Rigidity of IWMs

Although a key feature of Bowlby’s view of IWMs was that they are the basis for the relationships that infants come to form later in their lives, he did not see them as permanently and unalterably fixed during infancy. As previously stated, contact with a greater variety of people with whom an infant can form attachments is a benefit, according to Bowlby, who saw this as a way in which IWMs can be modified and develop. This part of the theory also began to further question the idea that infants need just a strong bond with a totally available and responsive biological mother for healthy emotional development. This flexibility in the attachment system is another aspect of its adaptive significance in evolution, allowing the infant and then the child to adjust to changes in the caregiving environment.