Introduction
The purpose of this literature review is to identify and synthesis the relationship between Evolutionary Psychology, the development of Psychoanalytic Theory, and the relationship they each played in shaping Bowlby’s Attachment Theory. Also, in understanding the relationship between these two foundations of psychology this review will attempt to infer connections to the movement of Bowlby’s research in understanding the attachment relationships of young children. Psychology, as a science, postulates a connection between personality development and early childhood relationships, specifically with primary care providers. In an attempt to better understand the motivations within the field to connect relationships to personality development, I have chosen to address the historical movements that may have shaped the targets of research in understanding the person.
If we follow the pattern within the development of psychology and the major stages it went through, we would begin to identify major themes that hold relationship to connections humans share with other humans. Wilhelm Wundt suggested, in his science of mind, that we could understand the inner experiences though analyzing the reported experience others share (Wundt, 1897). This postulated our connectedness to others through standardizing experiences as universal. Darwin (The Origin of Species, 1909) suggested a connection to others through evolution; he theorizes, through observations, that we share commonalities through genetic adaptations. Freud (1910) presented his development of psychoanalysis, which would be the foundations of many future theorists and analysts, and demonstrated a theory grounded largely on the relationships between children and their parents; although Freud was not the first to suggest a dependent relationship upon caregivers, Darwin’s suggested the relevance of an attachment relationship to help preserve an genetic proliferation (Brockman, 2007). These major contributors to attachment suggestions allowed researcher Harry Harlow and theorist Jon Bowlby to collaborate their efforts in legitimizing attachment relationships though studies with Rhesus monkeys and developing a new theory.
Throughout this paper I will discuss concepts of attachment defined as the relationship shared between a child and primary caregiver and caregivers. I will also discuss the significant theories or concepts that influenced the development of attachment theory such as Evolution and Psychoanalysis. I will be using Darwin’s evolutionary concepts of genetic adaptation and species proliferation. For Psychoanalysis I will be discussing this concepts strictly through the psychosexual theories of Freud’s concepts of child parent relationships. I will also discuss P. Fonagy and M. Target’s concepts of transmission of information. This can be best described as the process by which a mother passes on social information to her children. Reflective functioning will also be discussed. This is defined as the capacity humans have to understand the implications of human behavior in correlation to a given mental health capacity (Fonagy, 2005).
For the purpose of this paper, I researched attachment considerations in Darwin’s published papers and books. This theme was researched to begin the connection between Evolutionary Psychology and Psychoanalysis. Researching the themes of Darwin led to themes of attachment within Freud’s published works. Finally, I researched the themes of Bowlby and Harlow’s Attachment theories and research to begin piecing together the connection to Freud and Darwin.
Theories
In this section I will discuss the three major theories that will be analyzed for their antecedent influences and the tenets they postulated which could be factors in contributing to the development of attachment theories. The three theories in question are Evolutionary Psychology, reaching back to the influences of Darwin and his study with the Neonate, Psychoanalysis and Freud’s reaction to Darwin’s theories of evolutionary attachment, and Attachment Theory and how Bowlby’s theories could have been a response to the psychoanalytic movements and the emphasis on unconscious motivators. Although the relationships are mentioned in this section, more detail about their interrelatedness will be given in the following section.
As an overview, Freud was the first to recognize an attachment relationship, in the studies he conducted with the Neonate (Bornstein, R., 1994). However, most commonly associated with Attachment theory and research are Harry Harlow (experimentalist) and John Bowlby (Van der Horst, 2008). There is an interesting relationship between these two individuals. Harlow did work with Rhesus monkeys, Bowlby was purely a theorist. Both began to develop their ideas independently, until Bowlby learned of Harlow’s research through a mutual source. The significance of this new relationship was that Bowlby needed evidence to substantiate his theories and Harlow had the data. Attachment theory suggests a significant relationship between the child and primary caregiver that impacts development of the child either negatively or positively. Through the relationship a child and their caregiver have, the child develops a form of attachment that manifests through various behaviors. Currently, the four types of attachment fall into two categories, secure and insecure: Secure Attachment, Avoidant Attachment, Ambivalent Attachment, Disorganized Attachment (Attachment in Psychotherapy, 2007). Based on the attachment type it is postulated that the personality development of the child will be affected.
