December 1, 19 march 21, 1999 1 was an americancanadian developmental psychologist known for her work in early emotional attachment with the strange situation design, as well as her work in the development of attachment theory. Mary ainsworth december 1, 19 march 21, 1999 was a developmental psychologist perhaps best known for her strange situation assessment and contributions to the area of attachment theory. Revisiting mary ainsworths conceptualization and assessments of. The normative component of attachment theory identifies the stimuli and contexts that normally evoke and terminate different kinds of emotions, as well as. Mary ainsworths attachment styles flashcards quizlet. Babies and toddlers cant use words to tell us how they feel so mary ainsworth needed to find a way to allow them to show her.
Psychologist mary ainsworth devised an assessment technique called the strange situation classification. The latter tested the theory and later on, many others added to and developed the concept of attachment in developmental psychology. Pdf attachment theory is based on the joint work of j. Mary ainsworths strange situation posted on january 23, 2015 1 comment only 55% of us had secure attachment as infants, according to research on 6,281 infantparent pairs done during 19701999.
She called her procedure the strange situation classification known more commonly as just the strange situation. Its developmental history begins in the 1930s, with bowlbys growing interest in the link between maternal loss or deprivation and later personality development and with ainsworths interest in security theory. Ainsworth was a student of the leading developmental psychologist john bowlby. Its developmental history begins in the 1930s, with bowlbys growing interest in the link. Mary ainsworth was always eager, very fast, and excellent in learning all the newly devised assessments of patterns of attachment at preschool age, six years or based on the adult attachment interview. The bowlbyainsworth attachment theory behavioral and. Megan white tiffany mcneish nikki devante jem rogich 2. Mary ainsworth was a key figure in the field of developmental psychology, and this quizworksheet will help you test your understanding of her life and work. Ainsworth, a developmental psychologist whose work revolutionized the understanding of the bond between mothers and infants, died in charlottesville, va. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools.
The drive for closeness promotes attachment behaviours, which helps children feel safe. Ainsworth elaborated on bowlbys research on attachment and developed an approach to observing a childs attachment to a caregiver. The bowlbyainsworth attachment theory volume 1 issue 3 mary d. At first, they created this theory only considering children. Mary ainsworth strange situation explained attachment styles.
Mary ainsworth and the strange situation during the 1970s, psychologist mary ainsworth conducted further research into john bowlbys attachment theory in a study that came to be known as the strange situation. The ainsworth attachment clinic and the circle of security. The article ends with some speculations on the future potential of the theory. Bowlbys and ainsworths theory of attachment researchomatic. As john bowlbys major collaborator in the development of attachment theory, she is commonly credited with providing supporting empirical evidence for the theory. Attachment theory draws on the work of john bowlby and mary ainsworth. Mary ainsworth attachment styles simply psychology. A research technique developed by american psychologist mary ainsworth and used in the assessment of attachment. Figure 1 is a graphical representation of the characteristics of attachment. Revisiting mary ainsworths conceptualization and assessments of maternal. Bowlby believed that the attachment system, as he and others called it, served two primary functions. Mary ainsworths innovative methodology not only made it possible to test some of bowlbys ideas empirically hut also helped expand the theory itself and is responsible for some of the new directions it is now taking.
Mary ainsworth, 85, theorist on motherinfant attachment. Why mary ainsworth is important in child psychology. Mary ainsworth taught at the john hopkins university and later at the university of virginia. December 1, 19 march 21, 1999 was an americancanadian developmental psychologist known for her work in the development of the attachment theory. The life of psychologist mary ainsworth exploring your mind.
Mary ainsworths research work on attachment helps us to understand the child development better. Three main attachment styles came from these observations. Drawing on concepts from ethology, cybernetics, information processing, developmental psychology, and psychoanalysts, john bowlby formulated the basic tenets of. He was joined in his work by psychologist mary ainsworth. To analyze this, bowlby resumes studies that he previously did for the american psychologist mary ainsworth, who observed different interactions between mother and child under a standardized procedure thats known as the strange situation. Mary ainsworth s pioneering work has changed conceptions of infantmother relationships, and by extension, conceptions of human relationships more generally. The strange situation mary ainsworth 1969 psychology. John bowlby was the original founder of attachment theory this began after world war ii where he found many children became orphans at a very young age and concluded that attachment was crucial for development miler, 2011. Mary ainsworth went against this body of research because she believed that attachments were formed through a process that was much more complex than previously discussed. Salter ainsworth skip to main content accessibility help we use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. The legacy of john bowlbys attachment theory this chapter. The disorder was an outgrowth of the work, beginning in the 1950s, by british psychoanalyst, john bowlby, considered by many the father of attachment theory. Strange situation procedure the security of attachment in one to twoyearolds were investigated using the strange situation paradigm, in order to determine the nature of attachment behaviors and styles of attachment. Research by developmental psychologist mary ainsworth in the 1960s and 70s underpinned the basic concepts, introduced the concept of the secure base and developed a theory of a number of attachment patterns in infants.
