Attachment- Ainsworths strange situation Flashcards by Milly Greenbank

What age range is this test designed for?

12-18 months

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What type of observation is this?

A controlled observation

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What 5 behaviours was ainsworth looking for?

-Proximity seeking
-Secure base behaviour (for exploration)
-Stranger anxiety
-Separation anxiety
-Reunion behaviours

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When was SS first conducted?

1969

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What was the 1st episode?

-Baby + mother
-Playing/ settling the child in the new enviroment

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What is the 2nd episode?

-Baby + mother + stranger

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What does the 2nd episode test for?

-Secure base behaviour

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What is the 3rd episode

-Baby + stranger

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What is the 3rd episode testing for?

-Stranger anxiety

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What is the 4th episode?

-Caregiver returns
-Stranger leaves

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What does the 4th episode test for?

Reunion behaviour

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What does the 5th episode?

-Caregiver leaves infant alone

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What does the 5th episode test for?

-Separation anxiety

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What does the 6th episode?

-Stranger enters

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What does the 6th episode test for?

-Stranger anxiety

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What does the 7th episode?

-Caregiver returns

What does the 7th episode test for?

-Reunion behaviour

What are the features of secure attachment (type B)

-Separation anxiety when the mother leaves (moderate)
-Avoident of the stranger when alone but friendly when the mother returns (moderate)- stranger anxiety
-Positive and happy reunion behaviour when the mother returns
-Infants show proximity-seeking and secure-base behaviour toward their caregiver

What % of infants were securely attached?

What are the features of insecure resistant attachment (type C)

-Intense separation anxiety (signs of immense distress)
-Avoids the stranger which suggests fear- intense stranger anxiety
-Resentful + resistant / do not accept comfort from towards the mother on reunion
-Infants show increased levels of proximity-seeking behaviour

What % of infants had insecure resistant attachment?

What are the features of insecure-avoidant attachment (type A)

-Infant shows no sign of distress when the mother leaves (low separation anxiety)
-Infant is okay with the stranger and engages in play with them (low stranger anxiety)
-Infant shows little intreast when the mother returns
-Infants do not show proximity-seeking or secure-base behaviour

What % of children were insecure avoidant?

-22

Why did Mary Ainsworth devise the SS?

-to observe the quality of attachment in infants to their caregiver

What was the initial sample?

-106 middle-class infants

How long were each of the episodes?

-3 minutes

How did the researchers observe the infants?

-Through a 2 way mirror

How was intensity of the infants behaviour recorded?

-On a 7 point scale

Give a strength (reliability)

-High reliability -Highly operationalised -Standardised procedure -Observers have a clear view of how a securely attached infant should behave, as Ainsworth set out specific criteria -High interrater reliability -Agreement was found in the observations of attachment types in 94% of cases -This high level of agreement may be because the research was carried out in controlled conditions -Good inter-rater reliability gives confidence that the attachment types assessed by the Strange Situation are not subjective

Give a strength of Ainsworth's research

-good predictive validity for children's development -Infants and toddlers assessed as securely attached (type B) tend to have better outcomes later in life (such as education and relationships) than children assessed as insecure-avoidant (type A) or insecure-resistant (type C) -Securely attached infants tend to have better mental health than those of type A and type C -Reference influence of early attachemnt study This suggests that the types of attachment developed by Ainsworth are real and this shows high validity in this study

Give a limitation of Ainsworths research

-Culturally biased -Procedure was designed by Ainsworth who was an American psychologist -Original findings are from American, middle class infants -research was only carried out on middle-class infants in Western Europe and the USA -is therefore culture-bound: it was developed in the UK and the USA and may only apply to these cultures -Use evidence from Germany (Van izendoorn and Kroonenberg) -Lacks generealisbility -Underepresentitve -Based on American values -Ethnocentric (Observations of non ameericans will be judged against american standards)

Give an evaluation (lacks other types of validty)

-Low internal valdity -Some psychologists argue it measures the quality of one relationship rather than the attachment type -Main + Weston- found that the children behaved differently depending on what parent they were with -Links to Bowlbys monotropic attachment theory -observation set up by Ainsworth lacks ecological validity -Infants were placed in a strange and artificial environment -The episodes that took place are unlikely to happen in a real-life scenario -This means that the infant's attachment behaviours may not be activated due to the artificial environment -The consequence of this is that some infants may be wrongly classified, reducing the validity of the findings