Ainsworth's Strange Situation

Question 1

What is a strange situation?

Answer 1

• A controlled observation designed to test attachment security.

Question 2

Ainsworth’s Aim

Answer 2

• To investigate individual differences in attachment.
• Investigate differences between secure and insecure attachments.
• To see how infants responded in a new and mildly stressful situation.

Question 3

Ainsworth’s Procedure

Answer 3

• In a room in a university with the researchers watching through a one way mirror and videotaping it.
• Controlled observational study.
• 100 middle class American infants aged between 9-18 months and their mothers.
• 8 standardised episodes which lasted for 3 minutes.

Question 4

Ainsworth’s 8 Episodes

Answer 4

1. Mother and child introduced to the room (exploration of secure base behaviour).
2. Mother and child left alone and the child can investigate the toys. (proximity seeking).
3. Stranger enters the room and talks with mother. (stranger anxiety)
4. Mother leaves child alone with stranger and stranger attempts to interact with child. (separation anxiety).
5. Mother returns and greets and comforts the child. (response to reunion).
6. Child is left on their own. (separation anxiety).
7. Stranger returns and tries to engage with child (stranger anxiety).
8. Mother returns, greets and picks up the child. Stranger leaves. (response to reunion).

Question 5

Ainsworth’s Findings

Answer 5

• 3 main attachment types
  1. Secure - separation protest (distress on separation), stranger anxiety (moderate distress), willingness to explore (mother as a safe base), reunion behaviour (joy on reunion).
  2. Insecure Avoidant - separation protest (little distress on separation), stranger anxiety (respond to mother and stranger in similar ways), willingness to explore (no secure base but willing to explore), reunion behaviour (avoid contact).
  3. Insecure Resistant - separation protest (very distressed), stranger anxiety (resists stranger), willingness to explore (not willing), reunion behaviour (seeks and resists contact on reunion).

Question 6

Ainsworth’s Conclusion

Answer 6

• Significant individual differences between infants, may be related to behaviour and responsiveness of the caregiver.
• Sensitive mothers tend to have securely attached babies. Insensitive mothers tend to have insecurely attached babies.

Question 7

Evaluation of Ainsworth’s Strange Situation - influential

Answer 7

• Highly influential across the globe.
• Accepted method world wide for measuring attachment. Called a PARADIGM.
• Strength - allows us to put together universal laws of behaviour. Heightens the reputation of psychology as a scientific discipline.

Question 8

Evaluation of Ainsworth’s Strange Situation - Real World Application

Answer 8

• Real World Situations that strange situation can be applied to.
• intervention strategies can be implemented in situations where resistant attachment develops.
• E.g the Circle of Security Project teaches caregivers to better understand infants signals of distress and increase their understanding of feeling anxious.
• Strength - saw resistant attachment decrease from 60% to 15% and increase of secure attachment from 32% to 40%.

Question 9

Evaluation of Ainsworth’s Strange Situation - Culture Bond

Answer 9

• The strange situation can be classed as culturally biased.
• It was created and tested in USA which means it will reflect the norms and values of American culture which may not necessarily apply to other cultures.
• Weakness - usefulness of the strange situation is assessing attachment across cultures may be limited.

Question 10

Evaluation of AInsworth’s Strange Situation - Types of Attachment

Answer 10

• Study only looked at attachments between infants and their mother.
• Found that infants behave differently depending on who their are with. May be classified as having a secure attachment with their mother and an avoidant relationship with their father.
• Weakness - Suggests that what is being measured are particular attachments rather than attachment type.