Bowlby Attatchment Theory

attatchment definition considered by Bowlby

that it is a two-way process driven by biological need for survival and infant care

4 pillars of Bowlby's theory

sensitive period, monotropy, maternal deprivation, internal working model

sensitive period definition

ages 0 to 5, where reciprocal attachment is initiated when infant signals for proximity, parents biologically programmed to respond, infant knows caregiver is safe

critical period cause

begins abruptly from sudden stimuli after sensetive period

imprinting definition

or reciprocal, the infant and mother require contact for survival

monotropy definition

the emotional need to attach to one person who is more important than others

maternal deprivation definition

separation or disruption from attatchment relationship

consequences of maternal deprivation

social, emotional, or cognative difficulties later in life

internal working model definition

quality of attachment that guides future social and emotional behaviour, and is a cognative representation of a prototype for all future relationships

purpose of the internal working model

helps to understand self value, trustworthiness, and effective interactions as oneself

strengths of the theory

maternal deprivation supported by Harlow, internal working model supported by Ainsworth

limitations of the theory

evidence suggests attatchment is not only to the mother, no differentiation between deprivation and privation

application to psychology in relation to Ainsworth

secure children develop a positive internal working model while insecure-avoidant children develop a negative model

year of Bowlby’s theory

1969, 1988