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attachment - Bowlby's monotropic theory - Coggle Diagram
attachment - Bowlby's monotropic theory
bowlby
proposed an evolutionary explanation where attachment was an innate system which gave a survival advantage
monotropy
emphasis on one attachment figure
the more time spent with the attachment figure the better
2 laws
the law of accumulated separation - the effects from every separation from the mother add up
law of continuity - the more consistent and predictable a Childs care the stronger the attachment
social releasers and critical period
suggested Babies are born with a set of innate behaviours like smiling that encourage attention from adults
he called these social releasers because they activate the adult attachment system
he recognised that attachment was a reciprocal process - both mothers and babies have an innate predisposition to become attached
a critical period of around 2 years when the attachment system is active - more of a sensitive period where a child is more sensitive and if an attachment is not formed in this time it is harder to do later
internal working model
a child forms a mental representation of their attachment
serves a model for what future relationships are like
a child whose first experience is of a loving relationship then they will expect all future relationships to be like this however a child who has a poor first experience will tend to form poor relationships later
internal working model effects child ability to parent later on in life - base their parenting style off their own experiences
evaluation
strength - research to support. Brazelton observed mothers and babies during their interactions reporting the existence of interactional synchrony. they then extended the study to an experiment where primary caregivers were instructed to ignore their babies signals. the babies showed certain levels of distress and some curled up, lying motionless. the fact that the babies responded so strongly shows that Bowlbys ideas are correct
strength - research to support internal working model. Bailey et al assessed mothers and their one year olds on the quality of their attachment using a standard interview procedure and observation. it was found that the mothers who reported poor attachments to their own parents were much more likely to have children reported as poor. this supports the internal working model
limitation - there is mixed evidence for monotropy. Bowlby believed that there was only one attachment figure and it was special in comparison to later attachments. However, Schaffer and Emerson found that a significant minority were able to form multiple attachments at one time.