Attachment: Strange Situation

Question 1

Aim Of Strange Situation.

Answer 1

• Observe key attachment behaviours as a means of assessing the quality of a child’s attachment.
• Asses the strength of attachment between an infant and adults.

Question 2

What Type Of Research Method Does The Strange Situation Use?

Answer 2

• A controlled observation designed to measure the security of attachment a child displays.
• It takes place in controlled conditions using a two-way mirror to observe the behaviour.

Question 3

The Behaviours Used To Judge Attachment.

Answer 3

• Proximity Seeking: Infant with a good attachment will stay fairly close to the caregiver.
• Exploration And Secure-Base Behaviour: Good attachment enables a child to feel confident to explore using their caregiver as a secure base (point of contact that can make them feel safe).
• Stranger Anxiety: When closely attached a display of anxiety when stranger approaches.
• Separation Anxiety: When closely attached they protest at separation from caregiver.
• Response To Reunion: This helps to determine how attached a child is to the caregiver after separation for a short period of time.

Question 4

Ainsworth And The Strange Situation Stages.

Answer 4

The procedure has seven episodes each lasting 3 minutes. The child and caregiver enter an unfamiliar play room.

• The child is encouraged to explore. Tests exploration and secure base.
• A stranger comes in and tries to interact with the child. Tests stranger anxiety.
• The caregiver leaves the child and stranger together. Tests separation and stranger anxiety.
• The caregiver returns and the stranger leaves. Tests reunion behaviour and exploration/secure base.
• The caregiver leaves the child alone. Tests separation anxiety.
• The stranger returns. Tests stranger anxiety.
• The caregiver returns and is reunited with the child. Tests reunion behaviour.

Question 5

The Strange Situation Findings - Secure Attachment (Type B).

Answer 5

• Explore happily but regularly go back to their caregiver. This shows proximity seeking and secure base behaviour.
• Show moderate separation distress and stranger anxiety.
• Securely attached children requires and accept comfort from the caregiver in the reunion stage.
• 60-75% of British toddlers are classified in secure.

Question 6

The Strange Situation Findings - Insecure-Avoidant Attachment (Type A).

Answer 6

• Explore freely but do not seek proximity or show secure base behaviour.
• Show little to no reaction when their caregiver leaves and make little effort to make contact when caregiver returns.
• Show little stranger anxiety.
• Do not require comfort at the reunion stage.
• 20-25% of toddlers are classified as insecure-avoidant.

Question 7

The Strange Situation Findings - Insecure-Resistant Attachment (Type C).

Answer 7

• Seek greater proximity than others and so explore less.
• Huge stranger and separation distress but resist comfort when reunited with their carer.
• Around 3% of British toddlers are classified as insecure-resistant.

Question 8

Limitation: Cultural Bond.

Answer 8

• The strange situation may not have the same meaning in countries outside of Western Europe and America.
• Takahashi noted that the test does not really work in Japan because Japanese mothers are so rarely separated from their babies that there are very high levels of separation anxiety.
• Cultural differences in childhood experiences are therefore likely to mean that children respond differently to the Stranger Situation.
• This means that infants from different cultures cannot be classified correctly into an attachment type and it would be inappropriate to use the Strange Situation to do this.

Question 9

Limitation: More Types Of Attachments.

Answer 9

• There is at least one more attachment type.
• Main and Soloman (1986) pointed out that a minority of children display atypical attachments that do not fall within types A, B or C behaviour.
• This atypical attachment is commonly known as disorganised attachment and children display a mix of resistant and avoidant behaviour.
• This questions the Ainsworth’s types of attachment as it suggests that the original findings were inaccurate and invalid.

Question 10

Strength: Good Reliability.

Answer 10

• The strange situation shows very good inter-rater reliability as different observers watching the same children agree on what attachment type to classify them with.
• This may be because the strange situation takes place under controlled conditions and because the behavioural categories are easy to observe. Bick found agreement on attachment type for 94% of babies tested.
• This means that we can be confident that the attachment type of an infant identified in the strange situation does not depend on who is observing them.

Question 11

Limitation: Temperament.

Answer 11

• Anxiety may not be the main influence an attachment types.
• Kagan (1982) suggested that temperament, the genetically influence personality of a child, is more important influence on behaviour in the strange situation than attachment.
• This means that temperament may be a confounding variable in the strange situation.
• This challenges the validity of the different types of attachment.

Question 12

Strength: Strongly Predicts Later Development.

Answer 12

• Attachment type as defined by strange situation is strongly predictive of later development.
• Babies assessed as secure typically go on to have better outcomes in many areas, ranging from success at school to romantic relationships and friendships in adulthood. Insecure resistant is associated with worst outcomes including bullying in later childhood (Kokkinos, 2007) and adult mental health problems (Ward et al 2006).
• This is evidence for the validity of attachment types because it can explain subsequent outcomes.