Bowlby's monotropic theory of attachment

Question 1

explain the term adaptive behaviour

Answer 1

• attachments are adaptive
• make species more likely to survive as they give an adaptive advantage
• if an infant has an attachment, they are kept safe and warm

Question 2

explain the term social releasers

Answer 2

• babies have social releasers which unlock innate tendency of adults to care for them
• can be both physical and behavioural

Question 3

explain the term critical period

Answer 3

• have to form and maintain attachment within critical period
• if this didn’t happen the baby was said to be damaged for life

Question 4

explain the term monotropy

Answer 4

• believed that infants will innately form one special attachment with their biological mothers
• if mother not available then the bond can be formed with an ever-present mother substitute

Question 5

explain the term internal working model

Answer 5

• formed through the monotropic attachment
• special mental schema for relationships
• contains info about the availability and responsiveness of the care giver
• all future adult relationships are based on this

Question 6

use harlow’s monkey study to show support for Bowlby’s monotropic theory of attachment

Answer 6

• supports IWM
• monkeys reared in isolation suffered emotional and social problems
• monkeys grew up with impaired IWM and therefore grew up to have problems with other monkeys

Question 7

how do the findings of the Glasgow baby study challenge Bowlby’s theory of monotropy

Answer 7

• schaffer and emerson found specific attachments started around 8 months old
• shortly after it was found infants became attached to other people as well
• by 18 months some had 5 or more attachments

Question 8

explain how the theory of monotropy is potentially socially sensitive

Answer 8

• believed mother should be continuously provide care which gives the implication mothers should not work
• could lead to potential discrimination to working mothers
• updates to the theory suggest monotropy can be formed with a continuous mother substitute and evidence contradicts this evidence to suggest continuous care is not the main factor in attachment development
• schaffer reports children develop better attachments with mothers who are happy in their work than those who are frustrated by staying at home

Question 9

explain how Bowlby’s theory is psychic determinist

Answer 9

• experiences in early childhood have a long lasting effect on human behaviour
• deprived child who’s attachment is broken will have an impaired IWM and therefore impaired social relationships in the future which can’t be changed
• some research suggests children can recover from early childhood experiences and the critical period was not as rigid as originally stated
• Rutter studied Romanian orphans and found early experiences did not destine all children to have negative effects and some were able to form attachments outside of the critical period
• therefore taking a hard determinist view of attachment behaviour in childhood may be limiting the usefulness of the theory

Question 10

explain a practical application of Bowlby’s theory

Answer 10

• implications of neonatal care
• children now kept with parents as much as possible and skin to skin contact is initiated as soon after birth as possible