the cloth covered mother and only 1 hour feeding with the wire mother therefore this supports Bowlby's theory of monotropy
• A03: Other Explanations Learning Theory of Attachment

  P- One weakness is that there are other explanations of attachment Learning theory suggests that

  E- attachment forms as a result for 'cupboard love' for example through classical conditioning as the mother provides the food the baby learns by association to generalise the feeling of hunger/being fed with their primary caregiver

  E- Bowlby's theory of attachment does not address the importance of food as a factor of developing an attachment relationship so therefore it is an incomplete explanation of attachment
• A03: IWM unfalsifiable and socially sensitive

  P-A weakness is that the idea of an IWM is difficult to test

  E- this is because we cannot be 100% certain that a 'bad ' early attachment relationship that they will inevitably struggle to form good attachment relationships in their later life which is also socially sensitive

  E- furthermore, the idea that attachment is innate as theory of evolution suggests is also difficult to test as evolution is caused by a result of minute genetic changes therefore it is difficult to establish whether attachment and the later IWM is caused by this

  L- therefore the IWM is unfalsifiable
• A03: Kagan Temperament


  P- an alternative explanation for the continuity hypothesis is kagan's temperament hypothesis (1984) E- Kagan noted that innate temperamental characteristics which made infants 'easy' or 'difficult' had a serious impact on the mother-infant relationship

  E- and thus the attachment type

  L- these innate temperamental characteristics would influence the individual throughout life and thus love relationships