Ainsworth strange situation Flashcards
AIM
to investigate the different types of attachment children have with their mothers and what behaviours characterised that attachment.
METHOD
In a controlled observation, the researcher got mothers, their children and a stranger to interact with each other in a room. During a half an hour period, the child was either with both the mother and the stranger or either with just the mother or the stranger on their own.
The behavioural categories
- proximity seeking behaviour
- separation anxiety
- reunion behaviour
- exploration/secure base behaviour
- stranger anxiety
FINDINGS
She found three different types of relationship that infants had with their caregivers.
The relationships
Secure: positive trusting relationships
Insecure-avoidant: poor relationships, not close to their parent
Insecure-resistant: Poor relationship, emotionally ‘up and down’
Evaluation strength: good reliability
had multiple people observing and found an inter rater reliability correlation of 0.94.
Evaluation weakness: mother is not always the primary attachment figure
Main and Weston (1981) found that children behaved differently depending on which parent they were with.
Evaluation weakness: flawed measure
categorised by how the child reacts when they are left by their mother (not by poor parenting)
Evaluation weakness: unethical
20% of infants showed mild distress when left by their mother with a stranger in the room.
Evaluation weakness: another attachment type
Main and Solomon found disorganised attachment which is a combination of resistant and avoidant.
