An ethological approach to personality development.

Abstract

This is a historical account of the partnership in which Bowlby and Ainsworth participated to develop attachment theory and research. Beginning with their separate approaches to understanding personality development before Ainsworth joined Bowlby " s research team at the Tavistock Clinic in London for 4 years, it describes the origins of the ethological approach that they adopted. After Ainsworth left London, her research in Uganda and in Baltimore lent empirical support to Bowlby's theoretical constructions. The article shows how their contributions to attachment theory and research interdigitated in a partnership that endured for 40 years across time and distance.The distinguishing characteristic of the theory of attachment that we have jointly developed is that it is an ethological approach to personality development. We have had a long and happy partnership in pursuing this approach. In this article we wish to give a brief historical account of the initially separate but compatible approaches that eventually merged in the partnership, and how our contributions have intertwined in the course of developing an ethologically oriented theory of attachment and a body of research that has both stemmed from the theory and served to extend and elaborate it.

Management of Children With Cleft Lip and Palate: A Review Describing the Application of Multidisciplinary Team Working in This Condition Based Upon the Experiences of a Regional Cleft Lip and Palate Centre in the United Kingdom

“…The nature and quality of the attachment a baby forms with their main caregiver is considered to be a highly significant factor in their subsequent ability to relate to others 25 . Factors that can present as a risk to this early relationship are maternal depression 26 , lack of parental social support 27 , bereavement 28 and infant temperament 29 .…”

Psychological Impact of Repair Surgery in Cleft Lip and Palate

“…This interaction aids the baby's ability to recognise and self-regulate their emotions as well as other bodily sensations such as hunger and thirst. If the baby's ability to form facial expressions (such as smiling) is affected, as it might be with a cleft lip and palate, then the relationship may be affected [28][29].…”

“…It is thought that childhood attachment tends to become apparent at around six months of age [28] and therefore experiences around this time could be significant. In terms of the CLP journey then, issues such as surgical repair could be disruptive.…”

Multimedia and virtual reality techniques in the treatment of male erectile disorders

“…This sexual therapy incorporating psychodynamic psychotherapy conducted over a six-month period is a development of the original therapy for sexual disorders described by Masters and Johnson 19 including the new advanced theories of Singer Kaplan, 20 Stoller, 21 Money, 22 Schaffer and Emerson, 23 Ainsworth and Bowlby 24,25 and Baldaro Verde. 26±29 This therapy sets out a new multifactorial concept of sexual identity, acquired in the ®rst years of life by a process of identi®cation with the parent of the same sex and complementation with the parent of the opposite sex.…”