Darwin recognized an attachment theme during work on Evolution and what turned into Evolutionary Psychology. Evolutionary Psychology asserts that there are psychological mechanisms that influence the preservation of a person’s genetic makeup (Schultz, 2008). The psychological mechanisms contribute to the development of relationships that conserve a person’s competence to produce offspring who will also possess this psychological mechanism.
Psychoanalysis can be best understood as a theory of personality development through psychosexual stages. His theory suggests that an individual is driven by unconscious impulses that are largely a result of unconscious sexual desires to poses the parent of the opposite sex resulting in a conflict to displace the parent o the same sex. After research with the Neonate, Freud began to develop an understanding of an attachment relationship that exists between the child and primary caregiver.
Attachment theory can be best understood as the descriptive relationship of security or insecurity that exists between a child and their primary caregiver. Bowlby proposed that the healthy and stable psychological development of a child is hinged on the relationship and stability the primary caregiver offers.
Relationships between theories
I will discuss and synthesize the data suggesting relationships between Evolutionary Psychology, Psychoanalysis, and Attachment Theory. The first relationship to examine is that of Darwin and Freud, more over, Evolution and Psychoanalysis. This section will discuss the significant events that occurred within each theories development stages and how these events were connected to one another. Following the discussion on the relationship between these two theories, I will discuss the significant events that took place in the development of Attachment Theory as they relate to the development of Psychoanalytic Theory. And finally, I will connect the development of Attachment Theory to the history and development of Evolutionary Psychology.
Bornstein (1994) discussed the relationship between Freudian Psychoanalysis and the Darwin’s theories of evolution. Bornstein (1994) synthesized Darwin’s theories of social and personal mechanisms that influence the genetic reproduction potential for different species. He also asserts that Freud was influenced by this research in the development of his theories.
Discussion
Up to this point the literature has identified the major contributions to these three theories of psychology. It is noted that the relationship between each theory is connected with slightly different ideas of attachment relationship. Darwin suggested an attachment significant to evolution of species, Freud was impacted by Darwin’s theories of attachment and his own research with the Neonate, and Bowlby expanded the previous thoughts of attachment into an independent theory of psychology.
It appears through synthesizing the research that there appears to be a strong relationship between the theories of Darwin, Freud, and Bowlby. It appears the original research questions for this paper, does a relationship between Darwin’s evolutionary theory hold a significant relationship with Freud’s psychoanalysis though a historical development of the field; did this relationship between Darwin’s work and Freud’s work establish a foundation for Harlow and Bowlby to build their own theories of attachment? Darwin’s social and personal mechanisms influenced Freud’s research and studies conducted. Darwin suggested a biological mechanism of attachment that influenced and guided the reproduction of species. His theory would suggest an attachment component to between offspring and caregivers. Freud suggested that there is an attachment relationship after working with the Neonate. He recognized a component of innate needs to communicate which suggested an innate recognition of the other (Bornstein, 1994). Harlow and Bowlby have shaped the concepts of Attachment theory that we know today. Their joined efforts constructed a new understanding of the parent child relationship. Harlow’s research with rhesus monkeys demonstrated an innate need for comfort and nurturing. Harlow’s research helped to prove the theories that Bowlby was constructing about parent child relationships.
I would contend that if Darwin had never published his research and postulated an attachment mechanism along with is own studies of neonates, Freud may not have developed his research to address areas of attachment and although Harlow and Bowlby had not yet started their research while Freud was formulating his theories, they may have been redirected to focus their research on other areas of human nature and development. I would be naive to say that all four theorists and researchers were interdependent upon each other, but I would equally limit the possibilities to say that they did not influence each other’s research.
After analyzing the articles researched and stringing together the connections between Darwin, Freud, Harlow, and Bowlby, it could be possible for further research to address the significance these stages played in shaping psychology today, or how these the absence of these theories could suggest Attachment Theory would have developed anyway, or that another theory would have taken the place of Bowlby’s work.
Por Layne Stoops
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Entradas
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