bowlby

• what concepts does Bowlby’s theory encompass?

  adaptive

  social releasers

  critical period

  monotropy

  innate programming
• what perspective does Bowlby take?

  evolutionary; infants are born w an innate tendency to form attachments to increase chances of survival
• what does the “adaptive” aspect of Bowlby’s theory entail?

  attachment gives our species an adaptive advantage making us more likely to survive

  if an infant has attachment they are more likely to be kept safe, warm and fed
• what are some “adaptive behaviours” that babies use to help them form survive?

  • rooting, which is a reflex to help the baby get food
  • breathing, moving their legs when something affects their oxygen intake
  • body temp, shivering and tucking to stay warm, or kicking blankets off to stay cool
• what are social releasers?

  they are physical and behavioural traits of a baby that “unlock” an innate tendency in adults (particularly mothers) to care for them
• give some examples of physical social releasers

  baby face features and body proportions (small and cute)
• give some examples of behavioural social releasers

  crying, cooing, smiling
• how do social releasers aid babies?

  they help them to form attachments as they make a caregiver more inclined to care for a baby, since they find them cute and smalland want to protect them.
• what does the theory of “critical period” suggest?

  babies have to form an attachment with a caregiver during a critical period, theorised to be between birth and 2.5 years old

  if this does not happen, the child would be damged socially, emotionally, intellectually and physically, hence the name “critical”
• what is the theory of monotropy?


  the belief that infants form one very special attachment w their mother, this intense attachment is known as monotopy

  (if mother is not avaliable) infant can form a monotropy w another ever-present adult mother substitute
• what is the internal working model?

  through the monotropic attachment, the infant creates an internal working model, which is a special model for relationships, all the childs future adult relationships being based on their early attachment relationship