PSYC 208 Lecture Notes - Mental Model, John Bowlby, Attachment Theory
Document Summary
Attachment theory (developed by john bowlby) chapter 6 (2 of 2) Attachment theory is revealed in bowlby"s famous trilogy (three books) entitled attachment (1969), Separation (1973), and loss (1980): overview of attachment theory. Bowlby viewed attachment behaviours as evolutionary behaviours, that is behaviours primarily designed to ensure an infant"s survival. In addition, these instinctual behaviours ensure that infants will have opportunities to closely observe, imitate, and practice with guidance the species-specific survival behaviours that primary attachment figures have already acquired. In support of attachment"s evolutionary foundation, bowlby demonstrated how an infant"s instinctual behaviours would become uncontrollably activated by loud noises, the sudden appearance of stranger people, strange animals, or strange objects, and parental separation. All of these situations potentially threaten infant safety/survival, thus bowlby felt that only an evolutionary theory could explain why these particular stimuli trigger such an immediate and uncontrollable response by an infant.
