Bowlby

• What are Bowlby’s main theories?

  • Social releasers
  • Monotropic bonds
  • Critical period
  • Internal working model
  • Continuity hypothesis
• What are social releasers?


  Behaviours used by infants to ensure attachments form (eg giggling and smiling)
• What are monotropic bonds?

  Babies need a unique relationship with one person (usually mother) to learn skills and maintain proximity to the parent
• What is the critical period?

  Attachments will occur in a critical period of 0 to 2 and a half years old. If a child doesn’t form an attachment in this period, one will not occur

  He later proposed a sensitive period of 5 years
• What is the internal working model?


  Provides a template for future attachments

  Allows individuals to predict, control and manipulate their environment
• What is the continuity hypothesis?

  There is a link between a person's attachment type as a child and their attachment with their own children as an adult
• What supports Bowlby‘s theories?

  • Lorenz and Harlow’s studies
  • Staying close to parents supports the idea of attachments being innate
  • Support for continuity hypothesis - Hazan and Shaver (love quiz)
• What is some research going against Bowlby?

  • Rutter - infants display a range of attachment behaviours to those other than mothers - there is no specific behaviours for mothers
  • Lamb - infants have different attachments with people for different purposes, going against the idea of monotropy
• What are the issues with Bowlby’s research?

  • Determinist
  • Doesn’t take into account individual differences