Mary Ainsworth | ap-psychology-blog

Mary Ainsworth was born in December of 1913. Ainsworth enrolled at the University of Toronto in the fall of 1929. That same year German psychiatrist Hans Berger developed the electroencephalogram(EEG). This now made it possible for psychologists to record brain waves. Ainsworth entered the honors psychology curriculum with only four other students. At this point in history psychology wasn't a very prominent occupation because they didn't have the right technology to look inside a person. The EEG was about to change that. She then became a teacher at the University of Toronto until she joined the Canadian Women's Army Corp in 1942. This was during World War II. She even reached the rank of Major in 1945. Once the war was over Ainsworth returned to Toronto to teach personality psychology and conduct research. The beginning of their research was directly affected by World War II. When parents were called off to war they had issues with separation because of the attachment they had to their parents. Once this occurred psychologists began to study why this is with the Attachment Theory. In 1983 Mary Ainsworth confronted sex discrimination when she was not paid a salary to fit her age, experience, and contributions, and three chairmen had recommended her for annual increases in salary. During this time in history women were still treated unfairly compared to men.

Timeline

1913: Mary Ainsworth was born.
1929: Mary Ainsworth enrolled at the University of Toronto.
1929: German psychiatrist Hans Berger developed the electroencephalogram(EEG). This now made it possible for psychologists to record brain waves.
1942: World War II was beginning and many people left their jobs to join the military.
1942: Joined the Women's Army Corp.
1945: WWII led to issues with attachment to their parents leaving for war.(Influence of the research)
1945: Mary Ainsworth reached the rank of Major at the end of the war.
1960s: Gender discrimination was still an issue for women in the workforce.
1968: Women became in high demand for teaching positions.

"News and Events of 1929." Infoplease. Infoplease. Web. 1 Dec. 2014. <http://www.infoplease.com/year/1929.html>.

"Attachment Theory." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 30 Nov. 2014. Web. 1 Dec. 2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_theor>.

"Mary D. Salter Ainsworth." Mary D. Salter Ainsworth. Web. 1 Dec. 2014. <http://www2.webster.edu/~woolflm/ainsworth.html>.

Social and Political Backdrop

Unit 14 of the syllabus would most likely cover Mary Ainsworth's contributions to psychology because it covers social psychology. Ainsworth’s studies on children's attachments to their mothers would fit under their social behaviors which can affect how they react to other people. ~Aspen Evans

McLeod, Saul. "Mary Ainsworth | Attachment Styles | Simply Psychology."Mary Ainsworth | Attachment Styles | Simply Psychology. Simply Psychology, 2008. Web. 22 Nov. 2014.

Birth & Death Dates

Birth Date: December 1, 1913

Death Date: March 21, 1999

-Zahida Ashroff

Notable Professional Dates

Major Contributions/Research

Key Terms/Concepts

School of Thought/Perspective

Nature vs. Nurture

Mary Ainsworth’s work correlated with the behavioral perspective of psychology. Her strange situation experiment relied on the separation of a child from its mother and used the observable behavior to form conclusions about attachment and relationships. Although Ainsworth’s experiments used the premise of behavioral psychology, she developed her own niche within the field that also incorporated developmental psychology. Ainsworth mostly dealt with attachment theory and its manifestation between young infants and their mothers. From her experiments Ainsworth was able to develop three specific sub categories to her theory; secure attachment, avoidant attachment, and ambivalent attachment. Each of these attachment styles was denoted by a specific response displayed by the infants and served as a foreshadow for the type of adult attachment that would be exhibited in the future.

