Bowlby's monotropic theory ATM Flashcards
monotropic
mono means one and tropic means leaning towards
critical period
the time in which an attachment must form if it’s going to form at all
internal working model
our mental representations of the world
Bowlby’s monotropy
emphasises an attachment to a soul caregiver
This person was identified as the ‘mother’
The more time spent with the primary attachment figure the better. He used 2 principles to clarify this:
* Law of continuity
* Law of accumulated separation
social releasers
Babies are born with innate ‘cute’ behaviours (cooing, smiling, etc) to get attention from adults. their intention is to interact with adults and form an attachment. This process is reciprocal and both ‘mother’ and baby are hard-wired to attach.
internal working model
later life
Children form mental representations of their relationships with their primary attachment figure
If a child’s first experience is a loving one then they will carry the expectation that all relationships are like that and vice versa.
The internal working model may affect the child’s later ability to be a parent themselves as people tend to base their parenting behaviour on their experiences.
Support for social releasers
strength
Evidence supporting the role of social releasers
* Cute baby behaviours are designed to elicit a response
* **Brazelton et al **observed babies trigger interactions with caregivers
* He then made the primary attachment figure ignore the social releasers
* Babies became distressed and then motionless
Role of social releasers in emotional development suggest that they are important in the process of attachment development
validity of monotropy challenged
limitation
Theory lacks validity
* Schaffer and Emerson found significant minority formed multiple attachments at same time
* The first attachment may just be stronger and not different to other attachments
* Eg attachment to other family members have the same key qualities
Bowlby may be wrong that there is unique quality in the child’s primary attachment.
support for internal working model
strength
Support for how it predicts patterns of attachment
* **Bailey et al **assessed attachment in 99 mothers and their 1 year old babies
* Measured mothers attachments to their own primary attachment figures
* Assessed attachment quality of babies
* Mothers with poor attachment to their primary attachment figure had poorer attachment with their babies
Mothers’ abilities to form attachment to their babies is influenced by their internal working models.
law of continuity
the more constant and predictable a child’s care, the better quality of attachment
law of accumulated separation
effects of separation add up and ‘the safest dose is a zero dose’
support for internal working model counterpoint
BUT
* Other important influences on social development
* Eg genetic differences in anxiety and sociability affect social behaviour
Could impact parenting ability, Kornienko
Overstated the importance of the internal working model
the critical period
The critical period proposed by Bowlby is 6 months old and he viewed it as more of a sensitive period.
