Mary Ainsworth

actions and reactions; when the infant cries it is soothed, when they smile they receive attention. Contrary to Bowlby, Dollard and Millar believe this is in fact a form of conditioning, learning that certain behaviours elicit particular responses. Ainsworth and the Strange-Situation Test Believing Bowlby to be correct when he suggests that attachment encourages proximity between the child and their caregiver, then we would assume attachment responses would increase as the child’s mobility…

treating the carer as safe base (Custance, 2012). This goes against previously held beliefs, suggesting more to such a relationship than simply a desire for food. Having already spent time observing attachment in children In Uganda in the 1950’s, Mary Ainsworth was further inspired by the work of Bowlby and so the ‘Strange Situation’ was born. The study involves a child between the ages of 12 and 24 months, its mother and a stranger. The procedure is comprised of 7 three minute long episodes…

The strange situation procedure was presented by Mary Ainsworth in 1965, where she assessed attachment of mothers and their babies. The procedure consists of 7, three-minute episodes in which children are put in different scenarios with and without their mother and with a stranger. The strange situation procedure is used mostly to assess infants between 12-24 months (Investigating psychology p217). The seven episodes involve the mother and infant entering an unfamiliar room, the mother leaving…

Attachment Theory The attachment theory validates how the relationship between a parent and a child influence their maturation in early childhood stages. First originated by John Bowlby, his theory ultimately demonstrated that children who are attached to their parents are influenced by the parents delinquent/criminal behaviors that lead to similar tendencies when they grow older (McLeod). Concluded in multiple experiments, the attachment theory and the relationship between the child and parent…

Furthermore, Mary Ainsworth expanded on Bowlby’s findings of patterns of attachment behaviors, such as distress when the mother or caregiver leaves, smiling when she returns, and distress when approached by a stranger unless pre-approved by mother, with her strange situation…

As children grow older, they go through a process labeled as child development. When a child develops throughout his or her life, they hit milestones referred to as developmental stages. With childhood development, comes theories of development that provide a framework for thinking about human growth, development, and learning. The Six-Substages of the Sensorimotor stage are characterized by a general cognitive structure that affects all of the child 's thinking. Development from one stage to…

Psychologist Mary Ainworth developed a theory on the importance of the varying types of attachment between caregiver and child through experimental research in 1969. Ainworth created an assessment technique known as the Strange Situation Classification or SSC. The Strange Situation Classification was tested on infants, (mostly one to two year olds) and it demonstrated the responses of infants when separated from their mothers. The experiment was held in a room with a mother, baby and a complete…

environment, the gender of the child, attitude of the child and caregiver. John Bowlby researched into relationship development between the child and caregiver is a progressive homeostatic function that produces four characteristics of attachment. Mary Ainsworth believed in homeostatic systems, but research furthermore into attachment. By splitting the attachment theory into three different stages: secure, avoidant and resistant. Any failure of this initial attachment and development structure…

Significance Attachment theory, first formulated by John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth is one of the leading frameworks in developmental psychology. Originally there was three attachment classifications, secure, avoidant, and ambivalent (Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978). Securely attached infants are distressed when a parent leaves yet soothed and happy when they return Avoidant infants do not show a preference for the mother and are not excited when she returns. Ambivalent infants do not…

cuddled, and vocalized, and noticed that some mothers were more sensitive and responsive to their child’s signals. Ainsworth then developed the Strange Situation to determine how the infants would respond when they were separated from their mother. She set up a room with toys, and allowed a mother to play with her child for thirty minutes before the mother would step out. Ainsworth monitored the baby’s response when the mother left, and how they acted when she returned. From this information she…