Ainsworth strange situation and types of attachment Flashcards
1
Q
what was the strange situation?
A
developed by Ainsworth to observe the quality of attachment in infants to their caregiver
2
Q
strange situation procedure
A
- controlled observation room with one way mirror or camera for psychologist to observe baby’s behaviors
- overt, non participant observation
- 106 middle class infants were observed
- there was 8 episodes each lasting 3 minutes
3
Q
8 episodes of the observation
A
- intro parent and infant enter room
2 free play parent sits while infant plays
3 stranger enters talks to parent and approaches infant
4 first separation parent leaves room and infant is left with stranger
5 first reunion parents returns, stranger leaves
6 second separation parents leaves infant left alone
7 stranger return and interacts with infant
8 parent returns stranger leaves
4
Q
what were the 3 behaviours Ainsworth looked at?
A
- separation anxiety (protest at separation of caregiver etc)
- stranger anxiety (when stranger approaches)
- reunion behaviour (if attached will gr greet caregiver with seeking comfort etc)
other behaviours= proximity seeking (staying close to caregiver), exploration and secure base
5
Q
what are the types of attachment
A
type A= insecure avoidant
type B= secure attachment
type C= insecure resistant
6
Q
how many British babies fit into each type
A
A= 20-25%
B= 60-75%
C= 3%
7
Q
insecure avoidant behaviors
A
- infant doesn’t show proximity seeking or secure base behaviour
- little distress or reaction when parent or caregiver leaves and no stranger anxiety
- doesn’t seek caregiver upon reunion
8
Q
secure attachment behavior
A
- proximity seeking and secure base behaviour shown towards caregiver
- moderate separation and stranger anxiety
- quickly comforted upon return or reunion
9
Q
insecure resistant behaviour
A
- seeks lots of proximity and has high levels of separation and stranger anxiety
- resist comfort when reunited with caregiver —> will crawl to mother as soon as enters room but pushes away once gets attention —> difficult to soothe
10
Q
eval point 1
A
- good inter-rater reliability
- standardised procedure= can be replicated
- Bick et al tested inter rater reliability for a team of trained observers and found an agreement on attachment types 94% of the time—> confidence that attachment type assessed doesn’t rely on subjective judgments (good operationalised categories)
11
Q
eval point 2
A
- good predictive validity —> predicts a number of aspects for baby’s later development
—> infants that are type B tend to have better outcomes later in life (relationships, education, (Word et al also found better mental health)) than A+ C
BUT Kagen suggested genetically influenced anxiety levels could cause variations in attachment behaviour = suggests strange situation doesn’t actually measure attachment
12
Q
eval point 3
A
- artificial environment= demand characteristics from mother influence infant
- lack ecol validity and not a real life scenario which would have activated babies attachment = reduce validity
13
Q
eval point 4
A
- reductionist as only 3 attachment categories - individual differences
—> not every child fits into a category perfectly
—> BUT Main and Solomon 1986 introduced a 4th category of Type D (disorganised attachment ) mix of type a + c
—> type D is indios and often have been neglected or abused and often develop future psychological disorders
14
Q
eval point 5
A
- test os culture bound —> developed in UK and USA individualistic = findings only valid for certain cultures
—> Japanese study Takahashi (1990) found that many babies were type C and were really anxious etc may be because so rare for mother and baby in Japan to be separated = study lacks generalisability and is culturally bias
—> also imposed ethic (as pushes norms of one culture to norms of another)
15
Q
eval point 6 + 7
A
- poor ethics (baby distressed)
BUT mum gave informed consent - practical applications- key workers in nursery etc , secure base and better bond can be understood
