CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 266Attachment and Relationship DynamicsChild and Animal Learning DevelopmentPsychoanalysis and Psychopathology Research

Toward a general theory of infantile attachment: a comparative review of aspects of the social bond

Rajecki, D. W., Lamb, Michael E., Obmascher, Pauline·1978·Behavioral and Brain Sciences
DOI 10.1017/s0140525x00075816
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

Abstract This critical appraisal of contemporary interpretations in the area of infantile attachment begins with an outline of the principal features of the Bowlby-Ainsworth ethological theory, the instrumental/operant learning theory of Gewirtz, and Hoffman's classical conditioning model. Some attention is also given to Cairns's contiguity learning analysis and the Hoffman-Solomon opponentprocess model Discussion of these theories is followed by a review of representative data from infants at four phyletic levels (precocial birds, dogs, monkeys, and human beings), with an emphasis on three aspects of social bonding: (a) the formation and persistence of social ties in the infant under conditions of maltreatment, (b) the role of the attachment object in the adjustment of the infant to the broader environment (the so-called secure base effect), and (c) the infant's reaction to involuntary separation from the attachment object. An attempt is made to judge how well each of the interpretations accounts for all or part of the data, with the conclusion that current theories do not accord completely with documented attachment phenomena. The following criticisms are highlighted: Ethological theory emphasizes that infants' behavior systems have been shaped by the ordinarily expectable environment and depend on that environment for their functioning, yet infants of many species form bonds to objects not typical in any species' environment, or even to sources of maltreatment. Learning theory is faulted for making predictions contradicted by the maltreatment data and for a lack of formal mechanisms to account for the secure base and separation effects. The contiguity analysis is criticized for its inability to account for the emergence of certain response patterns during separation, and the opponent-process model is called into question because of its failure to fit important affective dynamics of social separation (a central focus of this theory). Recommendations for future theories of attachment are offered.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1017/s0140525x00075816

Cites

137 of 137 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Rajecki, D. W., Lamb, M. E., & Obmascher, P.
Affiliations
  • University of Wisconsin–Madison (US)
  • University of Michigan (US)
ORCID
Lamb, Michael E.
Venue
Behavioral and Brain Sciences
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Published
1978-09
Volume
1
Issue
3
Pages
417-436
ISSN
  • 0140-525X (ISSN-L)
  • 1469-1825
DOI
10.1017/s0140525x00075816
OpenAlex
W2124818209
Cited by
266
References
137
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 10 · 2012: 6
FWCI
13.86
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.cambridge.org/core/terms (unspecified, 11479 d)
Locations
  • Behavioral and Brain Sciences (publishedVersion)
  • UNI ScholarWorks (University of Northern Iowa) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychoanalysis and Psychopathology Research
Keywords
social bonding, classical conditioning, infant maltreatment, cross-species comparison, precocial birds, dogs, monkeys, infants, attachment theory

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review