Ainsworth's strange situation: types of attachment

Question 1

what is meant by insecure-avoidant

Answer 1

attachment type of children who tend to avoid social interaction and intimacy with others

Question 2

what is meant by insecure-resistant

Answer 2

attachment type of infants who both seek and reject intimacy and social interaction

Question 3

what is meant by secure attachment

Answer 3

strong and contended attachment of an infant to their caregiver

Question 4

outline the procedure of the strange situation

Answer 4

• 4 criteria: separation protest, stranger anxiety, reunion behaviour, willingness to explore the room
• 100 middle-class american infants
• children observed with their mothers through one way mirror or laboratory
• classed as one of 3 attachment types based on responses to the 8 stages

Question 5

name and state the behaviour assessed in the first four stages of the strange situation

Answer 5

• parent and infant play
• parent sits while infant plays; use of parent as secure base
• stranger enters and talks to parent; stranger anxiety
• parent leaves, infant plays, stranger offers comfort if needed; separation anxiety

Question 6

name and state the behaviour assessed in the last four stages of the strange situation

Answer 6

• parent returns, greets infant, offers comfort is needed, stranger leaves; reunion behaviour
• parent leaves infant alone; separation anxiety
• stranger enters and offers comfort; stranger anxiety
• parent returns, greets infant, offers comfort; reunion behaviour

Question 7

outline the characteristics of an infant with secure attachment

Answer 7

• high willingness to explore
• moderate stranger anxiety
• separation anxiety = some easy to soothe
• enthusiastic behaviour at caregiver reunion
• 66% of infants

Question 8

outline the characteristics of an infant with insecure avoidant attachment

Answer 8

• high willingness to explore
• low stranger anxiety
• indifferent separation anxiety
• avoids contact at caregiver reunion
  -22% of infants

Question 9

outline the characteristics of an infant with insecure resistant attachment

Answer 9

• low willingness to explore
• high stranger anxiety
• distressed separation anxiety
• seeks and rejects at reunion with caregiver
• 12% of infants

Question 10

explain culture bias as a limitation of the strange situation

Answer 10

• designed by an american on observations os US children
• ethnocentric as non-americans will be judged against american standards
• limited in its ability to measure attachments universally and may only be appropriately used on americans

Question 11

explain the high reliability of the strange situation as an advantage to the study

Answer 11

• high inter-observer reliability with almost perfect agreements of .94
• therefore observations can be accepted as reliable

Question 12

explain low internal validity as an evaluation point for the strange situation

Answer 12

• does it actually measure attachment type or just the quality of one specific relationship
• it was found children changed behaviour around each parent
• Main tested a group of children and reassessed at age 9 and found attachment type mostly influenced by the mother
• supports internal validity of strange situation