Explanations: Bowlbys monotropic

• Monotropic: indicates that one particular attachment is different from the others and of central importance to the child's development
• The concept of monotropy

  • Bowlby took inspiration from Lorenz and Harlow to develop an evolutionary explanation, suggesting attachment is an innate system to give us a survival advantage
  • Rejects learning theory as an explanation for attachment, theory is classed as monotropic because a lot of emphasis is placed on the child's attachment to a particular care-giver
  • Bowlby called this person the 'mother' but stressed it does not have to be the biological mother or a female - now more commonly referred to as primary attachment figure
• The law of continuity

  • The more constant and predictable a child's care, the better the quality of their attachment

  The law of accumulated separation

  • The effects of every separation from the mother add up ' the safest dose is therefore zero dose'
• Social releasers

  • A set of innate 'cute' behaviours babies are born with to encourage attention from adults
  • The purpose of social releasers is to activate adult social interactions causing them to attach to and feel love for the baby-reciprocal process.
• Critical period

  • Critical period is 6 months - 2 years, where the infant attachment system is the most sensitive.
  • Bowlby referred to this period as the 'sensitive period' as it is the easiest time for an attachment to form
  • If an attachment is not formed in this time frame it will be harder but not impossible
• Internal working models:

  • The mental representation we carry of our attachment to our primary attachment figure. They affect our future relationships because they carry our perception of what relationships are like.
  • IWM affect children's relationships in the future by if they have a loving and reliable primary attachment the children will bring these qualities to future relationships and seek healthy relationships
  • People base their own parenting off how they were parented. Functional families have functional families.
• A03: Mixed evidence for monotropy

  Bowlby believed the attachment to the mother was special and different from others and only after this was established could a child form multiple attachments.

  However especially in collectivist cultures Schaffer and Emerson found it was possible to form multiple attachments at the same time.
• IWM support:

  Bailey et al assessed 99 mothers with 1 year olds attachment to their babies using the strange situation and their own mothers using adult attachment interviews. Mothers who reported poor attachment to own mother were more likely to have children poorly attached to them. Attachment passes through generations.
• Monotropy is socially sensitive:

  Major implications that choices that mothers make when their children are young can impact their adult lives. This can push mothers into certain life-style choices such as not going to work to be with the baby. This was not Bowlby's intention.
• Evaluation: Temperament may be as important.

  Kagan- some babies are naturally more anxious or sociable which can explain later attachment issues and parenting experiences