Bowlby attachment

• Attachment:

  • strong emotional connection between an infant and their main attachment figure
• Monotropic theory:

  • bowlby theorised that childered have biological need to form bond with 1 main attachment figure, this bond is more important than that with any other attachment figures, usually mother
• Monotropy:

  • attachment with only one attachment figure
  • if deprived of sole providor attachment --> maternal deprivation
• what kinda of relationships did bowly reserch

  • future relationships
• Maternal deprivation hypothisis:

  • theorised that first 2 and a hlf yrs of life was critical period forming attachment with attachment figure
  • claimed that if child failed to form attachment within this time would find it more difficult to form attachments later in life
• Sensitive/critical period:

  • lifespan stade during which indervidials are more sensitive to environmental influences and normal development relies on these life experiences occuring
• Maternal deprivation:

  • consequences indervidual experiences when seperated from their mother as a child and attachment is prevented from occuring
  • may delay interlection and emotional development and cause the child to have difficulties forming social relationships in adolencence and adulthood
• Socialisation:

  • aquiring belives values and behaviors that are thought to be important and appropriate to function effectivly as a member of society
• Imprinting:

  • precise and permanant learning that occurs very early on in an infants life to form a bond, usually with the mother.
  • this bond is termed attachment
• How attachment occurs:

  • child behaves in ways that elicits contact or proximity to caregiver
  • child experiences heighterned arousal and signals their caregiver e.g crying, smiling etc
  • caregiver responds to childs behavior creating a reciprocal pattern of interaction
• Internal working model:

  • peoples interactions with others guided by memories and expectations from internal model that influence and help evaluate contact with others
  • as childeren develop, these become part of personality --> affect their understanding of the world and future interactions with others
• Internal working model - bowlby:

  • primary caregiver acts as prototype for future relationships via model
• 3 main features bowlby's internal working model:

  1. model of other such as mother being experiances as trustworthy
  2. model of the self as being valuable and important to others
  3. model of the self as having been effective when interacting with others such as mothers.
• Agents of socialisation:

  • = factors that affect out socialisation
  • e.g studied agents; families (parents, grandparents); school; mass media; religios institutions; clubs
• Bowlby:

  • evolutionary theory of attachment
  • suggests childeren come into the world biologically pre-programed to form attachments with other, to help them survive