Ainsworth’s Strange Situation Flashcards
What did Ainsworth investigate and how?
She investigated the different types of attachments using the “strange situation”
What was the aim of the strange situation?
To see how infants respond to stress through separation and stranger anxiety to see the type of attachment they have with their caregiver
What are the 7 episodes of the strange situation?
- Parent sits while infant plays & explores
- Stranger enters and approaches infant
- Parents leaves room
- Parent returns & offers comfort (if needed) - stranger leaves
- Parent leaves
- Stranger enters and comforts
- Parent returns & offers comfort
What behaviour is assessed when the parent & infant enter the room (1)?
Secure base + exploration behaviour
What behaviour is assessed when the stranger enters and approaches infant with the parent (2)?
Stranger anxiety
What behaviour is assessed when the parents leaves the room with the stranger (3)?
Separation & stranger anxiety
What behaviour is assessed when the parent returns and stranger leaves (4)?
Reunion + secure base
What behaviour is assessed when the parent leaves the infant alone (5)?
Separation anxiety
What behaviour is assessed when the stranger enters and comforts the baby alone (6)?
Stranger anxiety & separation anxiety
What behaviour is assessed when the parent returns and comforts the baby (7)?
Reunion behaviour
How was data collected in the strange situation?
Data collected by group of observers who recorded infant behaviour every 15 seconds
What is a type B attachment?
Secure
What is a type A attachment?
Insecure avoidant
What is a type C attachment?
Insecure resistant
What are the characteristics of a Type B attachment?
HIGH willingness to explore
HIGH stranger anxiety
SOME separation anxiety
ENTHUSIASTIC with reunion
What percentage of infants were Type B?
66%
What percentage of infants were type A?
22%
What percentage of infants were type C?
12%
What are the characteristics of a Type A attachment?
HIGH willingness to explore
LOW stranger anxiety
INDIFFERENT separation anxiety
AVOIDS CONTACT on reunion
What are the characteristics of a Type C attachment?
LOW willingness to explore
HIGH stranger anxiety
DISTRESSED separation anxiety
SEEKS & REJECTS on reunion
What are the strengths of the Strange Situation?
High reliability (Bick & 0.94)
Real-world application (circle of security project)
How does the strange situation have high reliability?
High inter-observer reliability- 0.94 agreement between raters
Bick et al (2012) - found agreement of attachment type for 94% of babies
SUGGESTS STILL SUITABLE TO MEASURE ATTACHMENT TYPES
How does the strange situation have real-world application?
“Circle of security project” taught parents to better understand infant signals using ideas found from the strange situation research
Reduced disordered caregivers by 45%
Higher securely attached infants by 8%
What are the weaknesses of the strange situation?
Failure to measure other types of attachments (Main & Soloman 1986 & Van Ijzendoorn found Type D)
Ethical issues
May lack validity (ecological & population)
