Bowlby was influenced by
Lorenz's work on imprinting of
precocial birds
this is where an attachment is formed
within a critical period ( 3 years) to aid the
survival of the infant.
Bowlby saw it as an evolutionary
device, where emotioanl bonds
develop to help protect infants
from predators
social releasers - allows species to interact with their caregiver,
facilitating the attachment process e.g. crying to get attention
Monotrophic bonding - infants form one
bond, bowlby says it is naturally the
mother who the child shares their bond
with.
internal working model - this early attachment sets a template for
relationships and attachments later on in life such as adult
realtionships
evalutation
Pros
stimulated more
research in the area
lots of evidence to support aspects
of this hypothesis
his ideas have been applied to a lot of
practical uses such as child care
cons
the whole hypothesis is based
on imprinting od birds and other
precoial species
Shaffer and Emerson (1964) have proven that
children can form multiple attachments, so
monotrophic bonds are not correct
there is a lot of emphasis on the mothers bond, it is not taken
into account the father will form a bond. this is very
representative of the times this hypothesis were made as it was
when women were first and foremost house wives and mothers