2. Bowlbys attachment theory
• A secure base is an attachment that is important for
protection; secure base so child can explore the world
• Hierarchy (Monotropy) Special attachment with a care
giver is a primary attachment. Infants may have a
secondary attachment forming a hierarchy of
attachments. Children brought up with no secondary
care giver lack social skills.
• The continuity hypothesis is a part of the internal
working model – the link between the early
attachment relationship and later emotional behaviour
3. Strengths of Bowlby
• Research by Lorenz and gosling supports
animals imprinting as they followed him in a
‘critical period’. This would have done to
protect animals
• Hodges and Tizard found that if no
attachments were formed in the sensitive
period they’d later have difficulty with peers
4. Strengths
• Monotropy and hierarchy; Bowlby suggested
infants form multiple attachments from a
hierarchy, with one being ‘special’
• Schaffer and Emerson saw that most infants
had many attachments but one primary
attachment often the mother. Often not the
person that fed or bathed the child
5. Caregiver sensitivity
• Shaffer and Emerson saw that mothers that
responded to children's demands and more of an
attachment than those who didn’t
• Carlson 1998 found that those having insensitive
relationships with care giver was associated with
disorganized attachment and psychological
problems in adulthood
• Harlows study could portray this as the monkeys
that formed an attachment with ‘wire mum’ had
difficult reproductive relationships and poor
parents
6. Continuity hypothesis
• The minnesota longitudinal study (Sroufe et al
2005) looked at the relationships in infant life
up until late adolescence. Individuals classified
as secure in infanthood were less likely to be
isolated and more popular
7. Universality
• If attachment did evolve Bowlby we would
expect attachments to be universal
• Tronick et al 1992 studied an African tribe
despite being looked after by other women
and even breastfed by others they formed an
attachment with mother who they slept with
at night- primary attachment
• Culture doesn’t affect attachment
8. Limitations
• Multiple attachments; many psychologists
believe that all attachment figures are equally
important
• In the multiple attachment model there is no
primary and secondary caregiver
howeverBowlby wasn’t far off as he said
secondary caregivers were needed too
• Relationships with siblings are important to
learn how to negotiate with peers
9. • The temperament hypothesis
• One of Bowlbys key features was that there were
continuities between early and later attachment
• Continuity can be explained without his theory- innate
temperament that will shape the mothers responsiveness
• Thomas and Chess rated children ‘easy’ difficult’ ‘slow to
warm up’ and those as infant sthat were easy were more
sociable and those who were difficult remained this way
throughout life
• On the other hand Nachmias at all 1996 found no
association between early temperament and attachment
strength
