Bowlby Monotropic Theory

• Attachment hasn’t learnt over time = innate
• Adaptive trait = evolution
• Bowlby ( 1953 )

  Attachment is biologically pre-programmed into children at birth.

  • Encoded in the human genes
  • Evolves and persists because of its adaptive mess ( I.e. it is evolutionarily useful )
• A = Adaptive

  • Attachments are adaptive
  • This means they give our species an ‘adaptive advantage’ making us more likely to survive.
  • This is because if an infant had an attachment to a caregiver, they are kept safe, given food and kept warm.
• S = Social Releases

  • Babies have social releasers, which ‘unlock’ the innate tendency of adults to care for them.
  • Here social releasers are both:

  1. Physical - ‘baby face’ features and body proportions
  2. Behavioural - crying, cooing, gazing etc.
• C = Critical Period

  • Babies have to form the attachment with heir caregiver during a Critical Period
  • This is between birth and 2 1/2 years old
  • Bowlby said that if this didn’t happen, the child would be damaged for life - socially, emotionally, intellectually and physically.
• M = Monotropy

  • Bowlby believed that infants form one very special attachment with their mother.
  • This special, intense attachment is called monotropy
  • If the mother isn’t available, the infant could bond with another ever-present, adult, mother-substitute.
• I = Internal Working Model

  • Through the monotropic attachment, the infant would form this.
  • This is a special mental schema ( blueprint ) for relationships
  • All the child’s future relationships will be based on this.
• Evaluation:

  • Supports Harlow’s study with rhesus monkeys - demonstrated that attachment was not based on feeding bond between mother and infant, findings show that infanta do not develop an attachment to the one that feeds them but to the one offering comfort. ( all 8 monkeys spent it with cloth mother whether or not it had a feeding bottle ).  - Attachment is adaptive.
  • Critical period is crucial - supporting Lorenz and goslings - idea of imprinting, if imprinting hasn’t been made within critical period, no attachment made - ‘child is ruined for life’
• • But, Bowlby states that it should not be possible to form attachment beyond the 3-6 months of the critical period. Evidence from rutter et al - shows that it is true to an extent, it appears less likely tha attachments will form after this period, but it is not impossible, the development window is one where children are maximally receptive to the formation of certain characteristics or behaviour, but nevertheless such developments can take place outside this window ( ‘sensitive period’ now used than the critical ).
• • Schaffer and Emerson - babies showed separation anxiety when their caregiver left - supports monotropy.But they can make multiple attachments ( refutes ) by 18 months. First attachment is made between 6/8 months of age
•  - Sensitive responsiveness - most important is who plays and communicates with the child, an attachment isn’t formed with who spends the most time with the baby, it is who responds to the baby’s signals ( behavioural - crying, gazing )
• • Both lorenz and Harlow studies with different animals cannot be accurately applied to Bowlby’s theory as our critical periods are different to those of goslings ( 2 days ) and rhesus monkeys ( immediately due to clinging onto mother’s fur to survive. )