From the beginning, theories of attachment and caregiving have given rise to questions about minimum and maximum numbers of attachment figures. The child's tendency to direct attachment behavior to a specific figure rather than to whoever is nearby has led to the idea of monotropy, suggesting that a child would thrive best with one special attachment figure. From an evolutionary perspective kinship caregiving networks are more plausible as they would increase the chances of survival, and in hunter-gatherer and agricultural communities paternal care and kinship networks providing care for young children were indeed common. A recent development in cultural evolution is the invention of organized day care and children's homes and institutions. Although the attachment network may increase in size with the child's cognitive development, research on institutionalized care demonstrates that high numbers of caregivers preclude secure attachments. The limiting factor to attachment networks may however not be the number of caregivers, but the opportunities for the child to learn contingencies in social relationships that have an attachment component.

中文翻译：

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附件网络的限制

从一开始，依恋和照顾理论就引发了关于依恋数字的最小和最大数量的问题。孩子倾向于将依恋行为指向特定的人物而不是附近的任何人，这导致了单向性的想法，这表明孩子在一个特殊的依恋人物身上会茁壮成长。从进化的角度来看，亲属关系照顾网络更合理，因为它们会增加生存机会，而在狩猎采集和农业社区，为幼儿提供照顾的父亲照顾和亲属关系网络确实很普遍。文化演变的最新发展是有组织的日托和儿童之家和机构的发明。虽然依恋网络的大小可能会随着孩子的认知发展而增加，对制度化护理的研究表明，大量的护理人员排除了安全依恋。然而，依恋网络的限制因素可能不是照顾者的数量，而是孩子学习具有依恋成分的社会关系中的偶然事件的机会。