Outline and Evaluate One Theory of Attachment

Outline and evaluate one theory of adjunct (12 marks) Bowlbys theory is an evolutionary theory because, in his conniption hamper is a behavioural system that has evolved because of its option value and, ultimately, its fruitful value. According to Bowlby, children puzzle an infixed drive to fetch tie to a health c ar provider because attachment has long-term benefits. Both attachment and imprinting stop up that a youngish animal stays close to a caregiver who will feed and protect the young animal.Thus attachment and imprinting are adaptive behaviours. Infants who do non become attached are little likely to survive and reproduce. Attachment genes are perpetuated, and infants are born with an innate drive to become attached. Since attachment is innate, there is likely to be a limited window for its development i. e. a critical or fond menstruum. Development of all biological systems takes place around rapidly and advantageously during a critical period. Bowlby appli ed the c at oncept of a fond period to attachment.He suggested that the second quarter of the send-off year is when infants are approximately sensitive to the development of attachments. The drive to provide caregiving is besides innate because it is adaptive (i. e. enhances survival of ones offspring). Infants are born with certain characteristics, called social releasers, which educe caregiving. The social releasers include smiling and crying. Another social releaser is a blows face. Attachment is the innate behavioural system in babies caregiving is the solvent in boastfuls. Both provide protection and thereby enhance survival.The organic law of attachments depends on the interaction of these systems. Attachment is important for protection, and thus acts as a secure base from which a child can explore the cosmos and a safe haven to return to when threatened. Thus attachment fosters independence. Bowlby also believed that infants form a number of attachments but one of th ese has special importance. The bend towards on individual, the primary attachment, is called monotropy. Infants also have other secondary attachment figures that form a hierarchy of attachments.The one special attachment is most normally an infants mother. Bowlby believe that sensitive responsiveness was the key out an infant become most potently attached to the person who responds most sensitively to the infants social releasers (the sensitivity hypothesis). This person become the infants primary attachment figure, providing the main readyation for emotional development, self-esteem and subsequent relationships with peers, lovers and ones own children. Attachment starts as the relationship betwixt a caregiver and infant.This relationship may be one of religion or of uncertainty and in concurrence, and creates expectations about what all relationships will be like. little by little the infant develops a model about emotional relationships Bowlby called this an internal wor ks model. This model is a cluster of concepts about relationships and what to expect from others about whether relationships quest consistent or inconsistent love, whether others make you feel good or anxious, and so on. The internal working model means there is consistency between early emotional experiences and later relationships.This leads to the continuity hypothesis the find that there is a link between the early attachment relationship and later emotional behaviour individuals who are securely attached in infancy continue to be socially and emotionally competent, whereas insecurely attached children have more social and emotional difficulties late in puerility and adulthood. The research by Lorenz supports the view that imprinting is innate because the goslings imprinted on the first moving object they saw. A similar process is likely to have evolved in many species as a mechanism to protect young animals and enhance the likelihood of their survival.If attachments fail to develop, the conclusion from research appears to be that once the sensitive period has passed it is difficult to form attachments. For example, Hodges and Tizard found that children who had formed no attachments had later difficulties with peers. If attachment did evolve, as Bowlby suggests, to provide an important biological function, so we would expect attachment and care giving behaviours to be universal i. e. found in all cultures. Tronick et al. (1992) studied an African tribe, the Efe, from Zaire, who live in extended family groups.The infants are looked after and even breastfed by different women but usually sleep with their own mother at night. Despite such differences in childrearing practices the infants, at six months, still showed one primary attachment. This supports the view that attachment and caregiving are universal and not influenced by different cultural practices. many a(prenominal) psychologists have criticised Bowlbys ideas regarding montropy and argued tha t the babies attachment to the first attachment figure is not necessarily special or unique.Schaffer and Emersons longitudinal study of 60 Glasgow babies found that multiple attachments seemed to be the norm for babies rather than the exception at the age of 18 months 87% of babies had multiple attachments. Schaffer and Emerson also found that the strongest stay was not necessarily to the mother as Bowlby had implied. At 18 moths, altogether half of the samples were strongly attached to their mothers and about a third were strongly attached to their fathers.Bowlbys ideas about the importance of attachments have produced substantial number of research. Most evidence suggests that early attachment experiences can have an influenced on later adult relationships. However, it is important not to overestimate this influence and to analyse other factors such as later life events, which influence adult relationships. Bowlbys idea regarding monotropy has been challenged and evidence sup ports the view that multiple attachments may be the rule rather than single and unique attachments.