Note publique d'information : 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.
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