ATT 03 - Strange Situation

Question 1

What is the strange situation?

Answer 1

• A structured controlled observation designed to test attachment security
• Babies are assessed on their responses to playing in an unfamiliar room, being left alone, left with a stranger and being reunited with a caregiver
• It takes place in a room with quite controlled conditions (i.e. a laboratory) with a two-way mirror and/or cameras through which psychologists can observe the baby’s behaviour

Question 2

What is secure attachment?

Answer 2

• Generally thought of as the most desirable attachment type, associated with psychologically healthy outcomes
• In the Strange Situation this is shown by moderate stranger and separation anxiety and ease of comfort at reunion

Question 3

What is insecure-avoidant attachment?

Answer 3

• An attachment type characterised by low anxiety but weak attachment
• In the Strange Situation this is shown by low stranger and separation anxiety and little response to reunion, maybe even an avoidance of the caregiver

Question 4

What is insecure-resistant attachment?

Answer 4

• An attachment type characterised by strong attachment and high anxiety
• In the Strange Situation this is shown by high levels of stranger and separation anxiety and by resistance to being comforted at reunion

Question 5

What is inter-rater reliability?

Answer 5

The agreement between different observers

Question 6

What are the behaviours used to judge attachment?

Answer 6

• Proximity-seeking => a baby with a good quality attachment will stay fairly close to a caregiver
• Exploration and secure-base behaviour => good attachment enables a baby to feel confident to explore, using their caregiver as a secure base, i.e. a point of contact that will make them feel safe
• Stranger anxiety => one of the signs of becoming closely attached is a display of anxiety when a stranger approaches
• Separation anxiety => another sign of becoming attached is to protest at separation from the caregiver
• Response to reunion => babies who are securely attached greet the caregiver’s return with pleasure and seek comfort

Question 7

What is the procedure Ainsworth’s Strange Situation study?

Answer 7

• The strange situation is a structured controlled observation designed to test attachment security
• Babies are assessed on their responses to playing in an unfamiliar room, being left alone, left with a stranger and being reunited with a caregiver
• It takes place in a room with quite controlled conditions (i.e. a laboratory) with a two-way mirror and/or cameras through which psychologists can observe the baby’s behaviour

Beginning: Caregiver and baby enter an unfamiliar playroom
1. The baby is encouraged to explore => tests exploration and secure base
2. A stranger comes in, talks to the caregiver and approaches the baby => tests stranger anxiety
3. The caregiver leaves the baby and stranger together => tests separation and stranger anxiety
4. The caregiver returns and the stranger leaves => tests reunion behaviour and exploration/secure base
5. The caregiver leaves the baby alone => tests separation anxiety
6. The stranger returns => tests stranger anxiety
7. The caregiver returns and is reunited with the baby => tests reunion behaviour

Question 8

What were the findings of Ainsworth’s study?

Answer 8

Ainsworth et al. (1978) found that there were distinct patterns in the way that babies behaved. They identified three main types of attachment:

• Secure attachment (Type B). These babies explore happily but regularly go back to their caregiver (proximity-seeking and secure-base behaviour). They usually show moderate separation distress and moderate stranger anxiety. Securely attached babies require and accept comfort from the caregiver in the reunion stage. About 60-75% of British babies are classified as secure.
• Insecure-avoidant attachment (Type A). These babies explore freely but do not seek proximity or show secure-base behaviour. They show little or no reaction when their caregiver leaves and little stranger anxiety. They make little effort to make contact when the caregiver returns and may even avoid such contact. About 20-25% of British babies are classified as insecure-avoidant.
• Insecure-resistant attachment (Type C). These babies seek greater proximity than others and so explore less. They show high levels of stranger and separation distress, but they resist comfort when reunited with their caregiver. Around 3% of British babies are classified as insecure-resistant.

Question 9

What are the conclusions of Ainsworth’s study?

Answer 9

• Mary Ainsworth concluded that children could have one of three distinct attachment types with their primary caregiver
• “Sensitive” mothers respond to their child’s needs and feelings appropriately and their children are likely to develop a secure attachment to them as a result
• Their conclusions led to the conceptualisation of the Caregiver Sensitivity Hypothesis, which suggests that a mother’s behaviour towards their infant predicts their attachment type

Question 10

What are the strengths of Ainsworth’s Strange Situation study?

Answer 10

• Its outcome predicts a number of aspects of the baby’s later development
• It has good inter-rate reliability

Question 11

How does Ainsworth’s study have good predictive validity?

