Babies have an innate drive to
attach and attachments are
adaptive
This means they are more likely to survive
Social Releasers
Social releasers unlock the innate
tendency of adults to care for them
Physical
Behavioural
Critical Period
Babies must form
attachment within the
critical period between
birth and 2 to 3 years old.
Since renamed as the sensitive period
Monotropy
Bowlby believed infants formed one
very special attachment with the
mother
Internal working model
A special mental schema for relationships
All the child's future adult relationships will be based on this
Quality
Quality rather than quantity of care is important
Supporting
Evidence
Harlow's Monkey's
1959
Monkey's became moreattached to the cloth
mother, despite getting food from the wire mother.
Support's Bowlby's idea of a critical period. Harlow concluded that for
a monkey to develop they must have some interactionwith an object
to which they can cling during the first months of life
Hazan and Shaver's Love Quiz
Developed a love quiz to
investigate whether early
attachment type affected
future relationships.
A high correlation was found
between childhood attachment
types and adult love styles
Supports continuity hypothesis
Tronick
Studied children in
extended family
groups, children were
cared for by whomever
closest and were
breastfed by different
women.
At one years the children had formed
an attachment to their biological
mother
Supports Bowlby's idea that
quality and sensitivity is more
important than quantity
Links to Ainsworth Maternal Sensitivity Hypothesis
Criticisms
Little evidence to support monotropy
Strength of attachment could be
explained by temperament (Kagan)