Ainsworth's Strange Situation: Types of Attachment

Question 1

Describe the procedure of the strange situation

Answer 1

• Consists of 8 episodes, where the caregiver and stranger leave or stay with the infant, each to assess a certain behaviour: separation anxiety, reunion behaviour, stranger anxiety and the environment encourages exploration so secure-base behaviour
• Data collected by observers using a video recorder or a one-way mirror and categorise the behaviour. Each item is scored for intensity on a scale of 1 to 7.

Question 2

What are the 3 attachment types found in Ainsworth’s study?

Answer 2

• Secure attachment
• Insecure-avoidant
• Insecure-resistant

Question 3

Describe the secure-attachment type found in Ainsworth’s study

Answer 3

• Secure attachment (B) have harmonious and cooperative behaviour with their caregiver.
• Shows moderate levels of stranger and separation anxiety, show some distress but can be easily soothed.
• Show high levels of secure base and reunion behaviour

Question 4

Describe the insecure-avoidant type found in Ainsworth’s study

Answer 4

• Insecure-avoidant (A) avoid social interaction with others.
• Show little separation and stranger anxiety and are indifferent.
• No reaction to reunion behaviour and explore without a secure base

Question 5

Describe the insecure-resistant type found in Ainsworth’s study

Answer 5

• Insecure-resistant (C) seeks and resists social interactions.
• Have high levels of stranger and separation anxiety.
• On reunion, display conflicting desires for and against contact (lack of trust). Don’t explore and maintain proximity.

Question 6

Give evaluation for Ainsworth’s strange situation (reliability)

Answer 6

• It had good inter-observer reliability
• Measurements are meaningful if there’s agreement amongst observers, which is determined by comparing rating made by experienced judges
• Ainsworth et al found 0.94 agreement so observations can be accepted as being reliable
• This is because the study is highly controlled and structured observation

Question 7

Give evaluation for Ainsworth’s strange situation (real-life world)

Answer 7

• Strange situation has real-life applications where disordered patterns of attachment develop between infant and caregiver, intervention strategies can be developed.
• For example, Circle of Security Project (Cooper et al) teaches caregivers to understand signals of distress and what it feels like. The project showed a decrease of 45% in disordered caregivers and an increase of 8% in securely attached children.
• This supports research on attachment types as it can be used to improve children’s lives

Question 8

Give evaluation for Ainsworth’s strange situation (culturally bound)

Answer 8

• Strange situation may be culturally bound as most of Ainsworth research was conducted on American infants/caregivers. However, different cultures have different child rearing practices which lead to different attachment types.
• For example, Japanese infants are raised by family and have little separation so are more likely to be insecure-avoidant which Ainsworth would suggest to be unhealthy but it is simply Japanese culture.
• Ainsworth’s study is said to have an ‘imposed etic’ (imposing a culturally specific test on others) which can affect how other countries are seen

Question 9

Give evaluation for Ainsworth strange situation (other types)

Answer 9

• Subsequent research found Ainsworth et al overlooked an attachment type
• Main and Solomon analysed strange situations tapes and proposed insecure-disorganised (D), lack of consistent social behavioural patterns. Such infants lack a coherent strategy for dealing with distress.
• Questions the validity of Ainsworth study