Functions of Attachment and Pathways to Adulthood

The Functional Keys to Proper Infant Development As the scientific realm continues to expand, knowledge surrounding psychiatrist John Bowlby’s Attachment Theory has become increasingly popular in regards to human biological and psychological evolution. Specifically, understanding the cognitive development of the human infant provides justification to the naturally selected pathway that humans have ventured down; including why infant brains develop slower than those of most animals. Selective adaptation has intrinsically inflicted human infants with a period of time that renders them helpless and dependent on others for survival. Many members of the scientific community imply that the delay in infant development is necessary for facilitating the complex construction of the many cultural building blocks important to human dominance over other species. However, from an intra-species perspective, varying parenting attitudes reflect constraints on the necessities for raising a naturally fit individual. Bowlby suggested that attachment is a developing relationship established between a primary caregiver, usually the mother, and her child. (American Orthopsychiatry Association 2010) Attachment behaviors for infants begin early in life and are paralleled by a sponge-like time frame called the critical period. This relationship provides solidification to the foundation of a child 's development; if a child is raised with a sense of secure attachment, he or she will continue into adulthood with the same aptitude of security. With this type of development one will often perceive society as a safe place and will profoundly explore the development of other human emotions, which can be depicted as vitalities in human culture. Biological evolution was once considered insignificant for psychological studies; however, Sigmund Freud’s Psychodynamic Theory portrays that biological evolution plays an important role in

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