The Science of Affection: How a Rebel Researcher Pioneered the Study of Love in the 1950s and Illuminated How Parents Shape Children’s Emotional Patterns

Maria Popova - Brain Pickings

In this article from Brain Pickings, the author, Maria Popova, reviews the book ‘Love at Goon Park: Harry Harlow and the Science of Affection,’ by Deborah Blum, which details the work of researcher Harry Harlow to identify and underscore the importance of parental/caregiver affection on children’s development. The review highlights the work of other psychologists and researchers of the era who studied, and drew attention to, issues of affection and attachment in childhood and who revolutionized the scientific thinking of the time. One of these researchers was William Goldfarb who became inspired to study the impacts of parental affection on IQ from his work with children in New York’s Jewish orphanages and his concern that social isolation was negatively impacting their intellectual development.