Attachment - The Strange Situation

Question 1

Who came up with the Strange Situation?

Answer 1

Ainsworth and Bell

Question 2

What was the aim of the Strange Situation?

Answer 2

To produce a method to assess the quality of attachment by placing an infant in a situation of mild stress and novelty to assess quality of attachment

Question 3

What were the 4 behaviours observed from the Strange Situation?

Answer 3

Separation anxiety
Stranger anxiety
Willingness to explore
Reunion behaviour

Question 4

Name the 3 behaviour types

Answer 4

Type A: insecure avoidant
Type B: secure
Type C: insecure resistant

Question 5

Describe Secure (B)

Answer 5

Subdued when their mother left, explored the unfamiliar room and greeted the mother positively

Question 6

Describe Insecure Avoidant (A)

Answer 6

Didn’t seem concerned by mother’s absence, didn’t orient towards mother while investigating and showed little interest upon her return

Question 7

Describe Insecure Resistant (C)

Answer 7

Showed intense distress when left and rejected the mother when she returned

Question 8

What were the results from Ainsworth and Bell’s strange situation?

Answer 8

A: 22%
B: 66%
C: 12%

Question 9

List 2 evaluative points of Ainsworth and Bell’s strange situation

Answer 9

1. Low population validity (only Middle-class American infants, findings and conclusions are culturally based)
2. Low ecological validity (do results apply outside the lab?)

Question 10

What is the caregiver sensitivity hypothesis?

Answer 10

Belief that the attachment types resulted from the mother’s behaviour

Question 11

Name and explain the procedure of a study looking at multiple strange situation cases

Answer 11

Van Izendoorn and Kroonenberg
Analysed results of 32 studies (over 2000 children) done in 5 individualistic cultures and 3 collectivistic cultures (China, Japan, Israel)

Question 12

State and explain the results of a study into multiple strange situation cases

Answer 12

Individualistic cultures: fewer resistant, more avoidant

Collectivistic: Opposite of individualistic with the exception of China (both avoidant and resistant 25%)

Question 13

Name and explain a study into the cultural differences of the strange situation, including the results

Answer 13

Takahashi
Observed the strange situation for 60 Japanese infants.
32% classified as resistant-insecure, and all observed to be very distressed when left alone

Question 14

Why might there be differences in Japanese culture for the strange situation?

Answer 14

Because in Japan there is a difference in child rearing; being left alone is rare for them (never separated from their mothers) and they are taught that avoiding is disrespectful. This would mean that variation in results would be due to difference in responses to the strange situation, not different types of attachments

Question 15

State 2 evaluative points of Takahashi’s study

Answer 15

1. Ethical issues: Risk of mental harm, violates protection of participants
2. Population validity: Limited sample of middle class home reared Japanese infants (cannot generalise to all Japanese people)

Question 16

State 2 methodological points of Van Izendoorn and Kroonenberg’s research

Answer 16

1. Strength: Large sample (2000 children) necessary for a meta analysis; can generalise findings
2. May not be truly representative: Over half (18) of studies carried out in the US, 27 from individualistic cultures, 5 from collectivistic

Question 17

Name and explain a study into the cultural differences in Germany for the strange situation

Answer 17

Grossmann and Grossmann
Infants in West Germany (where independence is highly valued and encouraged) showed little distress at separation, being classified as avoidant

Question 18

What is being socially sensitive?

Answer 18

Not assuming that the more common attachment type is the best in all cultures

Question 19

Explain Alviezer’s study

Answer 19

Looked at babies living in the kibbutz system in Israel, arguing that babies who sleep together in large dormitories makes them more likely to lead to insecure-resistant attachments.

Question 20

What changes were made after Alviezer’s study?

Answer 20

Many systems changed their practice to make it more family-like; returned to parents at night to sleep in the family house

Question 21

What is the problems with having one study to represent a country?

Answer 21

It may not be a representation of what the country is like all the time; more than 1 study should be carried out per country

Question 22

What information related to representativeness is not clear from the meta-analysis data?

Answer 22

Does not specify what groups of people were used (gender, age, class) Therefore has low population validity and cannot be generalised