bowlby’s monotropic theory of attachment Flashcards
what does bowlby’s monotropic theory of attachment say?
- bowlby thought attachments were important for a babies development
- attachments are bioloically pre-programmed into both babies and their caregivers.
- attachments in caregivers are driven by a need to protect babies from danger
- we have become biologically pre-programmed to need to form attachments to our caregivers through the process of evolution.
what are social releasers?
behaviours that babies perform to attract the attention of their caregivers. eg crying, smiling, crawling and following
according to bowlby, babies are biologically pre-programmed to perform what?
social releasers
according to bowlby, caregivers are biologically pre-programmed to do what about these social releasers?
respond to these social releasers to ensure their babies get what they need to survive.
bowlby said attachments are monotropic, meaning what?
meaning that babies form attachments with just one special caregiver, the person who provides emotional support for the baby.
what is the critical period of attachment?
the time window during which babies can form an attachment to their main caregiver.
how long is the critical period of attachment?
the critical period only spans the first 2 1/2 years of a child’s life.
what is the internal working model?
a schema built from a child’s relationship with its main attachment figure, that guides the child’s expectations and beliefs about future relationships.
according to bowlby’s internal working model, attachment between children and their caregivers is what to a child’s future relationships?
according to bowlby’s internal working model, attachment between children and their caregivers is crucial to a child’s future relationships. children need to have positive relationships with their main caregivers in order to have happy relationships when adults.
strength of bowlby’s monotropic attachment theory - human study
in israel, babies are often looked after in communal environments by special foster mums called metapelets.
despite being fed every day by the metapelets, the babies formed attachments with their own mothers, the people who provide them with love and comfort and not the person who provides them with food.
this supports bowlby’s claim that babies form an attachment with their main caregiver, the person that provides emotional support and comfort, not anyone that just feeds them.
this also supports bowlby’s idea that attachments are monotropic.
weakness of bowlby’s monotropic attachment theory - human study
in schaffer and emerson’s study, we saw tat their are multiple stages of attachment
1) pre-attachment
2) indiscriminate attachment
3) discriminate attachment
4) multiple attachment
schaffer and emerson found that babies eventually form multiple attachments to more than 1 caregivers. 87% of babies in their study formed attachments to two or more caregivers.
this doesn’t support bowlby’s idea that attachments are monotropic.
strength of bowlby’s monotropic attachment theory - positive everyday applications
one strength of bowlby’s theory is that it had some positive everyday applications such as longer visiting hours for hospitals and loner parental leave.
weakness of bowlby’s monotropic attachment theory - unintended negative consequences
a weakness of bowlby’s theory is that it had some unintended negative consequences in the real world, like making mothers feeling guilty about working.
