Exam Focus: Writing Frame - Explanation of Attachment Flashcards
Outline and evaluate Bowlby’s monotropic theory of attachment (16 marks)
A01 - Outline:
- Innate & adaptive
- Critical period
- Monotropy
- Social Releasers
- Internal Working Model
A03 - Evaluate
> Evidence that attachment is adaptive and innate.
> Monotropy is a socially sensitive issue.
> Support for the internal working model.
> Are multiple attachments as important as monotropy?
- Innate & adaptive
Bowlby proposed an evolutionary explanation of attachment as he believed that attachment is an innate (born with it) and adaptive process for both infant 👶🏻 and parent 🤰🏻
- Critical period
Bowlby saw the first 2 ½ years 👧🏼 of life as a critical period for psychological development – if a child 👦🏼 deprived of emotional 😭 care because of frequent or prolonged separation from their mother 👩🏻 in the absence of suitable substitute care then psychological damage is inevitable – Bowlby also felt there was a continuing risk up until the age of 5️⃣ years also known as the critical period.
- Monotropy ☝🏼
Bowlby believed that human infants 👶🏻 have an innate tendency to become attached to one particular person known as monotropy.
This attachment is different and more important than any other attachments.
Bowlby believed that the more time ⏱ spent with the mother 👩🏻 figure/primary attachment figure the better.
He put forward 2 principles to clarify this –
- The law of continuity –
the more constant a child’s care the better the quality of attachment. - The law of accumulated separation –
the effects of every separation from the mother 👶🏻 adds up, so the safest dose is therefore 0️⃣
- Social Releasers
Babies 👶🏻 are born with a set of social releasers (social behaviours that create a caregiving reaction such as smiling 😊 or crying 😢 ).
They help to form the bond between the care giver 👨👩👧 and infant 👶🏻 and are necessary in the interaction between the infant 👶🏻 and caregiver 👨👩👧.
- Internal Working Model
Bowbly suggested that a child 👶🏻 having their first relationship with their primary attachment figure forms a mental representation of this relationship.
This internal working model acts as a template for future relationships.
An internal working model represents a schema in that it is a structure in long term memory that provides the basis for forming expectations.
In the case of attachment this relates to a person’s expectations about relationships and their own success as a parent.
A03:
What are the EVALUATION points for Bowlby’s monotropic theory of attachement?
> Evidence that attachment is adaptive and innate.
> Monotropy is a socially sensitive issue.
> Support for the internal working model.
> Are multiple attachments as important as monotropy?
> Evidence that attachment is adaptive and innate.
P - Number of studies into imprinting has demonstrated that attachment is adaptive and innate.
E - New born animals such as goslings 🐣 appear to form a picture of their parents(s) within hours of birth and this helps them to stick closely to this important source of protection and food 🍕
E - Lorenz believed that imprinting has evolutionary value for animals since the young animals that follows its mother is more likely to be safe from predators, to be fed and to learn how to find food, i.e. to increase their chances of survival and natural selection.
E - However care must be taken when extrapolating from goslings 🐣 to humans 🚶🏻♀️ –
imprinting (following behaviour) may not be an appropriate model for the development of attachment (human emotion).
> Monotropy is a socially sensitive issue.
P - Monotropy is a socially sensitive issue this is because it has major implications for the lifestyle choices mothers 👩🏻 make when their children 👶🏻 are young.
E - The law of accumulated separation states that having substantial time apart from a primary attachment figure risks a poor 👎🏼 quality attachment that will disadvantage👎🏼 the child 👶🏻 in a range of ways later.
E - It therefore pushes mothers 👩🏻 into particular lifestyle choices with economic implications, such as not ❌ returning back to work 💼 when a child 👶🏻 is born or whether to place the child in a day care setting.
E - Burman 1️⃣9️⃣9️⃣4️⃣ has pointed out that this places a burden of responsibility on mothers 👩🏻 and is therefore a controversial topic in individualistic cultures.
Additionally Bowlby underestimated the role of the father 👨🏽 and saw father’s role as primarily economic, which is now seen as an outdated and sexist viewpoint.
R - To support this, Cohn 2️⃣0️⃣1️⃣4️⃣ showed that a number of fathers 👨🏽 who stay at home and care for their children👶🏻 has quadrupled over the past 2️⃣5️⃣ years, illustrating how the father 👨🏽 can also be the primary caregiver 👨👦and questions whether Bowlby’s monotropic theory can be generalised to other social and historical contexts.
> Support for the internal working model.
P - There have been numerous studies into child 👶🏻 and adult 🚶🏻relationships 👨👩👧 that provide support for the internal working model.
E - Hazan and Shavers found that adult romantic love 💑 can be related back to an individual’s attachment history.
E -Secure attachment types have has love 💕 experiences that were happy 😃 , friendly 👭, trusting.
Insecure types found relationships less easy, were more likely to be divorced 🙍🏼💔🙍🏼♂️ and felt that true love was rare.
E - Simpson et al’s 2️⃣0️⃣0️⃣7️⃣ longitudinal study assessed infant 👶🏻 attachment type at 1 year of age (using strange situation) and then gathered data through interviews and questionnaires up to the age of 20-23.
They found that participants who were securely attached as infants 👶🏻 were rated as having higher social competence as children, closer to their friends at the age of 16 and were more expressive and were emotionally attached to their romantic partners 💑 in early adulthood.
R - This supports the view that attachment type does predict the future childhood and adulthood relationships.
> Are multiple attachments as important as monotropy?
P - Research into multiple attachments has suggested that all attachment figures are equally important (Rutter) questioning whether there is a need for a special relationship with one central person above others in the hierarchy of attachments.
E - Thomas 1️⃣9️⃣9️⃣8️⃣ suggests the tendency to form a single main attachment is not good for healthy psychological development and that it may be more desirable to have a variety of different attachments that meet the growing needs of the infants.
E - Thomas found in Caribbean and European cultures children developed many equally important attachments.
R - This suggests there is mixed evidence for monotropy as a hierarchical attachment weakening the validity of Bowlby’s explanation.
