Attachment - Bowlbys theories Flashcards
(24 cards)
what was bowlbys second theory of attachment
monotropic theory
what was Bowlbys monotropic theory
Shows how one attachment is formed
The thoery puts an emphasis on a child’s attachment to one primary caregiver - the first attachment made is the most important and the more time spent with this person the better
the two laws within the mono tropic theory
law of continuity
law of accumulated separation
what is the law of continuity
the more consistent and predictable a Childs care is, the better the quality of attachment
what is the law of accumulated separation
the effects of every separation from the mother adds up
what is the critical period and who suggested it
Bowlby
Suggests that the attachment needs to be formed in the first 2.5 years of a Childs life, or it will never happen and the damage will be irreversible
evaluation of the critical period
It is deterministic
it doesn’t give parents an option - particularly mothers
was later revised to be a sensitive period as research has proved that children adopted after 2.5 years formed attachments - Czech twins
what are social releasers
innate ‘cute’ behaviours
there purpose is to activate the adult attachment system
include - crying, smiling
is a reciprocal process
why is monotropy socially sensitive
it involves guilt - puts blame on mothers for possible poor attachments in children
it puts women under pressure to stay at home rather that work as they don’t want their children to suffer from the irreversible consequences
economic implication of mono tropic theory
if women aren’t working they aren’t paying taxes, therefore the government has less money for things such as education and the NHS
women will also have less disposable income as they aren’t working
examples of research that supports bowlbys mono tropic theory
Lorenz - research also supports the idea of attaching to a stimuli - content when close to stimuli, distressed when separated - the speed in which it happens suggests that we have an innate ability to attach to stimuli
Ainsworth - studied a Ganda tribe in Uganda - discovered that one primary attachment was formed even when raised by multiple caregivers
Bailey - 99 mothers, 99 mothers, 99 babies - wanted to see if their was continuity in attachment style - found that those who had poor attachments with their mothers had poor attachments with their babies
Czech twins study
supports the idea of sensitive period
when they were discovered at 7 years old after being locked away from 7 months old, they were adopted by two sisters who gave them very good care
the twins went on to get good jobs and degrees, both got married and had children
shows that children can formed attachments after critical period
what was Bowlby’s first theory of attachment
Maternal deprivation
what did Bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory say
it was focused on the idea that mothers or a primary caregiver is essential for normal psychological development of babies/ toddlers
Bowlby said that being separated from a mother in early childhood has serious consequences
supporting research of maternal deprivation
(A03)
Levy et al
supports the idea that maternal deprivation can have long term effects
Levy et als study
showed that separating baby rats from their mothers for as little as a day had permanent effects on their social development
the two main effects of maternal deprivation
emotional development
intellectual development
impacts on intellectual development from maternal deprivation
if deprived of a mother, children may experience delayed intellectual development
low IQ
impacts on emotional development from maternal deprivation
Bowlby identified affection less psychopathology as the inability to experience guilt or strong emotions towards others
can’t develop relationships
difference between privation and deprivation
privation is the failure to ever form the attachment
deprivation is the loss of an attachment - Bowlby may have overestimated the effects of deprivation in development
maternal deprivation A03:
Bowlbys confusion between different types of early experience
weakness of the theory
Rutter claimed that bowl by muddled concepts together when talking abut deprivation
He said that the damage Bowlby talked about was more likely to be the result of privation
difference between privation and deprivation
poor evidence that the maternal deprivation theory is based on (A03)
studies that formed the basis of the theory included those who had been orphaned during the war and grown up in poor quality orphanages
evidence is flawed as there were problems of confounding variables
example of the poor evidence that the maternal deprivation theory is based on
the 44 thieves study
flaws including bias due to bowlby carrying out the interviews and assessments with family members may have lacked validity due to retrospective nature
trauma and poor after care may have resulted in developmental issues rather than separation
critical period in the maternal deprivation theory
Bowlby said that the first 2 1/2 years of a Childs life as a critical period for psychological development
if a child is separated from their mother and doesn’t receive any suitable substitute during this period, damage is inevitable
