Ainsworth's Strange Situation

Question 1

Who developed the strange situation and when?

Answer 1

Mary Ainsworth and Sylvia Bell in 1969.

Question 2

What was the aim of the study?

Answer 2

It aimed to measure key attachment behaviours to assess the quality of the babys attachment to caregivers.

Question 3

Who were the participants in the observation?

Answer 3

100 middle class american infants and their mothers.

Question 4

What behaviours were used to judge attachments?

Answer 4

• proximity seeking
• exploration and secure base behaviour
• stranger anxiety
• separation anxiety
• repsonse to reunion

Question 5

How is proximity seeking used to judge attachment?

Answer 5

a baby with a good quality attachment will stay fairly close to a caregiver.

Question 6

How is exploration and secure base attachment used to judge attachment?

Answer 6

good attachment enables a baby to feel confident to explore, using their caregiver as a secure base - a point of contact that will make them feel safe.

Question 7

How is stranger anxiety used to judge attachment?

Answer 7

one of the signs of becoming closely attached is a display of anxiety/distress when a stranger approaches.

Question 8

How is separation anxiety used to judge attachment?

Answer 8

another sign of becoming attached is to protest at separation from the caregiver.

Question 9

How is response to reunion used to judge attachment?

Answer 9

babies who are securely attached greet the caregivers return with pleasure and seek comfort.

Question 10

What is the first episode of the strange situation?

Answer 10

Caregiver and child enter the room.

Question 11

What is the second episode of the strange situation?

Answer 11

Child is encouraged to explore and play with toys.

Question 12

What is the third episode of the strange situation?

Answer 12

Stranger comes, talks to caregiver, and attempts to interact with child.

Question 13

What is the fourth episode of the strange situation?

Answer 13

Caregiver leaves the baby and the stranger together.

Question 14

What is the fifth episode of the strange situation?

Answer 14

Caregiver returns and stranger leaves.

Question 15

What is the sixth episode of the strange situation?

Answer 15

Caregiver leaves again and baby is left on its own.

Question 16

What is the seventh episode of the strange situation?

Answer 16

Stranger returns.

Question 17

What is the eigth episode of the strange situation?

Answer 17

Caregiver responds and interacts with child.

Question 18

What are the three types of attachment?

Answer 18

• type A: insecure avoidant attachment.
• type B: secure attachment.
• type C: insecure resistant attachment.

Question 19

What is a secure attachment?

Answer 19

Babies explore happily but regularly go back to caregiver (proximity seeking and secure base behaviour). moderate separation and stranger anxiety. require and accept comfort from caregiver in reunion stage. about 60-75% of British babies.

Question 20

What is insecure avoidant attachment?

Answer 20

Weak attachment and low anxiety. Babies explore freely and don’t seek proximity or show secure base behaviour. Little or no reaction when caregiver leaves and little stranger anxiety. Make little effort to make contact when caregiver returns and may even avoid contact. About 20-25% of British babies.

Question 21

What is insecure resistant attachment?

Answer 21

Strong attachment and high anxiety. Babies seek greater proximity than others and explore less. High levels of stranger and separation anxiety, but resist comfort when reuinted with caregiver. About 3% of British babies.

Question 22

What is Belsky and Rovine’s interactionist theory that explains the different attachment types?

Answer 22

They argue that the childs attachment type is a result of both the childs innate temperament and also how the parents respond to them.

Question 23

What study proved the reliability of the strange situation classification through test-retest reliability?

Answer 23

Main et al (1985) tested babies at 18 months and then retested them at 6 years of age. They found that 100% of the secure babies and 75% of the avoidant babies were still under the same classification, proving the classifications are consistent over time.

Question 24

What research proved the inter-rater reliability of Ainsworth’s strange situation?

Answer 24

Bick (2012) looked at inter-rater reliability in a team of trained strange situation observers and found an agreement of attachment type for 94% of tested babies.

Question 25

How can it be shown that the concept has good validity?

Answer 25

Becuase subsequent outcomes can be explained. Eg babies with secure attachment tend to have better outcomes in many areas, eg school, romance, and friendships. Insecure-resistant attachment is associated with the worst outcomes, eg bullying in later childhood (Kokkings 2007) and adult mental health problems (Ward 2006).

Question 26

Why does the study have low ecological validity?

Answer 26

The procedure takes place in an artifical setting, meaning it can’t be generalised to everyday environments. Eg, a baby may show more signs of separation anxiety if separated from their caregiver in a crowded shopping mall than when in a room on their own.

Question 27

Why might the validity of the situation be questioned?

Answer 27

It only identifies the type of the attachment to the mother. The child may have a different type of attachment to other family members. It lacks validity as it is not measuring a general attachment style.
Also, attachment type may chnage with circumstance, eg family illness or divorce.

Question 28

What ethical issues could be raised?

Answer 28

Some argue that it causes emotional distress/harm to the infant by causing separation and/or stranger anxiety.

Question 29

What attachment type isn’t classified in Ainsworth’s strange situation?

Answer 29

Main and Solomon (1986) pointed out that a minority of children display atypical attachments, commonly known as disorganised attachment. They display an odd mix of resistant and avoidance behaviours.

Question 30

What could be the possible reasons for the test being culture bound?

Answer 30

• Cultural differences in childhood experiences that are likely to mean that children respond differently to the situation.
• Caregiver from different cultures behave differently in the situation.

Question 31

Why did Takahashi (1990) note that the test doesn’t work in Japan?

Answer 31

Japanese mothers are rarely separated from their babies so there are higher levels of separation anxiety. Also, during reunion, mothers rushed to scoop up their children, meaning the childs response was hard to observe.