Answer 11

• One strength of the Strange Situation is that its outcome predicts a number of aspects of the baby’s later development
• A large body of research has shown that babies and toddlers assessed as Type B (secure) tend to have better outcomes than others, both in later childhood and in adulthood
• In childhood this includes better achievement in school and les involvement in bullying (McCormick et al. 2016, Kokkinos 2007)
• Securely attached babies also tend to go on to have better mental health in adulthood (Ward et al. 2006)
• Those babies assessed as having insecure-resistant attachment and those not falling into Types A, B or C ten to have the wors outcomes
• This suggests that the Strange Situation measures something real and meaningful in a baby’s development

Question 12

How does Ainsworth’s study have good inter-rater reliability?

Answer 12

• One strength of the Strange Situation is good inter-rater reliability
• Johanna Bick et al. (2012) tested inter-rater reliability for the Strange Situation for a team of trained observers and found agreement on attachment type in 94% of cases
• This high level of reliability may be because the procedure takes place under controlled conditions and because behaviours (such as proximity-seeking and stranger anxiety) involve large movements and are therefore easy to observe
• For example, anxious babies cry and crawl away from strangers
• This means that we can be confident that attachment types as assessed by the Strange Situation does not depend on subjective judgements

Question 13

What are the limitations of Ainsworth’s Strange Situation study?

Answer 13

• May not be valid measure of attachment in different cultural contexts
• Infants do not all fit the three categories introduced by Ainsworth
• Temperament may be a confounding variable

Question 14

How did type B babies react to the strange situation?

Answer 14

• Reaction to stranger => indifferent to the stranger when mother is present but ignores the stranger when alone (stranger fear)
• Reaction to separation from mother => becomes distressted and upset when mother leaves
• Reaction to reunion with mother => is happy when mother returns in both first and second reunions

Question 15

How did type A babies react to the strange situation?

Answer 15

• Reaction to stranger => plays with the stranger regardless of the mother’s presence. does not check for mother’s presence
• Reaction to separation from mother => it is not distressed at mother’s absence aqnd can seek comfort from the stranger
• Reaction to reunion with mother => shows no interest in the mothers return

Question 16

How did type C babies react to the strange situation?

Answer 16

• Reaction to stranger => shows fear of the stranger and avoids the stranger with or without the mother being present
• Reaction to separation from mother => intense reaction to mother’s absence. the child is clearly distressed
• Reaction to reunion with mother => the child wants the comfort of the mother but may push her away when approached. resists comfort even if it is desired

Question 17

Why might the strange situation not be valid for different cultural contexts?

Answer 17

• One limitation of The Strange Situation is that it may not be a valid measure of attachment in different cultural contexts
• The Strange Situation was developed in Britain and the US
• It may be culture-bound, i.e. only valid for us in certain cultures (in this case Europe and the US)
• One reason for this is that babies have different experiences in different cultures and these experiences may affect their response to the Strange Situation
• For example, in one Japanese study by Keiko Takahashi (1986), babies displayed very high levels of separation anxiety and so a disproportionate number were classified as insecure-resistant
• Takahashi (1990) suggests that this anxiety response was not due to high rates of attachment insecurity but to the unusual nature of the experience in Japan where mother-baby separation is very rare
• This means that it is very difficult to know what the Strange Situation is measuring when used outside Europe and the US

Question 18

What evidence is there that not all infants fit into the three categories?

Answer 18

• Mary Main and Judith Solomon (1986) identified a fourth category of attachment - a disorganised or Type D attachment, a mix of resistant and avoidant behaviours
• However, Type D babies are unusual and have generally experienced some form of severe neglect or abuse
• Most will go on to develop psychological disorders by adulthood
• This would suggest that infants do not all fit the three categories introduced by Ainsworth

Question 19

Why might temperament be a confounding variable?

Answer 19

• The Strange Situation clearly measures something important that is associated with later development
• However, not all psychologists believe this is something is attachment
• For example, Jerome Kagan (1982) suggested that temperament (the child’s genetically influenced personality/anxiety levels) could account for variations in attachment behaviour and have an influence on behaviour in the Strange Situation and later development
• This means that the Strange Situation may not actually measure attachment
• This challenges the validity of the Strange Situation because its intention is to measure the quality of attachment, not the temperament of the child (i.e. temperament may be a confounding variable)