ABSTRACT
Attachment theory in its current form is the joint work of John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth. John Bowlby, using concepts from ethology, cybernetics, and psychoanalysis, formulated the basic outlines of the theory. We owe to him a new way of thinking about the infant’s tie to the mother, and its disruption through separation and deprivation. Mary Ainsworth not only translated the basic tenets of attachment theory into empirical findings, but also helped us to expand the theory itself. Her two major theoretical contributions were the explanation of individual differences in attachment relations and the concept of the caregiver as secure base.
