Mary Ainsworth

Abstract This report discusses and evaluates the experiment conducted by Mary Ainsworth (1970) on several types of attachments one year-olds form and can form with their parents, specifically mothers. It discusses how these attachments are formed and further explains the function of the attachments for future development. Supported ideas are included to support agreement with Ainsworth’s theories. Suggested interventions to help children develop healthy attachments concludes the report.

In this experiment, Mary Ainsworth was attempting to distinguish different types of attachment in infants. She was also using this experiment to record stranger anxiety and separation anxiety. The experiment was broken up into 3 minutes intervals of 7 different episodes. In other words, the baby would be subjected to 3-minute periods of a different situation. In the first situation, the parent and infant are left alone in a room to play, being observed by the experimenters behind one-way glass. In

too young to understand psychological studies and therefore cannot truly give informed consent to something they do not understand. Mary Ainsworth conducted a study, ‘The Strange Situation’ which involved having to face many issues and challenges regarding the observation of children. This study involved examining the security of attachment in 1 to 2 year olds. Ainsworth wanted to establish the nature of attachment behaviours and the different attachment types that there are. The study was based in

1) Attachment is a strong affectional bond with special others that endures over time. The strange situation procedure was created by Mary Ainsworth so that she could study different types of attachment relationships between a mother and child. These different types of attachment are secure, anxious/avoidant, and anxious/ambivalent. Mary would have the mother and child both play in a room that’s new to the child. Next, they would observe the child when a stranger enters the room and tries to interact

Mary Ainsworth and Attachment Mary Ainsworth was an influential psychologist in the area of attachment. She had a great life and not only helped further other psychologists’ findings, but also made significant findings of her own. Historical Context The types of studies in the area of attachments before Mary Ainsworth were the works of Harry Harlow, John Bowlby, and William Blatz. Harry Harlow was born October 31st, 1905 in Iowa to a small farming community. He obtained his BA and PhD at Stanford

Within the outline of attachment theory, Mary Ainsworth was the first to provide a detailed description of maternal sensitivity. Maternal sensitivity is a mother 's ability to perceive and understand the meaning behind her infant 's behavioral signals, and to respond to them quickly and appropriately. In study with 73 mothers and their second-born child, stability and main-level differences between measures of maternal sensitivity across settings and over time were studied. Maternal sensitivity

The study of the Attachment by Harry Harlow and Mary Ainsworth The word love brings us many meanings. But how do we learn to love? Is it something that we born with, like kind of pre-programmed behaviour or is it a something that we learn during our development? Do we bound to others because of something that we receive on exchange or the constant proximity forms the bound? The comprehension of what defines emotional attachments or the emotional bounding to others, either in humans or other

perspectives of relationship and attachment proposed by various theorists, the class discussions and lectures furthered my understanding and knowledge of parent-child relationships. In chapter 3, the theory of attachment proposed by John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth is explored. First, Bowlby’s theory of attachment was influenced by the ethological theorist, Darwin, Lorenz, and Tinbergen, who were previously mentioned in the chapter. Bowlby emphasized that behaviors found in animals, such as seeking close

Main Idea Attachment, as defined by “Infants, Children, and Adolescents” is the strong emotional connection that develops between an infant and caregiver, which provides the infant with a sense of joy, comfort, and emotional security (Berk, 2012, p. 264). Between 6 to 12 months of age, infants typically have developed said strong emotional connection to familiar people who have responded to their need for comfort, care, and other needs. While many individuals might suggest that a baby’s emotional

Mary Ainsworth was born Mary D. Salter into a middle class family in Ohio in 1913. When Mary was five years old her family moved to Canada, where her parents tried their best to give her and her siblings a good education, and every opportunity available to them. Although her childhood was filled with many opportunities, and a comfortable lifestyle there were still some emotional struggles in the family dynamics in their household. These emotional struggles are what led to and encouraged Mary to