Mary Ainsworth and her colleagues have done the Attachment research for many many years. Ainsworth has since passed on, but her work continues in studies being done all around the world. It is rumored that one of Ainsworth’s colleagues made the claim that she can observe a mother-infant interaction for 30 seconds, and make a prediction as to what the child’s adult relationships will be like (!). That’s quite an assertion! What do you think? Here is the prompt: Evaluate the idea that the relationship between a primary caretaker and infant (or young child) can predict the infant’s future adult relationships. Consider a person* that you know whose family relationships you are familiar with: (40% of your score) Describe this person’s relationship with his/her primary parent (the one who mostly raised him/her) and describe this person’s current adult-adult relationship (how does s/he interact with others now as an adult?). (50% of your score) Using Ainsworth’s descriptions of the characteristics associated with attachment, identify the kind of attachment style you see in the parent-child relationship and in the adult-adult relationship of this person be sure to discuss/show the past relationship behaviors (parent-child) and the current relationship behaviors (adult-adult) that reflect Ainsworth’s theory; identify the parallels (or lack of parallels) between the past relationship (parent-child) and the current relationship (adult-adult). (1 pt) Given your findings, what do you think about the claims made by Attachment researchers that adult relationships can be predicted? Explain your position.
