**L6 - Bowlby's Monotropic Theory Flashcards
WHY DO ATTACHMENTS FORM?
the FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE of BOWLBY’S THEORY is that attachment BETWEEN INFANTS and their CAREGIVERS is INSTINCTUAL and it has EVOLVED because it increases both the CHANCES OF THE BABIES’ SURVIVAL and the PARENTS’ PASSING ON THEIR GENES.
It is therefore ADAPTIVE - infants who are ATTACHED TO THEIR CAREGIVER will STAY CLOSE TO THEM and so are WELL PROTECTED AND WILL SURVIVE
WHY DO ATTACHMENTS FORM? PT 2
PARENTS who are ATTACHED TO THEIR CHILDREN will ENSURE they are WELL CARED FOR and so survive, meaning that they will have SUCCESSFULLY PASSED ON THEIR GENES
how do ATTACHMENTS FORM?
INFANTS have an INNATE DRIVE to BECOME ATTACHED to an ADULT.
INNATE BEHAVIOURS usually have a CRITICAL PERIOD in which they MUST OCCUR or THEY NEVER WILL
The CRITICAL PERIOD for ATTACHMENT is BEFORE A CHILD IS TWO YEARS OF AGE. Infants who don’t have an opportunity to form an attachment DURING THIS TIME, will have DIFFICULTY FORMING ATTACHMENTS LATER ON
what did BOWLBY SAY ABOUT CAREGIVERS?
BOWLBY proposed that ATTACHMENT IS DETERMINED by the CAREGIVER’S SENSITIVITY. Infants who are the MOST STRONGLY ATTACHED tend to have a CAREGIVER WHO IS RESPONSIVE, CO OPERATIVE and MORE ACCESSIBLE than LESS CLOSELY ATTACHED INFANTS
what are SOCIAL RELEASERS?
SOCIAL RELEASERS are IMPORTANT DURING THIS TIME to ENSURE THAT ATTACHMENTS DEVELOP between CAREGIVERS and their INFANTS.
SOCIAL RELEASERS include SMILING and CRYING, they are behaviours that ELICIT CAREGIVING.
Babies display them to ENCOURAGE THEIR CAREGIVERS to LOOK AFTER THEM
what is MONOTROPY according to BOWLBY?
BOWLBY argued that INFANTS will have ONE SPECIAL EMOTIONAL BOND; he referred to this as MONOTROPY.
This bond is often with the BIOLOGICAL MOTHER but NOT ALWAYS.
iNFANTS also form SECONDARY ATTACHMENTS that also provide an IMPORTANT EMOTIONAL SAFETY NET and are VITAL for HEALTHY PSYCHOLOGICAL and SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
what is the IMPORTANCE OF MONOTROPY?
The IMPORTANCE OF MONTROPY is that the INFANT USES THIS RELATIONSHIP to FORM A MENTAL VIEW of RELATIONSHIPS called an INTERNAL WORKING MODEL.
SECURE RELATIONSHIPS IN CHILDHOOD ENSURE A POSITIVE WORKING MODEL and means that CURRENT and FUTURE RELATIONSHIPS will be POSITIVE AND SECURE
what is the CONTINUITY HYPOTHESIS?
The CONTINUITY HYPOTHESIS proposes that INDIVIDUALS who are SECURELY ATTACHED in INFANCY CONTINUE to be SOCIALLY AND EMOTIONALLY COMPETENT.
This is because a SECURE CHILDHOOD leads to a POSITIVE INTERNAL WORKING MODEL
- SCHAFFER AND EMERSON (EVALUATING BOWLBY’S MONOTROPIC THEORY)
- SCHAFFER AND EMERSON suggest that MULTIPLE ATTACHMENTS are MORE COMMON IN BABIES THAN MONOTROPY.
They found that BY 18 MONTHS only 13% OF THE INFANTS had ONLY ONE PERSON THEY WERE ATTACHED TO
- ERICA BURMAN (EVALUATING BOWLBY’S MONOTROPIC THEORY)
- FEMINISTS like ERICA BURMAN have pointed out that the idea of MONOTROPY is SOCIALLY SENSITIVE.
It places a TERRIBLE BURDEN of RESPONSIBILITY ON MOTHERS, SETTING THEM UP TO TAKE THE BLAME for ANYTHING THAT GOES WRONG in their child’s life.
It also puts a PRESSURE ON MOTHERS to STAY AT HOME and GIVE UP THEIR CAREERS.
BOWLBY also UNDERESTIMATED THE ROLE OF THE FATHER - he saw the father’s role as PRIMARILY ECONOMIC but this is an OUTDATED, SEXIST VIEW. Many families view both parents as EQUALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR CHILDCARE, and in many families the FATHER IS THE PRIMARY CAREGIVER
- TIZARD AND HODGES (EVALUATING BOWLBY’S MONOTROPIC THEORY)
- TIZARD AND HODGES found that CHILDREN who had NEVER FORMED ANY ATTACHMENTS by the AGE OF FOUR, and were then ADOPTED, could STILL FORM ATTACHMENTS TO THEIR NEW ADOPTED PARENTS.
This GOES AGAINST THE IDEA OF A CRITICAL PERIOD before TWO YEARS OF AGE during which an ATTACHMENT MUST FORM or IT NEVER WILL
- UNSCIENTIFIC (EVALUATING BOWLBY’S MONOTROPIC THEORY)
- it is IMPOSSIBLE to TEST BOWLBY’S ARGUMENT that ATTACHMENT has PERSISTED in the SAME FORM THROUGHOUT OUR EVOLUTIONARY HISTORY, making it UNSCIENTIFIC
- KEGAN, ROVINE (EVALUATING BOWLBY’S MONOTROPIC THEORY)
- KEGAN DISAGREED with BOWLBY about the QUALITY OF AN INFANT’S ATTACHMENT being DETERMINED BY THE CAREGIVER’S SENSITIVITY.
He explained infant’s attachments to their caregivers in terms of THEIR INNATE TEMPERAMENT.
According to his theory SOME INFANTS ARE BETTER SUITED to forming attachments than others DUE TO THEIR INNATE CHARACTERISTICS.
ROVINE found that infants who had been JUDGED TO HAVE SIGNS OF BEHAVIOURAL INSTABILITY between ONE AND THREE DAYS OLD were LATER MORE LIKELY TO HAVE AN INSECURE ATTACHMENT STYLE
