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Rating: 
Summary: Seminal work. Not yet surpassed
Review: The work of John Bowlby (who was most certainly not a Behaviorist) is the work of genius. His importance in the field of developmental psychology has yet to be surpassed. It cannot be minimized.
Rating: 
Summary: A Groundbreaking Classic on Young Child Development
Review: This first volume of John Bowlby's trilogy on Attachment and Loss expands and builds upon an article he
published in 1958 in the International Journal of Psycho-Analysis titled "The Nature of the Child's Tie to His
Mother", which is perhaps a more telling title than that of the book itself. Attachment, as a technical term in
behavioural biology, is first used in describing instinctive mother-following behaviours of young mammals
and birds (first observed and reported in delightful accounts by the Austrian ethologist Konrad Lorenz in the
1930's). By comparing data collected during and after the Second World War by childcare workers and researchers
in U.K. and North America, Bowlby found a striking common pattern of distressed behaviours among
young children between the ages of one and three when separated from mother for an extended period: first
in Protest, then Despair and finally Detachment - a psychopathological state when a child becomes socially
uninitiated and withdrawn, even to his returning mother. Bowlby then postulates that physical proximity to a
mother-figure is essential to a child's development of cognitive capacities, especially during a sensitive
period around six months to two years after birth. Attachment behaviours, like those of young mammals and
birds, are present in the human baby too. This has since led to a blossoming of research activities in
development psychology and psychoanalysis, as well as neurophysiology recently, which supplies much
fresh evidence about the young brain and its phenomenal maturing in the first two years. Attachment theory
has since contributed significantly to understanding of our own selves, informed the age-old philosophical
debate on nature or nurture, and brought our attention to fundamental issues in child-rearing such as
sensitive periods of development, the difference between attachment (conducive to security) and
dependence (symptomatic of insecurity), the distinction between anxiety from separation and fear of the
unfamiliar, etc. This new edition is a timely reprint of a classic account of attachment theory as formulated by the originator.
While primarily an academic work, with a few chapters deemed more for an academic jury (about Freud
and instinctive behaviours, etc.), it is mostly very readable, and certainly captivating to those with access to
young babies, of whose behaviours are given an enlightening perspective. This volume focuses on
attachment, with subsequent volumes on its loss in temporary and permanent terms respectively.
Rating:
Summary: A Groundbreaking Classic on Young Child Development
Review: This first volume of John Bowlby's trilogy on Attachment and Loss expands and builds upon an article he
published in 1958 in the International Journal of Psycho-Analysis titled "The Nature of the Child's Tie to His
Mother", which is perhaps a more telling title than that of the book itself. Attachment, as a technical term in
behavioural biology, is first used in describing instinctive mother-following behaviours of young mammals
and birds (first observed and reported in delightful accounts by the Austrian ethologist Konrad Lorenz in the
1930's). By comparing data collected during and after the Second World War by childcare workers and researchers
in U.K. and North America, Bowlby found a striking common pattern of distressed behaviours among
young children between the ages of one and three when separated from mother for an extended period: first
in Protest, then Despair and finally Detachment - a psychopathological state when a child becomes socially
uninitiated and withdrawn, even to his returning mother. Bowlby then postulates that physical proximity to a
mother-figure is essential to a child's development of cognitive capacities, especially during a sensitive
period around six months to two years after birth. Attachment behaviours, like those of young mammals and
birds, are present in the human baby too. This has since led to a blossoming of research activities in
development psychology and psychoanalysis, as well as neurophysiology recently, which supplies much
fresh evidence about the young brain and its phenomenal maturing in the first two years. Attachment theory
has since contributed significantly to understanding of our own selves, informed the age-old philosophical
debate on nature or nurture, and brought our attention to fundamental issues in child-rearing such as
sensitive periods of development, the difference between attachment (conducive to security) and
dependence (symptomatic of insecurity), the distinction between anxiety from separation and fear of the
unfamiliar, etc. This new edition is a timely reprint of a classic account of attachment theory as formulated by the originator.
While primarily an academic work, with a few chapters deemed more for an academic jury (about Freud
and instinctive behaviours, etc.), it is mostly very readable, and certainly captivating to those with access to
young babies, of whose behaviours are given an enlightening perspective. This volume focuses on
attachment, with subsequent volumes on its loss in temporary and permanent terms respectively.
Rating:
Summary: Seminal work. Not yet surpassed
Review: This is a behaviorists attempt to explain a concept that has been recognized by poets for millennia; "love." While the behaviorist's perspective is perhaps a valid one, Bowlby attempts to "prove" the existence of a "primary attachment" (a concept first advanced by Freud in 1912) through a science experiment not worthy of a 7th grader. He then attempts to support that "proof" with anecdotal evidence. Virtually every premise presented by Bowlby was destroyed by the work of Dr. Michael Lamb shortly after Bowlby published "Attachment" (See "The Role of Father"). Read this book if you have insomnia. But under NO circumstances should this book be viewed as authoritative in the development of children.
Rating: 
Summary: Obsolete Perspective and "Bad Science"
Review: This is a behaviorists attempt to explain a concept that has been recognized by poets for millennia; "love." While the behaviorist's perspective is perhaps a valid one, Bowlby attempts to "prove" the existence of a "primary attachment" (a concept first advanced by Freud in 1912) through a science experiment not worthy of a 7th grader. He then attempts to support that "proof" with anecdotal evidence. Virtually every premise presented by Bowlby was destroyed by the work of Dr. Michael Lamb shortly after Bowlby published "Attachment" (See "The Role of Father"). Read this book if you have insomnia. But under NO circumstances should this book be viewed as authoritative in the development of children.
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