-Tiffani-Shae Starks

Cherry, K. (n.d.). How Do Early Attachments Shape Behavior? Retrieved December 1, 2014, from http://psychology.about.com/od/loveandattraction/a/attachment01.htm

Cherry, K. (n.d.). 7 Things You Should Know About Attachment Styles. Retrieved December 1, 2014, from http://psychology.about.com/od/loveandattraction/ss/attachmentstyle_7.htm

Cherry, K. (n.d.). 42 Famous Psychologists You Should Know. Retrieved December 1, 2014, from http://psychology.about.com/od/historyofpsychology/tp/psychologists.htm

Cherry, K. (n.d.). Why Mary Ainsworth Is Important in Child Psychology. Retrieved December 1, 2014, from http://psychology.about.com/od/profilesal/p/ainsworth.htm

1935- Ainsworth completed her bachelor’s degree in psychology at the University of Toronto
1936- Ainsworth earned her master’s degree in psychology.
1939- Ainsworth earned her doctorate degree in psychology.
1942- Ainsworth joined the Canadian Women's Army Corps
1950- She joined the research team of John Bowlby at the Tavistock Clinic, investigating the effects of maternal separation on child development.
1954- Ainsworth left the Tavistock Clinic to do research in Africa where she carried out her field study of mother-infant interaction. From that field study she published, Infancy in Uganda.
1965- Ainsworth and Wittig designed the Strange Situation Procedure
1975-1992 She taught as a tenured professor and then a professor emeritus at the University of Virginia
1985- Ainsworth received the Award for Distinguished Contributions to Child Development
1989- She received the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award from the American Psychological Association
1992- She was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

-TIffani-Shae Starks

Mary Ainsworth. (n.d.). Retrieved December 1, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Ainsworth

Mary D. Salter Ainsworth. (n.d.). Retrieved December 1, 2014, from http://www2.webster.edu/~woolflm/ainsworth.html

Mary Ainsworth sided with the nurture side of the debate. She believed that children attach to their caretaker or parents based in how they are cared for.

- Zahida Ashroff

Mary Ainsworth developed a technique called the Strange Situation Test which examined the attatchment between a child and it's mother/caregiver. During an observation phase, the mother and child are placed in a room together and interact with each other. After this interaction, the child is continuously switched off between the mother and a stranger in the room, one entering while the other leaves. The child's beavior is then assessed through four questions: How much does the child explore their surroundings? What is the child's reaction when the parent leaves? Does the child express any anxiety with the introduction of the stranger when the child is alone? What is the behavior of the child when interacting with the parent? After the assessment, the child can be catagorized into secure attatchment, anxious-resistant insecure attatchment, anxious-avoidant insecure attatchment, or disorganized/disoriented attatchment. Ainsworth's research showed her that the parent is a secure base for exploring surroundings. These attatchments are important to be noted because they can be passed down through generations and used in other relationships.

Find the Right Therapist. (2013, June 28). Retrieved November 30, 2014, from http://www.goodtherapy.org/famous-psychologists/mary- ainsworth.html

-Leah Rahman

Secure attatchment: healthy, strong attatchment to the mother. Child explores and engages with others in the pressence of the mother and when she leaves the child becomes agitated. Child avoids the stranger.

Anxious-Resistant Insecure Attatchment: Child shows anxiety when the stranger is present. Becomes agitated and distressed when the mother leaves. Child appears resentful and tries to move away when the mother returns. The child's needs are not met by the parents.

Ansious-Avoidant Insecure Attatchment: Child displays ambivalence at all times. Child often refuses to be held and doesn't cling to the parent. Avoids exploration when the stranger is present. Strangers are sometimes treated the same as parents. The efforts to have needs met are ignored.

Disorganized/Disoriented Attatchment: Appears distressed when parent leaves and shows immediate relief on return. Child may not want to be held by the mother or could show anger towards her. Most mothers of the children in this catagory suffered from depression.

Secure-base: reinforcement

Find the Right Therapist. (2013, June 28). Retrieved November 30, 2014, from http://www.goodtherapy.org/famous-psychologists/mary- ainsworth.html

-Leah Rahman

Unit

-Zahida Ashroff

Works Cited

"Developmental Psychology." Developmental Psychology. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2014.

"The Attachment System Throughout the Life Course: Review and Criticisms of Attachment Theory." Review and Criticisms of Attachment Theory. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2014.

The video above shows a rendition of the strange situation that Mary Ainsowrth used in her experiments.

-Tiffani-Shae Starks