AS Psychology - Bowlby's Theory of Attachment

Bowlby's Theory of Attachment

1) Innate + Adaptive

• Attachment is a biological process.
• It is adaptive + useful for our survival.
• Infants have an innate drive to become attached to a care giver.

2) Social Releasers

• Infants are born with a set of behaviours/characteristics that provoke a response from others known as social releasers.
• These behaviours are designed to elicit caregiving in others to promote the infants survival.

3) Critical Period

• Attachment must occur within a specific period of time (0-3 yrs), known as the 'critical period'.
• Attachment will not occur after this time + the child's emotional + cognitive development will be affected.

4) Monotropy

• Infants have an innate tendency to attach to one person, their primary caregiver (generally the mother).

5) Internal Working Memory/Continuity Hypothesis

• Early life experiences will influence later experiences (the continuity hypothesis).
• Infants have a mental model of their relationship with their primary caregiver…