types of attachment

Question 1

strange situation

Answer 1

controlled observation designed to test attachment security

babies are assessed on their response to playing in an unfamiliar room, being left alone, left with a stranger and reunited with caregiver

Question 2

what were they observing

Answer 2

proximity seeking
exploration behaviour
secure-base behaviour
stranger anxiety
separation anxiety
response to reunion

Question 3

procedure

Answer 3

1. baby explores - explore, secure-base
2. stranger enters - stranger anxiety
3. caregiver leaves - separation, stranger
4. caregiver returns, stranger leaves - reunion and secure base
5. caregiver leaves - separation
6. stranger returns - stranger
7. caregiver returns - reunion

Question 4

secure attachment

Answer 4

moderate stranger and separation anxiety

require and accept comfort

60-75%

Question 5

insecure-avoidance

Answer 5

explore freely but do not seek proximity or show secure-base

little to no reaction when caregiver leads and little stranger anxiety

little reunion behaviour

Question 6

insecure-resistant

Answer 6

greater proximity so explore less
high levels of stranger and separation anxiety
resist comfort

3%

Question 7

good predictive validity

Answer 7

P - strength as outcome predicts a number of aspects of the baby’s later development
E - research showed that those with secure attachments have better outcomes
E - eg less involvement in bullying, better mental health while insecure resistant or not falling into types have worst outcome
L - real and meaningful in baby’s development

P - however not all psychologists believes this is due to attachment
E - Kagan
E - genetically-influenced anxiety can account for these behaviours
L - strange situation may not actually measure attachment

Question 8

good reliability

Answer 8

P - strength as good inter-rater reliability
E - Bick et al - tested inter-rater reliability for a team of trained observers and found 94% of cases had agreement
E - high levels of reliability, controlled environment and large movements so easy to observe
L - confident attachment type as assessed by strange situation does not depend on subjective judgments

Question 9

the test may be culture-bound

Answer 9

P - limited as may not be valid measure in different cultural contexts
E - strange situation developed in britain and us - culture-bound
E - other cultures eg in japan display high levels of separation anxiety so disproportionate amounts classified as insecure-resistant but due to nature where in japan separation is very rare
L - very difficult to know what the strange situation is measuring when used outside of europe and the us