Attachment: Bowlby theory

• Attachment


  Innate system that gives a survival advantage
• Attachment


  • Evolved as a mechanism to keep animals safe by ensuring they stay close to adult caregiver
• Law of continuity


  More constant and predictable child's care means better quality attachment
• Law of accumulated separation


  Effects of every separation add up
• Babies


  • Born with innate cute behaviours e.g. cooing, smiling, laughing
• Social releasers


  Purpose is to activate adult social interaction so as to make the adult attach to baby
• Critical period


  • Around six months when infant attachment system active - if attachment not formed at this time then harder to form one later
• Internal working model


  Mental representation of child's relationship with primary caregiver, serving as a model of what relationships are like
• Internal working model


  Affects child's later ability to be a parent
• Children base their parenting on own experiences
• what does the Internal working model affect?


  the childs later parenting
• meaning of internal working model


  mental representation of childs relationship with primary caregiver
• Concept of monotropy lacks validity. Schaffer and emerson found that minority of babies formed multiple attachments at same time
• first attachment is stronger in influence but not different in quality
• bowlby may be incorrect that primary attachment has unique quality and importance
• Brazelton oberved babies triggering interaction from adults by using social releasers. Then he told primary attachment figure to ignore babies signals. Babies became distressed. This shows the role of social releasers in emotional development and shows that they are important in attachment development
• Heidi measured attachemnt in 99 mothers and their 1 yr old babies. measured attachment between mothers nd own mothers and babies and mothers.
• Heidi found that mothers with poor attachment to own mothers had a poorly attached baby. Supports bowlbys idea that mothers ability to form attachments to own babies depends on their internal working model.
• counterpoint to Heidi


  some believe genetic differences in anxiety and sociability affect social behaviour. these could affect their parenting abilities. This may mean bowlby exaggerated importance of internal working model in social behaviour and parenting at expense of othet factors