Mary Ainsworth

When reading some introductions on the history of psychological science it is noticed there are very a few(prenominal) females mentioned. That does not smashed women are not attri provideded to making significant impacts in the development of psychology. The contributions of many of psychologys most eminent female thinkers attain long been ignored, but that is head start to change as more history texts begin to recognize women much(prenominal) as Karen Horney, bloody shame Ainsworth, Leta Hollingworth, and Christine Ladd-Franklin in their p bestrides. These women are just a few who have made tremendous contributions and marks on psychology.The background, theoretical approach, and contributions of bloody shame Ainsworth are very significant to the field psychology even so far today. Time line/Background of Mary Ainsworth Mary Ainsworth was born in December 1913 in Glendale, Ohio. She was the oldest of three girls in 1918 her family relocated to Toronto Canada, and gained th eir citizenship. In her house education and studies were noted to be grave. When she was fifteen, she read William McDougalls book Character and the take up of Life, which inspired her lifelong interest in psychology (OConnell, 1983).In 1929 Ainsworth attended say at the University of Toronto she was one of totally four students to finish the honors degree plan in psychology. At the time her father decided it would be outstrip for her to become a stenographer, but he was still supportive of her rocking horse of polish construct in psychology. In 1939Mary Ainsworth was a recent Ph. D. graduate. She valued to stay at the University of Toronto, and she fascinated the head of the psychology department. However, she was not selected for a position because the University Senate refused to appoint a female.In 1942 Ainsworth joined the Canadian Womens legions Corp, and subsequently serving as a counselor in the multitude for four years, she came back to the University of Toron to and gained the position assistant prof. She got engaged to Leonard Ainsworth a graduate student, and they married in 1950. It was difficult working as assistant professor on the faculty where her husband was a pupil so twain moved to London, England. Mary Ainsworth was selected for a look for position at the Tavistock Clinic infra psychiatrist John Bowlby.Bowlbys interrogation of the effects of time interval of children from their obtains/caregivers served as a precursor of Ainsworths earlier work on the security theory. In 1953 Leonard Ainsworth was provoke in going to Africa. Mary Ainsworth could find employment as a research psychologist at the East African Institute of Social seek in Kampala, Uganda. She conducted a short-term naturalistic study of the mother-infant relationship and make the results.Two years later(prenominal) Mary landed a position as a lecturer in Baltimore, Maryland, at John Hopkins. Not only did she lecture, and supervise students, she set up a private practice utilize to children. In 1960 because of divorce Ainsworth became very depressed. In 1963, one year after starting the research she is best known for she became a full professor. In1975 Ainsworth left hand Hopkins for a professor position at the University of Virginia. She taught there until her retirement in 1984. She re mained active in her profession until 1992.The American Psychological Foundation awarded her the bullion Medal Award for life achievement in the science of psychology from. In 1999 Mary Ainsworth passed at the age of 86, she never had any children but her major contributions were in study of children. Theoretical Perspective of Mary Ainsworth Bowlby and Ainsworth worked together to develop the bond certificate theory and research. The distinguishing characteristic of the theory of shackle that we have jointly developed is that it is an ethological approach to nature development.Although they had separate approaches to understanding personalit y development, they worked together each adding different ideas and perspectives. In Uganda Ainsworth spent time doing research on mother child interactions. At the same time she dogma and lecturing about psychology at John Hopkins, Mary Ainsworth began work to create a test to measure attachments between mothers and caregivers, and their children. Here she developed the Strange Situations assessment. Children ages 12 months-18 months were observed during the assessment.A detective watched a childs reaction when he or she was in brief left alone in an unfamiliar room. Important information was revealed during the separation and upon the mothers/caregivers return. Based on her observations, Ainsworth conclude that there are three main attachment modal values. The three main attachment styles are secure, anxious- avoidant, and anxious resistant. Because her initial finding, her work has spawned many studies into the nature of attachment and the different attachment styles that ex ist between children and caregivers.Mary Ainsworths contributions to psychology Significant contributions to the science of psychology have been made by Mary Ainsworth with her Strange Situations assessment. After the research she concluded the main attachment styles are secure, anxious-avoidant, and anxious-resistant. She set a platform and many others shortly followed. Her moot research on attachment played an important role in understanding the development of children.In 1986 researchers Main and Solomon added a fourth attachment style disorganized-insecure. There are numerous studies that support Ainsworths research. Additional research has also shown early attachment styles can help predict behaviors later in life. Mary Ainsworths research and contributions are still important to the study of psychology today. Conclusion Mary Ainsworth knew her work was debatable and could be understood by some in the womens movement as a order to mothers to stay home with their children in th eir early age.And while I emphasize the importance of a secure attachment between infant and caregiver, and that full-time mothering may be the usual fashion of ensuring a secure attachment, she did not deny that alternative arrangements were possible. She said, Had I myself had the children for whom I vainly longed, I like to believe I could have arrived at some satisfactory combination of mothering and a career, but I do not believe that there is any universal, easy, ready-made solution to the problem (Ainsworth, 1983. p. 216).With tables turning and the contributions of psychologys most prominent female theorist being added to text books students will study more about the contributions of Mary Ainsworth. Her background, significant contributions, and theoretical approach are vital still today. umpteen psychology researchers use the Strange Situation assessment as a basis for analysis on child development research. Mary Ainsworth lived 86 years and most of her life was spent r esearching, lecturing, teaching, and observing in the psychology field.