Attachment : Explanations - Bowlby’s Theory

Question 1

Briefly outline Bowlby’s theory of attachment

Answer 1

• Attachment is an innate, evolutionary behaviour which gives a survival advantage and evolved to keep infants safe by ensuring that they are protected by caregivers
• During the critical period (birth-2.5months) infants must make a monotropic primary attachment figure
• Babie’s invite care and love from adults with innate ‘cute’ behaviours like smiling and gripping, known as social releasers
• This relationship helps to shape an internal working model, a template for all future relationships

Question 2

What are social releasers?

Answer 2

Bowlby suggested that babies are born with a set of innate ‘cute’ behaviours known as social releasers (smiling, cooing, gripping) which encourage care and attention from adults

Question 3

Bowlby suggested that attachment was a reciprocal process. What does this mean?

Answer 3

Both the caregiver and the infant respond to each others signals and each elicits a response from the other

Question 4

What is a critical period?

Answer 4

A sensitive period of between birth and 2.5 years within which infants must form a primary attachment. If no attachment is formed in this time, the child may struggle to develop socially, emotionally, intellectually and physically

Question 5

Why is Bowlby’s theory described as monotropic?

Answer 5

He believed that there is one particular primary attachment (with a mother-figure) is different and more important for the child’s development than the others. Bowlby believed that the more time a baby spent with this primary attachment figure, the better.

Question 6

What two principles did Bowlby put forward to clarify that the more time a child spends with their primary attachment figure, the better?

Answer 6

1. The law of continuity: the more constant and predictable a child’s care, the better the quality of attachment
2. The law of accumulated separation: the effects of every separation from the mother add up - the safest amount of separation is no separation!

Question 7

What is an internal working model?

Answer 7

A template which indicates what the baby’s future relationships will look like

Question 8

What is a limitation of Bowlby’s theory?

Answer 8

❌ The concept of monotropy lacks validity
- Schaffer and Emerson found that multiple attachments are extremely beneficial to children’s development and that most babies from many attachments which are not necessarily any different in quality to the baby’s primary attachment.
This means that Bowlby may not be completely correct in saying that a baby needs a monotropic primary attachment which is different and more important.

Question 9

What are two strengths of Bowlby’s theory?

Answer 9

1. There is evidence supporting the role of social releasers
   - there is clear evidence that cute baby behaviours encourage care from caregivers
   - eg Brazelton observed babies interacting with their caregivers and displaying social releasers. The researchers then instructed the caregivers to stop reacting to their babies’ social releasers - this led to the babies becoming distressed and eventually stopped moving.
   This supports Bowlby’s suggestion that the purpose of social releasers is to help encourage the formation of an attachment.
2. There is research support for the internal working model
   - eg Heidi Bailey assessed the attachments of mothers with their babies and with their parents. They found that mothers with a poor attachment with their own primary attachment figures were more likely to have poorly attached babies.
   This supports Bowlby’s idea that a mother’s ability to form attachments with their babies is influenced by their internal working models