EXPLANATION OF ATTACHMENT: BOWLBYS MONOTROPIC THEORY

• Monotropy 


  the tendency to attach initially to one caregiver (usually the biological mother).
• Social releasers 


  infants innate cute behaviours designed to elicit adult care, e.g. smiling, cooing and gripping.
• Critical period 


  a period by which an attachment must be formed (2 years).
• Internal working model 


  mental representations of attachments.
• Continuity hypothesis 


  expectations of relationships (IWM) which are reflected in future relationships.
• Attachment is innate like imprinting 


  BOWLBY gave an evolutionary explanation - that attachment is an innate system that gives a survival advantage.

  Imprinting and attachment evolved because they ensure young animals stay close to their caregivers and this protects them from hazards.
• Monotropic = having a primary attachment figure 


  Bowlby's theory is described as monotropic because of the emphasis ont he child’s attachment to one caregiver (mono = ‘one’ and tropic = ‘leaning towards’).

  This attachment is different from others and more important. 

  Bowlby believed that the more time a baby spent with this primary attachment figure / mother-figure (not necessarily the biological mother, or indeed a female) the better.
• MONOTROPIC

  There are 2 main reasons

  1. Law of continuity = the more consistent a child’s care, the better the quality of attachment. 
  2. Law of accumulated separation = the effects of every separation add up. So, ‘the safest does is therefore a zero dose’
• Babies are born with social releasers 


  Bowlby suggested that babies are born with a set of innate ‘cute’ behaviours (e.g smiling, cooing, gripping)  that encourage attention from adults. 

  The purpose of these social releasers is to activate adult social interaction (i.e make an adult attach  to the baby). 

  Bowlby recognised that attachment is a reciprocal system.
• There is a critical period

  Bowlby proposed that there is a critical period of about 2 years when the infant attachment system is active. In fact, he viewed this as more of a sensitive period. 

  A child is maximally sensitive at 6 months and this may extend up to the age of 2 years. If an attachment has not formed in this time, a child will find it much harder to form one later.
• The first attachment forms an internal working model of relationships 


  Bowlby argued that the child forms a mental representation (IWM) of the relationship with their primary attachment figure. This IWM serves as a ‘template’ for what relationships are like. 
• The first attachment forms an internal working model of relationships 


  A child whose first experience is a loving relationship with a reliable caregiver will tend to form an expectation that all relationships are loving and reliable. However, a child whose first relationship involved poor treatment may expect such treatment from others. 

  The IWM may also affect the child’s later ability to be a parent themselves.