Attachment Theory and Cognitive Science: Commentary on Fonagy and Target

Abstract

P eter Fonagy and Mary Target present a broad and provocative argument for the potential contributions of attachment theory to clinical psychoanalysis, together with an analysis of why these contributions have thus far not been realized. Central to the authors' discussion is the claim that the movement within contemporary cognitive science known as "embodied cognition" provides the theoretical machinery to bring attachment theory and psychoanalysis together. This conclusion depends on two claims about attachment theory's relationship to cognitive science. First, Fonagy and Target argue that attachment theory as originally developed by Bowlby was based on a concept of mental representation derived from classical, "disembodied" cognitive science. Second, they argue that what is new about contemporary cognitive science is its turn to embodied cognition. These claims support their conclusion that attachment theory should be revised by bringing it more into line with contemporary cognitive science.Our perspective is that of working cognitive scientists-one of us is a philosopher of mind and the other a cognitive neuroscientist. From our perspective, the conceptual map presented by Fonagy and Target has recognizable landmarks, but deviates from our experience of the terrain. To begin with, attachment theory is not nearly so well aligned with classical cognitive science as they suggest; on the contrary, it shares at least as much ground with embodied cognition, if not

Attachment Theory

“…The theory of control systems (cybernetics), developing during the 1930s and '40s, influenced Bowlby's thinking. [99] The young child's need for proximity to the attachment figure was seen as balancing homeostatically with the need for exploration. (Bowlby compared this process to physiological homeostasis whereby, for example, blood pressure is kept within limits).…”

“…[125] Psychoanalyst/psychologists Peter Fonagy and Mary Target have attempted to bring attachment theory and psychoanalysis into a closer relationship through cognitive science as mentalization. [99] Mentalization, or theory of mind, is the capacity of human beings to guess with some accuracy what thoughts, emotions and intentions lie behind behaviours as subtle as facial expression. [126] This connection between theory of mind and the internal…”