Ainsworth's strange situation

Question 1

What was the procedure of the strange situation?

Answer 1

1. Participants were infants aged 9-18 months from 100 USA families
2. Research room was a novel environment- 9.9 foot space marked into 16 squares to help recording the infant’s movements
3. Data was gathered by a group of observers using a video recorder and a 1 way mirror
4. Used time sampling to record what the infant is doing every 15 seconds using 5 behavioural categories.

Question 2

What were the 5 behavioural categories used in the strange situation?

Answer 2

1. Proximity seeking- infants eagerness to be near the caregiver
2. Reunion behaviour- infants reaction to a reunion with the caregiver
3. Exploration + secure base behaviour- infants willingness to explore a novel environment, alone, with a caregiver or a stranger
4. Separation anxiety- infants reaction to separation from the caregiver
5. Stranger anxiety- infants reaction to the presence of a stranger

Question 3

What was the 1st episode of the strange situation and the duration of it?

Answer 3

Researcher introduces caregiver and child to the room that they enter.

Duration- 1 minute

Question 4

What was the 2nd episode of the strange situation, the behaviour assessed, and the duration of it?

Answer 4

Infant and caregiver are left alone in a room with toys, child is free to explore the room.

Behaviour assessed- use of caregiver as a secure base

Duration- 3 minutes

Question 5

What was the 3rd episode of the strange situation, the behaviour assessed, and the duration of it?

Answer 5

Stranger enters, talks to the caregiver and attempts to play with the child.

Behaviour assessed- stranger anxiety

Duration- 3 minutes

Question 6

What was the 4th episode of the strange situation, the behaviour assessed, and the duration of it?

Answer 6

Caregiver leaves the child with the stranger.

Behaviour assessed- separation anxiety

Duration- 3 minutes

Question 7

What was the 5th episode of the strange situation, the behaviour assessed, and the duration of it?

Answer 7

Caregiver re-enters, greets infant and stranger leaves.

Behaviour assessed- reunion behaviour

Duration- 3 minutes

Question 8

What was the 6th episode of the strange situation, the behaviour assessed, and the duration of it?

Answer 8

Caregiver leaves and the child is alone.

Behaviour assessed- separation anxiety

Duration- 3 minutes

Question 9

What was the 7th episode of the strange situation, the behaviour assessed, and the duration of it?

Answer 9

Stranger re-enters and attempts to interact with the infant.

Behaviour assessed- stranger anxiety

Duration- 3 minutes

Question 10

What was the 8th episode of the strange situation, the behaviour assessed, and the duration of it?

Answer 10

Stranger leaves and the caregiver re-enters

Behaviour assessed- reunion behaviour

Duration- 3 minutes

Question 11

What was the findings of the strange situation of attachment type A- insecure avoidant?

Answer 11

Typical percentage found in UK studies- 15%

P- Infant is different towards caregiver and play is little affected by their presence or absence

R- Infant is unresponsive when caregiver returns

E- Infant freely explores

S- Infant is unconcerned by mothers absence and avoidant of caregiver and stranger equally

S- Infant avoids stranger

Question 12

What was the findings of the strange situation of attachment type B- securely attached?

Answer 12

Typical percentage found in UK studies- 70%

P- Infant will show toys to caregiver and go to them during play

R- Infant quickly calms when caregiver returns

E- Infant plays happy when caregiver is present

S- Infant is distressed when caregiver leaves

S- Infant is avoidant of stranger, but friendly when caregiver is present

Question 13

What was the findings of the strange situation of attachment type C- insecure resistant?

Answer 13

Typical percentage found in UK studies- 15%

P- Infant is upset, tearful and unwilling to explore, even when caregiver is present

R- On caregivers return, the infant shows a mixed reaction of clinginess and resistance

E- Limited exploration with caregiver and stranger

S- Infant is very distressed when caregiver leaves

S- Infant actively resists strangers attempts to comfort them

Question 14

If the point is:

A strength of the strange situation is that the procedure is highly reliable due to standardised procedures.

What is the evidence and link?

Answer 14

Evidence- For example, the researcher studies all infants in the same way by recording what they’re doing every 15 seconds and using the same room.

Link- Therefore, because the study includes standardised procedures and appears consistent, it can be replicated and checked for high levels of reliability.

Question 15

If the point is:

A strength of the strange situation is that the procedure shows high predictive validity.

What is the evidence and link?

Answer 15

Evidence- Hazan and Shavers study used a love quiz questionnaire in a newspaper and found evidence for a relationship between early attachment type and later adult styles of romantic love (securely attached children were more likely to have happy, trusting loving relationships in adulthood whereas insecure avoidant children typically feared intimacy).

Link- This suggests that Ainsworth’s attachment types can predict later relationships, making it a useful tool.

Question 16

If the point is:

A weakness of the strange situation is that it could be argued that the procedure lacks ecological validity.

What is the evidence and link?

Answer 16

Evidence- Because it’s an artificial environment, it makes it hard to generalise to real life. For example, the environment was unfamiliar to the child with toys they hadn’t seen before and a stranger they’d never seen before.

Link- This implies that the findings cannot necessarily be considered true to life in telling us about real infant attachment behaviours.

Question 17

If the point is:

A weakness of the strange situation is that the ethics of it have also been questioned.

What is the evidence and link?

Answer 17

Evidence- The ethics have been questioned in both original studies and other replications for causing distress to the infants which in some ways were very severe. For example, in a replication of this, in Takashi, the study had to be stopped as 90% of the infants were very distressed when the caregiver left.

Link- This means that there are mixed views on whether the situation is fully ethical, even if the mother can intervene to stop the episodes.

Question 18

What are the evaluation points for the strange situation?

Answer 18

+ Procedure is highly reliable due to standardised procedures
+ Procedure shows high predictive validity
— Could be argued that the procedure lacks ecological validity
— Ethics of it have also been questioned