Mary Ainsworth

American-Canadian developmental psychologist who invented the Strange Situation and mapped attachment patterns.

Specifications & Metrics

lifespan

1913-1999

nationality

American-Canadian

tradition

Attachment theory

Core Principles & Analysis

• Working with John Bowlby at the Tavistock Clinic, she gave attachment theory its empirical instrument.
• Her Baltimore observations produced the secure, avoidant, and resistant classifications from reunion behavior.
• Patterns of Attachment (1978) standardized the Strange Situation procedure used worldwide since.

Sources

• Wikipedia: Mary Ainsworth