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Modeling, simulating, and simplifying links between stress, attachment, and reproduction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 February 2009

Dean Petters  and
Everett Waters
Dean Petters
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Aston University, Birmingham, B48 7NR, United Kingdomd.d.petters@aston.ac.ukhttp://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/~ddp
Everett Waters
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, State University of New York, Stony Brook, NY 11794-2500. everett.waters@sunysb.eduhttp://www.johnbowlby.com
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Abstract

John Bowlby's use of evolutionary theory as a cornerstone of his attachment theory was innovative in its day and remains useful. Del Giudice's target article extends Belsky et al.'s and Chisholm's efforts to integrate attachment theory with more current thinking about evolution, ecology, and neuroscience. His analysis would be strengthened by (1) using computer simulation to clarify and simulate the effects of early environmental stress, (2) incorporating information about non-stress related sources of individual differences, (3) considering the possibility of adaptive behavior without specific evolutionary adaptations, and (4) considering whether the attachment construct is critical to his analysis.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 32 , Issue 1 , February 2009 , pp. 39 - 40
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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References

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