A01 Bowlby's Theory Of Attachment

• Bowlby's monotropic theory


  Rejected the learning theory of attachment Instead 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


  Imprinting and attachment evolved because they ensured young animals stay close to their caregivers and are protected from hazards
• Monotropy


  Bowlby emphasises on a child's attachment to one particular caregiver and more important than others. Bowlby called this person the 'mother' but it didn't have to biologically be the mother but primary attachment figure
• Bowlby's two principles


  Law of continuity stating that more constant/predictable quality leads to better quality of attachment. Law of accumulated separation stating effects of every separation from the mother adds up so ideal level of separation is none
• Social releasers and the critical period

  Babies are born with a set of innate 'cute' behaviours like smiling, cooing and gripping which are all social releasers as their purpose is to activate the adult attachment system: attachment is a reciprocal process.
• Innate predisposition


  Both mother and baby have an innate predisposition to become attached and social releasers trigger response from caregivers
• Critical period


  Bowlby suggested the critical period for humans is 2 years when the infant attachment system is active
• Sensitive period


  Critical period is viewed as a sensitive period for the baby as child is maximally sensitive at age of 2 but if attachment is not formed at this time, harder for child to form attachments in the future
• Internal working model


  Serves as a model for what relationships are like. Child forms a mental representation of their relationship with primary caregiver and if a child's first relationship is with a reliable caregiver, they will tend to form an expectation that all relationships are as loving and reliable causing them to bring these qualities in future relatioships
• Parental ability


  Internal working model also affects child's ability to be a parent and people tend to base their parenting on their own experiences of being parented. This is why children from functional families have similar families themselves