Ainsworth's 'strange situation'

Question 1

what shared behaviours did Ainsworth identify that indicated attachment strength?

Answer 1

proximity to mother
exploration/ safe base behaviour
stranger anxiety
separation anxiety
reunion response
sensitive responsiveness of the mother to infant’s need

Question 2

what are the 3 attachment types Ainsworth identified?

Answer 2

Insecure avoidant (type A)
Secure (type B)
Insecure resistant (type C)

Question 3

explain insecure avoidant attachment type

Answer 3

infants keep distance from mother and explore freely
low stranger anxiety
low separation anxiety
indifferent when mother leaves room
do not attempt to get comfort or see her as a secure base
mothers show little sensitive responsiveness to infants needs

Question 4

explain secure attachment type

Answer 4

infants use mother as a safe base but still explore environment
moderate level stranger anxiety
show separation anxiety but a happy reunion response allows them to settle quickly to explore
mothers show sensitive responsiveness

Question 5

explain insecure resistant attachment type

Answer 5

infants do not explore environment
clingy and seek closeness to mum
high stranger anxiety
high separation anxiety
when mother return infant appears ambivalent with mixed emotion - crave and reject her attention
mothers appear to be inconsistent with their sensitive responsiveness

Question 6

explain Ainsworth’s strange situation procedure

Answer 6

106 infants between the ages of 48-57 weeks and mother pairs participated in the original structured observations
conducted in a controlled lab setting with toys
each stage lasted 3 minutes
two observers behind a one-way mirror recorded infants’ responses at each stage
the stages assessed the infant’s behaviour

Question 7

what were assessed in the stages of Ainsworth’s strange situation?

Answer 7

proximity to mother
willingness to explore
use of mother as a secure base
stranger anxiety
separation anxiety
reunion response
sensitive responsiveness of the mother to infant’s needs

Question 8

what were the stages of Ainsworth’s strange situation?

Answer 8

1. observer introduces mother and baby to room and leaves
2. baby explores freely (secure base) and mother does not interact (sensitive responsiveness)
3. stranger enters in silence then talks to mother then approaches baby (stranger anxiety)
4. mother leaves room and stranger interacts with baby (separation anxiety)
5. mother enters, greets and comforts baby and tries to settle them (reunion response and sensitive responsiveness)
6. mother leaves baby alone (separation anxiety)
7. stranger enters and interacts (stranger anxiety)
8. mother returns and stranger leaves (sensitive responsiveness and reunion response)

Question 9

explain Ainsworth’s findings

Answer 9

provided evidence for 3 attachment types
66% secure
22% insecure avoidant
12% insecure resistant
research suggests that a secure attachment develops due to the attention of a consistently sensitively responsive mother

Question 10

evaluations of Ainsworth’s strange situation

Answer 10

+ highly controlled observational research with standardised procedures and clear behavioural categories - allows for a systematic and consistent approach to studying attachment
+ easy to replicate and compare results (cultural variations)
+ predictive validity - securely attachment children were found to have better social, emotional and academic outcomes in later life
- culture-bound test - not valid when applied to other cultures - imposed etic is when researchers assume their own cultural standards apply to other cultures without considering the cultural context
- highly artificial observation - lacks ecological validity - environment is not familiar to child
- demand characteristics may be present as the observation is overt for the mother so may change her behaviour to show more sensitive responsiveness
- may not be measuring attachment type but temperament - Kagan’s temperament hypothesis suggests that infants have an inherited high or low reactive temperament - high results in distress, low results in low distress

Question 11

research evidence for cultural variations in attachment

Answer 11

Van Ijzendoorn (1988)
procedure: conducted a large-scale meta-analysis of 2000 infants in 32 students from 8 countries - each study classified the attachment types of infants using the strange situation
findings: secure attachment most common in all countries
insecure resistant generally least common
avoidant more common in individualistic western cultures - germany (35%)
resistant more common in collectivist non-western cultures - japan (27%)
china had the least secure infants (50%)
UK: 22% avoidant, 75% secure, 3% resistant
conclusion: secure attachment most common suggests a biological basis
German families encourage independent behaviour - infants show little distress - more avoidant
Japanese mothers spend lots of time with infants - infants show high separation anxiety - more resistant

Question 12

evaluations for van ijzendoorn

Answer 12

• lack temporal validity - changes in the modern world from 70s - study comparing attachment in modern and historical italian families showed a lower % of secure infants and a higher % of avoidant infants in the past - suggests infants adjust to a more absent mother due to work and don’t show extreme separation anxiety
  + secure attachment most common - supports Bowlby’s theory that there is a biological, instinctive drive to parent this way
• sample is not representative of every country’s population - sample may over-represent some groups and under-represent other
  + meta-analysis included large sample - anomalies have a small effect on overall results - increases confidence in validity of findings
• ethnocentrism - strange situation may suffer from cultural bias - Ainsworth could be taking an emic concept (local norm) and imposing it as an etic (universal) concept