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Evaluation

1. Strengths

   • Imprinting in non-human animals
     • Research by Lorenz supports the view that imprinting is innate as the goslings (baby geese) imprinted on the first moving thing they saw, whether it was Lorenz himself or another goose.
   • Universality
     • If attachment has evolved, as Bowlby suggests, then you would expect attachment and caregiver behaviours to be Universal. Tronik et al (1992) studied an african tribe who live in extended groups. The infants are looked after and breastfed by multiple women but sleep with there biological mothers at night. The differences in childrearing however still show no difference in the amount of attachment with the infants still showing to have one primary attachment figure, being there birth mother.
   • Sensitive period
     • Hodges and Tizard found that children who had formed no attachments had later difficulty with friends, therefore showing that the sensitive period is something that could be correct
   • Monotropy and Hierachy
     • The study of Tronik supports this with the children having one primary attachment but many other attachments lower in the hierachy.
   • Caregiver Sensitivity
     • Schaffer and Emerson observed that strongly attached infants had mothers who responded quickly to their demands and who offered there child the most interactions. Similarly infants who were weakly attached had mothers who failed to interact with them.

2. Weaknesses

   • Multiple Attachments
     • Many psychologists believe that all attachment figures are equally important (Rutter 1995). Research on infant-father attachment suggests a key role for fathers in social development, shown by Grossman and Grossman 1991. And relationships with siblings are important for learning how to negotiate with peers.
     • Prior and Glaser 2006 concluded from a review of research that the evidence still points to the hierarchical model as suggested by Bowlby's theory of monotropy.
   • Alternative Explanation- the temperament hypothesis
     • Bowlbys theory suggests that of a continuity hypothesis. However this can also be explained without the use of Bowlbys theory. An innately trusting and friendly personality could be the prime factor in secure attachments and the prime factor in forming close adult relationships. This is called the temperament hypothesis (Kagan, 1984) where certain personality or temperamental characteristics of the infant shape a mothers responsiveness.
     • There is evidence that children are born with innate temperametal differences. Chess and Thomas (1986) identify these as easy, difficult and slow to warm up.
       • Bockhorst et al (2003) who looked at twins found greater similarity in terms of temperament in identical twins than in non-identical twins.