Monotropic explanation

• Bowlby's monotropic theory

  Bowlby rejected the learning theory of attachment because 'if it were true an infant of 2years old should take readily to whoever feeds them and this is not the case'. Instead he looked at the studies of Lorenz and Harlow and proposed an evolutionary explanation: attachment is an innate system that gave us a survival advantage. Imprinting and attachment evolved they ensure that young animals stay close to their caregiver and this protects them from hazards. Millions of years ago this might have been wild animals, today it is traffic and electricity.
• monotropy


  he placed emphasis on a child's attachment to one particular caregiver and believed that this attachment is different and more important than others. Bowlby called this person the mother but it did not need to be the baby's actual mother. The more time the baby spent with the mother the better.
• The law of continuity


  that the more predictable and constant the child's care the better the quality of attachment.
• The law of accumulation separation


  the effects of every separation from the mother add up and therefore the safest dose is the zero dose.
• social releasers


  Bowlby suggested that babies are born with a set of innate cute behaviours like smiling that encourages the attention from an adult. He called these social releasers as their purpose is to activate the adult attachment system i.e. make an adult feel love towards a child. He also noticed this behaviour was a reciprocal process. Both babies and mothers have innate predisposition to become attached and social releasers trigger that response in caregivers.
• critical period


  around two years when the infant attachment system is active and if it is not formed in this time they will find it difficult to form one later
• internal working model


  a child forms a mental representation of their relationship with their primary caregiver and therefore has an effect on the child's relationships when older. A child's whose first relationship is loving and reliable, will expect all relationships to be like this and also be loving and reliable back. However, a child's relationship that involves poor treatment will and expect poor treatment and treat others that way. It also affects a child's ability to be a parent themselves as people base their parenting on experiences
• Bowlby's theory of attachment evaluation

  - critical period should be sensitive period

  - contradicting research be schaffer and Emerson says you can form more that one attachment

  + support for internal working model from baily et al he assessed 99 mothers attachment and the attachment they had with their own parent through standard interview. he found mothers who had a poor attachment with their mothers had a poor attachment with their children