Margaret Mahler studied which subject?

• A. mother/child dyads
• B. defense mechanisms
• C. LECATA assessment
• D. verbal and non-verbal communication

Answer: (A)

Margaret Mahler’s work centers on the mother–child dyad, focusing on how early interactions between a caregiver and infant shape personality development. She emphasized the infant’s relationship with the mother as the primary object and traced how this bond evolves through stages of separation and individuation to foster a sense of self as distinct from others. This emphasis on the mother–child relationship sets her work apart from topics like defense mechanisms (which comes from Anna Freud) and broader areas such as general verbal and non-verbal communication or specific assessments.