ABSTRACT
Systematic observations of infants and young children have revolutionized understanding of developmental processes affecting sociability and intelligence, of the interactions between children and parents, and of the biological significance of the patterns of early human relationships. While the inner experience of continuity of the person stops short of infancy, the outer continuity of lives begins at the moment of conception. Actual observations in the nursery showed the rated as 'securely' attached also to be less dependent on their teachers and more actively involved with other children. John Bowlby's first publication on maternal deprivation arose out of international concern for children whose lives had been disrupted by the evacuations, migrations, and parent loss that occurred during the Second World War. A major contribution to the study of infant sociability came from the ideas and methods of animal ethologists. The newborn enters the world with a set of ready-made social responses to human stimuli which seems designed to captivate the parents.
