Mary Dinsmore Ainsworth was an American-Canadian developmental psychologist known for her work in the development of the attachment theory.
21 Facts About Mary Ainsworth
1.
2.
Mary Ainsworth designed the strange situation procedure to observe early emotional attachment between a child and its primary caregiver.
3.
Many of Mary Ainsworth's studies are "cornerstones" of modern-day attachment theory.
4.
Mary Ainsworth Dinsmore Salter was born in Glendale, Ohio on December 1,1913, the eldest of three daughters born to Mary Ainsworth and Charles Salter.
5.
Mary Ainsworth's father, who possessed a master's degree in history, worked at a manufacturing firm in Cincinnati and her mother was a nurse.
6.
Mary Ainsworth began reading by the age of three, and the family would once a week visit the local library where her mother would select appropriate books for her level.
7.
Mary Ainsworth was close with her father, who assumed the duties of tucking her in at night and singing to her, but did not have a warm relationship with her mother; Salter later stated that their relationship was marked by her mother's jealousy and interference with the bond she had with her father.
8.
Mary Ainsworth began classes at the University of Toronto at the age of 16, where she was one of only five students to be admitted into the honors course in psychology.
9.
Mary Ainsworth completed coursework for her bachelor's degree in 1935, and decided to continue her education at the University of Toronto with the intention of earning her doctorate in psychology.
10.
Mary Ainsworth earned her master's degree in 1936 and her PhD was granted in 1939.
11.
Mary Ainsworth's duties included administering clinical evaluations and personnel assessment tests.
12.
Mary Ainsworth married Leonard Ainsworth, a graduate student in the Psychology department of University of Toronto, in 1950 and moved to London with him to allow him to finish his PhD at University College London.
13.
Mary Ainsworth had to wait two years for an associate professor position even though her qualifications surpassed the job description.
14.
Mary Ainsworth was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1992.
15.
Mary Ainsworth died on March 21,1999, at the age of eighty-five due to a stroke.
16.
Mary Ainsworth married Leonard Ainsworth in 1950 and moved to London with him to allow him to finish his graduate degree at University College.
17.
Mary Ainsworth followed her husband when a position as a forensic psychologist brought him to Baltimore.
18.
Mary Ainsworth spoke on clinical psychology at The Johns Hopkins University.
19.
Mary Ainsworth underwent a difficult divorce in 1960, but continued with her research.
20.
Mary Ainsworth had an opportunity to present the findings from her Uganda study at a Tavistock Mother-Infant Interaction Study Group in London.
21.
In 1965, Mary Ainsworth designed the Strange Situation Procedure as a way of assessing individual differences in attachment behaviour by evoking individual's reaction when encountering stress.