3.6 Ainsworth's Strange Situation: Types of attachment

Question 1

what does insecure avoidant mean

Answer 1

A type of attachment that Describes children who tend to avoid social interaction and intimacy with others.

Question 2

What does insecure resistant mean

Answer 2

A type of attachment that describes infants that both seek and reject intimacy and social interaction

Question 3

Secure attachment

Answer 3

a strong and content attachment of an infant to their primary caregiver, which develops as a result of sensitive responding by the caregiver to the infants needs. they are comfortable with intimacy and social interaction.

Question 4

Strange situation

Answer 4

A controlled observation designed to test attachment security

Question 5

What is the strange situation

Answer 5

Ainsworth set up a series of tests to see how a child was attached. She tested separation anxiety, Reunion behaviour, stranger anxiety and secure base behaviour.

Question 6

What did ainsworth find in the strange situation

Answer 6

types of attachment
Secure: 65%
Avoidant: 22%
resistant: 12%

Question 7

describe Ainsworth’s strange situation

Answer 7

ainsworth et al - a systematic test of attachment to one caregiver, situation of mild stress and novelty
procedure - observations every 15 seconds of behaviours. e.g. contact-seeking or contact-avoidance
behaviours assessed - separation anxiety, reunion behaviour, stranger anxiety, secure base

Question 8

evaluate Ainsworth’s strange situation

Answer 8

high reliability, inter-observer reliability > 94%
real world application - circle of security project
low internal validity, children behave differently depending on which parent (main and solomon), though attachment type may be related to primary attachment figure
maternal reflexive functioning may explain attachment better than sensitivity