Bowblys Theory of Attachment

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Psychologists have put forward different explanations of attachment, such as learning theory and Bowlby’s theory. Outline and evaluate one of more explanations. Bowlby’s Theory of attachment encompasses many different parts, such as Monotropy’s, sensitive periods and many other things. One of the things Bowlby suggested was that babies form a monotropy. This is where the baby for one special attachment to their main caregiver, which is generally (but not always) the mother. Bowlby also suggested that due to this late relationships may develop which would be beneficial. Another thing Bowlby suggested was that babies had a sensitive period. Bowlby believed that this sensitive period should develop between 3 and 6 months, which is the rough age for crawling. Bowlby then went on to suggest that if the baby did not develop during this time then there would be catastrophic consequences. Yet another thing Bowlby suggested was that it was adaptive and innate. The babies physical ‘stay close’ mechanism is then replaced by a psychological stay close mechanism. It was also suggested that the Mother provides a safe base for exploration and learning. This was also supported by the Strange Situation experiment. Bowlby also came up with the ‘Continuity Hypothesis.’ Bowlby suggested that those who have secure attachment would continue to have a secure attachment in adulthood. He also suggested that those who have insecure attachments would have insecure relationships in adulthood. Finally, Bowlby suggested that there were Internal Working Models. He suggested that the primary attachment would provide the “blueprint” for future relationships, he also stated that the relationships which would develop later on would be beneficial. The Czech Twins were locked away until they were 7 years old and both of the twins had no language skills what so ever. When found they were then

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