7. the Strange situation - types of attachment

Question 1

AINSWORTH’S ‘STRANGE SITUATION’

The Strange Situation was developed by Ainsworth to be able to observe key attachment behaviours as a means of assessing the quality of a baby’s
attachment to a caregiver.

PROCEDURE:

Answer 1

The Strange Situation is a controlled observation procedure designed to measure the security of attachment a baby displays towards a caregiver. It takes place in a room with controlled conditions (with a two-way mirror and/or cameras through which psychologists can observe the baby’s behaviour.
The behaviours used to judge attachment included:
* Proximity-seeking - a baby with a good quality attachment will stay fairly close to a caregiver.
* Exploration and secure-base behaviour - good attachment enables a baby to feel confident to explore, using their caregiver as a secure base.
* Stranger anxiety - one of the signs of becoming closely attached is a display of anxiety when a stranger approaches.
* Separation anxiety - another sign of becoming attached is to protest at separation from the caregiver.
* Response to reunion - babies who are securely attached greet the caregiver’s return with pleasure and seek comfort.
The procedure has seven episodes, each of which lasts three minutes.

Question 2

FINDINGS - TYPES OF ATTACHMENT: Ainsworth et al. found that there were distinct patterns in the way that babies behaved.
They identified three main types of attachment:

describe secure attachment (type B)

Answer 2

Secure attachment (Type B): These babies explore happily but regularly go back to their caregiver. They usually show moderate separation distress and moderate stranger anxiety.
Securely attached babies require and accept comfort from the caregiver in the reunion stage. About 60-75% of British babies are classified as secure.

Question 3

describe insecure-avoidant attachment (type A)

Answer 3

Insecure-avoidant attachment (Type A): These babies explore freely, but do not seek proximity or show secure-base behaviour. They show little or no reaction when their caregiver leaves and little stranger anxiety. They make little effort to make contact when the caregiver returns and may even avoid such contact.
About 20-25% of British babies are classified as insecure avoidant.

Question 4

describe insecure resistant attachment (type C)

Answer 4

Insecure-resistant attachment (Type C): These babies seek greater proximity than others and so explore less. They show high levels of stranger and separation distress, but they resist comfort when reunited with their caregiver. Around 3% of British babies are classified as insecure-resistant.

Question 5

AO3: strength of STRANGE SITUATION

predicts later development accurately

Answer 5

One strength of the Strange Situation is that its outcome predicts a number of aspects of the baby’s later development.
A large body of research has shown that babies and toddlers assessed as Type B (secure) tend to have better outcomes than others, both in later childhood and in adulthood. In childhood this includes better achievement in school and less involvement in bullying. Securely attached babies also tend to go on to have better mental health in adulthood. Those babies assessed as having insecure-resistant attachment and those not falling into Types A, B or C tend to have the worst outcomes.
This suggests that the Strange Situation measures something real and meaningful in a baby’s development.

Question 6

AO3: strength of STRANGE SITUATION

good inter rater reliability - Bick

Answer 6

A further strength of the Strange Situation is good inter-rater reliability (the agreement between different observers).
Bick et al. tested inter-rater reliability for the Strange Situation for a team of trained observers and found agreement on attachment type in 94% of cases. This high level of reliability may be because the procedure takes place under controlled conditions and because behaviours involve large movements and are therefore easy to observe. For example, anxious babies cry and crawl away from strangers.
This means that we can be confident that attachment type as assessed by the Strange Situation does not depend on subjective judgements.

Question 7

AO3: limitation of STRANGE SITUATION

culture bound - Takahashi

Answer 7

One limitation of the Strange Situation is that it may not be a valid measure of attachment in different cultural contexts.
The Strange Situation was developed in Britain and the US. It may be culture-bound - only valid for use in certain cultures. One reason for this is that babies have different experiences in different cultures and these experiences may affect their responses to the Strange Situation. For example, in one Japanese study by Takahashi, babies displayed very high levels of separation anxiety and so a disproportionate number were classified as insecure-resistant. Takahashi suggests that this anxiety response was not due to high rates of attachment insecurity but to the unusual nature of the experience in Japan where mother-baby separation is very rare.
This means that it is very difficult to know what the Strange Situation is measuring when used outside Europe and the US.