Definition
Attachment is the emotional bond that forms between an infant and a primary caregiver. From the consistency — or inconsistency — of that early relationship, the child builds a working model of whether the world is safe and whether other people can be relied upon.
Sapolsky places attachment within the developmental story of behavior. The classic work, from Bowlby's theory to Harlow's primate studies, established that contact, comfort, and responsiveness are not luxuries but biological necessities. A secure early bond is a platform; its absence is a lasting handicap.
Why it matters
How it works
A responsive caregiver acts as a regulator for an infant who cannot yet manage its own physiology. Soothing contact dampens the child's stress response, and over countless repetitions the developing brain calibrates its threat and reward systems around the expectation of available care. When that care is absent or unpredictable, the calibration drifts toward vigilance and distrust — and, through epigenetic and developmental routes, those settings can persist well into adult life.