monotropic theory

• Bowlby (1960) - if the child does not form attachments they will suffer from 'affectionless psychopathy' which means they are unable to love or be loved
• Why is attachment important

  it serves an important role in human survival. An infant who is not attached is less well protected.
• what is the critical period


  a biologically determined period of time (3-6 months) during which attachment is developed. outside of this period, attachment will not be possible.
• critical period - Bowlby (1969)Infants have an innate drive to become attached Those infants who do not form an attachment in this time period, struggle to form attachments later on in life
• Evolutionary perspective


  looks at the importance of biological factors - Charles Darwin - natural selection shaped human behaviour and experience. our behaviours are shaped by problems our ancestors faced millions of years ago 'survival of the fittest'
• What is monotropy?

  Attachment theory concept that suggests infants form a primary attachment to one caregiver, usually the biological mother.
• What are social releasers?

  Social releasers are stimuli or behaviours (smiling or having a 'baby face') that elicit caregiving. They are innate mechanisms that explain how attachments to infants are formed.
• What is an internal working model?

  Mental representation of relationships, formed by an infant having one special relationship with their primary care giver.
• What are the consequences of the internal working model?


  In the short term it gives the child insight into the care givers behaviour and enables the child to influence it, so a true relationship can be formed. In the long term, it acts as a template for all future relationships as it generates expectations about what intimate loving relationships are.
• What is the continuity hypothesis?


  The idea that infants who have a strong bond in infancy grow up to be socially and emotionally competent, however, those who are not strongly attached have difficulties in adulthood. There is continuity from infancy to adulthood in terms of emotional type.
• Research support - internal working model?

  Minnesota parent child study - Sroufe et al followed children from 12 months to adolescence. Teachers and counsellors were asked to rate them. Those rated as more securely attached were more popular and had higher self esteem and confidence. Bailey tested 99 mothers and found their poor attachments with their children were due to poor attachments with their mothers. Hazan & Shaver love quiz.
• research support - social releasers?

  Brazelton - observed mothers interacting with infants. He decided to experiment and told the mothers to ignore social signals from the infant and this caused distress for the infants, as they were being ignored.
• Criticism of the theory - sensitive period

  Bowlby said that no attachments should be possible outside the critical period. However, Rutter et al researched ex-institutionalised children and found that abandoned or orphaned infants from Eastern Europe were able to form attachments with their adopted families in the US or UK. But, the later they were adopted, the slower the attachment formed. Based on this research the time in which an attachment must be formed is now called a sensitive period.
• Support - attachment is adaptive

  Bowlby suggested that attachment forms when an infant is around 3 months old, which is quite late as our ancestors would behave needed to be protected straight away. Attachment is more crucial when an infant can crawl eg, as they can get into more danger as before that the mother would protect them. This supports the view that attachment is adaptive.
• multiple attachment vs monotropy?

  Monotropy is essential for a child's healthy emotional development, however, it is also shown that secondary attachments play a key role, however, healthy development requires one central person. Research by Grossman and Grossman shows the importance fathers have in development.
• Alternative explanation?

  infants with an easy temperament are more likely to become strongly attached, whereas those with a difficult temperament tend to be insecurely attached. Belsky and Rovine (1987) found that infants between 1 and 3 days old who showed signs of behavioural instability were more likely to develop an insecure attachment. Kagan's view is that attachment type is due to infant behaviour not the primary caregivers sensitivity, which is what Bowlby suggests.