Ainsworth's Strange Situation and Types of Attachment

Question 1

State the aim of Ainsworth’s Research.

Answer 1

To assess the quality of babies’ attachments to their caregivers by observing their attachment behaviours.

Question 2

State the research method Ainsworth used.

Answer 2

Controlled observation.

Question 3

Describe why Ainsworth’s study is a controlled observation.

Answer 3

Babies and their caregivers were observed using a 2 way mirror and cameras. This means that researchers were not physically present in the room, so demand characteristics were less likely.

Question 4

Describe the setting of the study.

Answer 4

A playroom was set up in a lab environment.

Question 5

Name 3 people involved in the study.

Answer 5

Baby
Caregiver
Confederate

Question 6

How many episodes were experienced in the study, and for how long?

Answer 6

7 episodes, each one lasting 3 minutes.

Question 7

Name the 5 attachment behaviours studied in Ainsworth’s strange situation.

Answer 7

Exploration
Secure base
Stranger anxiety
Separation anxiety
Reunion behaviours

Question 8

Describe the 1st episode and the attachment behaviours intended to test.

Answer 8

Baby encouraged to explore - Tests exploration and secure base behaviours.

Question 9

Describe the 2nd episode and what the attachment behaviours intended to test.

Answer 9

A stranger (confederate) comes in the playroom, talks to the caregiver and approaches the baby - Tests stranger anxiety.

Question 10

Describe the 3rd episode and what the attachment behaviours intended to test.

Answer 10

The caregiver leaves the baby and the stranger together - Tests stranger anxiety and separation anxiety.

Question 11

Describe the 4th episode and the attachment behaviours intended to test.

Answer 11

The caregiver returns and the stranger leaves - Tests reunion behaviours and secure base behaviours.

Question 12

Describe the 5th episode and what the attachment behaviours intended to test.

Answer 12

The caregiver leaves the baby - Tests separation anxiety.

Question 13

Describe the 6th episode and what the attachment behaviours intended to test.

Answer 13

The stranger returns - Tests stranger anxiety.

Question 14

Describe the 7th episode and the attachment behaviours intended to test.

Answer 14

The caregiver returns and is reunited with the baby - Tests reunion behaviour.

Question 15

What is proximity seeking?

Answer 15

Babies with good quality attachments try to stay fairly close to their caregivers.

Question 16

Describe the link between exploration and secure base behaviours.

Answer 16

Babies feel safe to explore while using their caregivers as a base to return to when needed.

Question 17

What are reunion behaviours?

Answer 17

Securely attached babies return to their caregivers with pleasure.

Question 18

Name the 3 attachment types and their letters.

Answer 18

Type A - Insecure Avoidant
Type B - Secure
Type C - Insecure Resistant

Question 19

What percentage of babies did Ainsworth find to be secure?

Answer 19

60-75%

Question 20

How do securely attached babies behave for each of the 5 attachment behaviours?

Answer 20

Babies feel happy to explore but regularly return to their caregiver.
They show moderate stranger and separation anxiety.
They require care and accept comfort during reunion.

Question 20

What percentage of babies did Ainsworth find to be insecure avoidant?

Answer 20

20 - 25%

Question 21

How do insecure-avoidantly attached babies behave for each of the 5 attachment behaviours?

Answer 21

Babies explore freely but don’t seek proximity or show secure base behaviours.
They show little to no separation and stranger anxiety.
They don’t require care or comfort when their caregiver returns.

Question 22

What percentage of babies did Ainsworth find to be insecure-resistant?

Answer 22

3%

Question 23

How do insecure-resistantly attached babies behave for each of the 5 attachment behaviours?

Answer 23

They explore less and seek close proximity to the caregiver.
They show high stranger and separation anxiety.
They resist comfort when reunited with the caregiver.

Question 24

Explain the strength that the findings from the strange situation predict a number of aspects of the baby’s later development.
Describe how each of the attachment types affects development, such as in school or mental health.

Answer 24

Research has shown that babies assessed as Type B tend to have good outcomes in later childhood/adulthood. In childhood. This includes better achievement in school and securely attached babies go on to have better mental health in adulthood. Those babies assessed as having Type C attachment or Types outside of A, B or C have worse outcomes. This suggests that the strange situation measures something real and meaningful in the baby’s development.

Question 25

Explain the strength of good inter-rater reliability in Ainsworth’s study.
Use the example from Bick who tested the inter-rater reliability and found that 94% of researchers agreed on attachment types.
Explain why this is good considering the issues with behavioural categories.

Answer 25

Bick tested inter-rater reliability for the strange situation for a team of trained observers and found agreed on an attachment type in 94% of cases. This high level of reliability may be because the procedure takes place in such controlled conditions, and behaviours observed are clearly visible, making them easy to see. For example, anxious babies may crawl away from strangers. This means that we can be confident that attachment type assessed by the strange situation doesn’t depend on subjective judgements.

Question 26

Explain the limitation that the strange situation may be culture bound.
Which countries was the strange situation developed in?
Describe how Japanese babies behaved in the study and which attachment type they were classified as. Why were they given this classification?

Answer 26

The study was developed in Britain and the US. This means it may be valid for these cultures only. One reason for this is that babies have different experiences in different cultures and these may affect their responses to the situations. For example, in a Japanese study, babies displayed high separation anxiety so a disproportionate number were classified as Type C. This suggested that this anxiety response was not due to high rates of attachment insecurity but due to the unusual nature of the experience in Japan where mother-baby separation is rare. This means it hard to know what the strange situation measures outside of the US and Europe.

Question 27

Explain the limitation of ethical issues surrounding the study.
What happened to the babies in the study and why was this bad?

Answer 27

For example, babies were removed from the care of their mother at points and were placed in an unknown room with a stranger. This induced anxiety in a few of the children, as some started to cry. This could then lead to stress and worry in the caregiver as due to the nature of the study, they were unable to comfort their child at times. This could lead to psychological harm.