Mary ainsworth was an americancanadian psychologist who, along with john bowlby, developed one of the greatest and most helpful psychological theories on early social development. You can find it on the same pdf as the threecategory measure, starting on page 3. Wittig at johns hopkins university devised the strange situation procedure in the 1960s to demonstrate. Attachment theory was further developed by mary ainsworth 19 1999 and her assessment technique called the strange situation classification ssc. She headed the society for research in child development from 1977 to 1979 and was a fellow of the american psychological association apa and the british psychological association. Attachment theory is centered on the emotional bonds between people and suggests that our earliest attachments can leave a lasting mark on our lives. Drawing on concepts from ethology, cybernetics, information processing, devel. Revisiting mary ainsworths conceptualization and assessments of maternal sensitivityinsensitivity inge bretherton university of wisconsinmadison, madison, wi, usa. The main 2 scientists who formulated the attachment theory was john bowlby and mary ainsworth.
Its developmental history begins in the 1930s, with bowlbys. The goal of the strange situation procedure is to provide an environment that would arouse in the infant both the motivation to explore and the urge to. Attachment refers to the special bond and the lasting relationships that young children form with one or more adults. Mary ainsworth died at the age of eightyfive of a massive stroke. Explaining and displaying the theory of ainsworths attachment patterns, including secure, insecureavoidant and insecureresistant. Mary ainsworth s 1971, 1978 observational study of individual differences in attachment is described below. Pdf the americancanadian psychologist mary ainsworth 191999 developed the strange situation procedure ssp to measure. However, it wasnt until his colleague, mary ainsworth 19 1999, began to systematically study infantparent separations that a formal understanding of these individual differences was articulated. Attachment theory is based on the joint work of john bowlby 19071991 and mary salter ainsworth 19. Alevel psychology revision video study rocket study. Mary ainsworth convinced me that the potentials of attachment theory for human development were well founded. Abstract attachment theory is based on the joint work of john bowlby 19071991 and mary salter ainsworth 19. Today, the technique of ainsworths strange situation is commonly used in psychiatry and psychology to examine the attachment pattern between mother and a child.
Strange situation mary ainsworth, child, and attachment. The strange situation procedure, developed by american psychologist mary ainsworth, is widely used in child development research. Karin participated in the first workshop by mary main on the adult attachment interview in charlottesville in 1985. Mary ainsworth s research work on attachment helps us to understand the child development better. Salter ainsworth university of virginia bowlbys 1969 ethologicalevolutionary attachment theory implies that it is an essential part of the ground plan of the human species as well as that of many other species for an.
A key focus is attachment theory in relation to children in their home and early. Salter ainsworth was one of the preeminent developmental psychologists of the 20th century. Ainsworth contributed the concept of the attachment figure as a secure base. They believed that mental health and behavioral problems. In 1969, american psychologist mary ainsworth developed a new procedure for studying attachment types in infants. A brief comparison of ainworths with bowlbys contributions follows.
The concepts of attachment and attachment behavior are considered from. So what is attachment disorder aka reactive attachment disorder. At roughly the same time bowlby was creating the foundations for his theory on attachment, mary ainsworth was finishing her graduate degree and studying security theory, which proposed that children need to develop a secure dependence on their parents before venturing out into unfamiliar situations. Born december 19 died in the year 1999 worked with john bowlby at tavistock clinic in england where she began her research of maternalinfant attachments known for her development of the strange situation assessment used to observe child attachment identified that three main. Its developmental history begins in the 1930s, with bowlbys growing interest in the link between maternal loss or deprivation and later personality development and. By the time he had written the first volume of his classic attachment and loss trilogy, mary d. A number of studies since that time have supported ainsworths attachment styles and have indicated that attachment styles also. Her contributions to the scientific study of attachment led to groundbreaking changes in how we think about the bond between an infant and its caregivers. The mary ainsworth attachment theory focuses on providing an explanation as to why there are individual differences in attachment. Attachment theory draws on the work of john bowlby and mary ainsworth see shemmings, 2011. It refers specifically to the childs sense of security and safety when in the company of a particular adult wittmer, 2011. The hallmark of infant attachment is using one or a few people as a secure base from which to explore and as a haven of safety when needed. Designed by mary ainsworth to test aachment conducted between 9 15 months designed for use in research sengs key factor to observe is infants response upon parents return funcjons of aachment sense of security regulajon of a. The strange situation is a semistructured laboratory procedure that allows us to identify, without lengthy home observation, infants who effectively use a primary caregiver as a secure base.
The mary ainsworth attachment theory focuses on providing an explanation as to why there are individual differences in. The strange situation was devised by ainsworth and wittig 1969 and was based on ainsworths. Today, the technique of ainsworth s strange situation is commonly used in psychiatry and psychology to examine the attachment pattern between mother and a child. Salter ainsworths naturalistic observations in uganda and baltimore, and her theoretical and descriptive insights about maternal care and the secure base phenomenon had become integral to.