Attachment- Ainsworth's strange situation Flashcards
Strange Situation -
A controlled observation designed to test attachment security. Infants are assessed on their response to playing in an unfamiliar room, being left alone, left with a stranger and being reunited with a caregiver.
Secure attachment -
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.
Insecure-avoidant attachment -
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 - an avoidance of the caregiver.
Insecure-resistant attachment -
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 be comforted at reunion.
What is the Strange Situation, and who developed it?
The Strange Situation is a controlled observation procedure developed by Mary Ainsworth (1969) to measure the security of a child’s attachment to a caregiver.
What is the aim of the Strange Situation?
The aim is to observe key attachment behaviors to assess the quality of a child’s attachment to a caregiver.
Where does the Strange Situation take place?
It takes place in a laboratory setting with controlled conditions, using a two-way mirror for observation.
What behaviors are used to judge attachment in the Strange Situation?
The behaviors include proximity seeking, exploration and secure-base behavior, stranger anxiety, separation anxiety, and response to reunion with the caregiver.
What are the seven episodes of the Strange Situation?
- Child and caregiver enter an unfamiliar playroom.
- Child is encouraged to explore (tests exploration and secure base).
- A stranger enters and interacts with the child (tests stranger anxiety).
- Caregiver leaves, and the stranger stays with the child (tests separation and stranger anxiety).
- Caregiver returns, and the stranger leaves (tests reunion behavior and secure base).
- Caregiver leaves the child alone (tests separation anxiety).
- Caregiver returns and is reunited with the child (tests reunion behavior).
What are the three main types of attachment identified by Ainsworth?
- Secure attachment (Type B): Children explore happily, use the caregiver as a secure base, show moderate separation and stranger anxiety, and accept comfort at reunion.
- Insecure-avoidant attachment (Type A): Children explore freely, show little proximity seeking, and display minimal separation and stranger anxiety. They do not seek comfort at reunion.
- Insecure-resistant attachment (Type C): Children seek high proximity, explore less, show high separation and stranger distress, but resist comfort at reunion.
What percentage of British toddlers are classified as secure, insecure-avoidant, and insecure-resistant?
Secure: 60-75%, Insecure-avoidant: 20-25%, Insecure-resistant: 3%.
What evidence supports the validity of the Strange Situation?
Attachment type identified in the Strange Situation predicts later outcomes, such as success in school, relationships, and mental health, supporting its validity.
What evidence supports the reliability of the Strange Situation?
The Strange Situation shows high inter-rater reliability, with observers agreeing on attachment types for 94% of tested babies, indicating consistent results.
Why might the Strange Situation be considered culture-bound?
Cultural differences in childhood experiences and caregiver behavior may affect children’s responses, making the test less applicable outside Western Europe and the USA. For example, Japanese children show high separation anxiety due to rare separations from their mothers.
What does the Strange Situation measure, and what is controversial about it?
The Strange Situation measures a child’s response to anxiety in an unfamiliar environment. However, some argue that temperament, rather than attachment, may be the primary influence on behavior, challenging its validity.
What is disorganised attachment, and how does it challenge Ainsworth’s attachment types?
Disorganised attachment, identified by Main and Solomon (1986), describes children who display a mix of resistant and avoidant behaviors, not fitting into Ainsworth’s three types. This challenges the completeness of her classification.
How does temperament challenge the validity of the Strange Situation?
Disorganised attachment, identified by Main and Solomon (1986), describes children who display a mix of resistant and avoidant behaviors, not fitting into Ainsworth’s three types. This challenges the completeness of her classification.Temperament, or genetically influenced personality, may influence a child’s behavior in the Strange Situation more than attachment, making it a confounding variable and questioning the test’s validity.
How does the existence of disorganised attachment challenge Ainsworth’s notion of attachment types?
Disorganised attachment shows that not all children fit into Ainsworth’s three categories, suggesting her classification may be incomplete or oversimplified.
