Editing Attachment theory (section)

====Cybernetics====
The theory of control systems ([[cybernetics]]), developing during the 1930s and 1940s, influenced Bowlby's thinking.<ref name="Robbins">{{cite journal | vauthors = Robbins P, Zacks JM | s2cid = 17846200 | title = Attachment theory and cognitive science: commentary on Fonagy and Target | journal = Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association | volume = 55 | issue = 2 | pages = 457–67; discussion 493–501 | year = 2007 | pmid = 17601100 | doi = 10.1177/00030651070550021401 }}</ref> The young child's need for proximity to the attachment figure was seen as balancing [[Homeostasis|homeostatically]] with the need for exploration. (Bowlby compared this process to physiological homeostasis whereby, for example, blood pressure is kept within limits). The actual distance maintained by the child would vary as the balance of needs changed. For example, the approach of a stranger, or an injury, would cause the child exploring at a distance to seek proximity. The child's goal is not an object (the caregiver) but a state; maintenance of the desired distance from the caregiver depending on circumstances.<ref name="Cassidy"/>