Bowlby

• ASCMI

  A Snap Chat Makes Images

  Adaptive

  Social releasers

  Critical period

  Monotropy

  Internal working model
• Adaptive: attachment is evolutionary

  infants rely on adults to care for them, for survival

  adults care for infants in order to pass on their genes, survival

  Humans are born with an innate need to attach for their chance of survival
• Social releasers: innate mechanisms encouraging care from a care giver. This is a reciprocal process, social releases trigger responses
• Critical period: explaining how attachment forms

  Infants have an innate need to attach, this will typically form between 3 - 6 months. If a child has no attachment before three years old, they will have difficulty forming attachments later.

  Sensitive period - five years to form an attachment
• Monotropy: forming one main attachment

  One attachment is placed at the top of a “hierarchy” and any other attachments are placed beneath it

  This increases desire for proximity from both mother and infant. Two main principles:

  Law of continuity and Law of accumulated separation
• Law of continuity - constant and predictable care leads to better quality attachment
• Law of accumulated separation - the effect of every separation from the attachment adds up to the idea that the child will be better off if they are not with the caregiver

  the safest dose is a zero dose
• AO3. Bowlby’s theory was supported by Harlows monkey studies (1958) which showed that rhesus macaques preferred cloth mothers over wire ones as long as there was food provided. However, when food wasn't available, they would return to the wire mother because she had been consistent. The experiment also found that the monkeys were more likely to play with toys attached to the cloth mother than those attached to the wire mother.
• Internal working model: an internal cognitive template for all future relationships based on the relationship with the primary attachment.

  This forms between 1 - 5 years and has a powerful effect on a child’d future relationships.

  If the first relationship contains poor treatment, the child will expect and replicate that behaviour
• AO3. Monotropy has supporting evidence for the IWM. Bailey (2007) found that mothers with poor relationships with their own mother also had poor relationships with their own children. This means that there is some evidence suggesting we learn the basis of relationships from our own childhood and create a template.
• AO3. Monotropy has supporting evidence for being adaptive. This can be seen when comparing animals and humans. Monkeys will cling onto their parents whereas humans need to be carried, and display anxiety and secure base behaviour when they’re more mobile. This demonstrates an innate and adaptive behaviour that infants use to promote survival.
• AO3. Monotropy is a prominent theory in attachment. Many attachment theories have used Bowlby’s ideas eg Harlow using Critical period, Ainsworth using attachment types and Schaffer using a hierarchy of attachment. This suggests that Bowlby’s ideas are reliable as subsequent research has supported his ideas, reinforcing the strength of the initial theory.
• AO3. Monotropy fails to acknowledge temperament. Temperament is an innate personality that Bowlby states could determine how a care giver responds to their infants needs Research has found that “difficult“ children were likely to be insecurely attached, challenging Bowlby’s Claims that it develops from Monotropy. This suggests there are other factors affecting infant care giver interaction including temperament and learning disabilities.