Schaffer and Emerson (1964) found that a significant minority of babies formed multiple attachments. This means that Bowlby may be incorrect that there is a unique quality and importance to the child’s primary attachment.
What is the support for social releasers?
Brazelton (1975) found that babies triggered interactions with adults by using social releasers. When these social releasers were ignored by their caregiver, the babies became increasingly distressed and some curled up and lay motionless. This suggests that social releasers are important in the process of attachment development.
What is the support for the internal working model?
Heidi Bailey et al (2007) assessed attachment relationships in 99 mothers and their babies. They measured both the mothers' relationships with their own primary attachment figures and the attachment quality of the babies. They found that mothers with poor attachment to their own primary attachment figures were more likely to have poorly attached babies.
What is a real world application of Bowlby's monotropic theory of attachment?
Due to Bowlby's findings, when a child is brought into care, it is made sure that adoptions take place as soon as possible during the critical period (2.5 years). Children that haven't formed an attachment after 2.5 years are less likely to be adopted.
