Ethological attachment theory is a landmark of 20th century social and
behavioral sciences theory and research. This new paradigm for
understanding primary relationships across the lifespan evolved from
John Bowlby's critique of psychoanalytic drive theory and his own
clinical observations, supplemented by his knowledge of fields as
diverse as primate ethology, control systems theory, and cognitive
psychology. By the time he had written the first volume of his classic
Attachment and Loss trilogy, Mary D. Salter Ainsworth's naturalistic
observations in Uganda and Baltimore, and her theoretical and
descriptive insights about maternal care and the secure base phenomenon
had become integral to attachment theory.
Patterns of Attachment reports the methods and key results of
Ainsworth's landmark Baltimore Longitudinal Study. Following upon her
naturalistic home observations in Uganda, the Baltimore project yielded
a wealth of enduring, benchmark results on the nature of the child's tie
to its primary caregiver and the importance of early experience. It also
addressed a wide range of conceptual and methodological issues common to
many developmental and longitudinal projects, especially issues of age
appropriate assessment, quantifying behavior, and comprehending
individual differences. In addition, Ainsworth and her students broke
new ground, clarifying and defining new concepts, demonstrating the
value of the ethological methods and insights about behavior.
Today, as we enter the fourth generation of attachment study, we have a
rich and growing catalogue of behavioral and narrative approaches to
measuring attachment from infancy to adulthood. Each of them has roots
in the Strange Situation and the secure base concept presented in
Patterns of Attachment. It inclusion in the Psychology Press Classic
Editions series reflects Patterns of Attachment's continuing
significance and insures its availability to new generations of
students, researchers, and clinicians.
