Bowlby's Monotropic Theory Flashcards
(8 cards)
What is Bowlby’s monotropic theory?
That the first attachment with the primary caregiver will affect later attachments/relationships (internal working model)
- first attachment is stronger and more important that any other attachment the child might form
What is the Law of Continuity?
More constant and predictable the child’s care, the better quality of attachment
What is the Law of Accumulated Separation?
Effects of separation from the mother ‘add up’
- “The safest dose is therefore a zero dose” - saying that the mother should never separate from the child
What are Social Releasers?
Innate ‘cute’ behaviours that encourage adult behaviours
- activate the attachment system
What is the Critical Period?
A predetermined period of time where infants are maximally responsive to forming attachments
- 2.5 years
- Bowlby suggests that if the child doesn’t form an attachment during this time, it never will
What are issues with the Critical Period?
It was too socially sensitive
- Kulchova twins were kept in a cupboard until 7 but could still form attachments later in life
It was later revised to a ‘sensitive period
- suggests it’s the optimum time frame but they can still form attachments afterwards
What are the strengths of the Mono-tropic Theory?
Has supporting research
- Lorenz’ goslings
- imprinting is innate
Universal
- Tribe in Uganda studied by Ainsworth saw that there was one primary attachment even when children were raised by multiple caregivers
Bailey et al - support for the IWM
- 99 mothers
- studied the attachments with their mothers and then their children
- found that mothers with poor attachment to their own mothers had poor attachments with their children
- NOT GUARANTEED (could be correlation rather than causation)
Brazelton et al
- when PAF ignored babies’ signals, they’re initially distressed and then lie motionless
- suggests the purpose of social releasers is to activate the attachment system and that they’re used for a specific reason
What are the limitations of the Mono-tropic Theory?
Schaffer and Emerson
- they suggest multipel attachments are formed for different purposes
- mother = nurturer
- father = playmate
- found that 39% of babies were not attached to the person that fed them
- suggests it doesn’t have a survival aspect
