KEY STUDY: AINSWORTH’S STRANGE SITUATION

Question 1

Strange Situation

Answer 1

• A controlled observation designed to test attachment security 5 categories used to judge attachment quality

Question 2

The Strange Situation - Ainsworth Procedure

Answer 2

The Procedure had seven episodes which last 3 mins each:

1. Child encouraged to explore
2. Stranger enters, talks to caregiver and approaches the baby
3. Caregiver leaves child & stranger together
4. Caregiver returns & stranger leaves
5. Caregiver leaves child alone
6. The stranger returns
7. Caregiver returns and is reunited with child

Question 3

The Strange Situation - Ainsworth Findings

Answer 3

Type B- show moderate separation distress and stranger anxiety + HTE
Type A- little stranger anxiety & don’t show proximity/secure base behaviour + explore freely
Type C- seek greater proximity- explore less- seek reunion, but reject when reunited

Question 4

strength - predictive validity

Answer 4

• attachment types can predict later development,
• Kokkinos found that securely attached babies have more lasting romantic relationships and insecure-resistant babies are associated with the worst relationship outcomes and mental health problems.
• Predics future outcome.
• allowing psychologists to intervene and help better relationships/attachment.

Question 5

strength - high validity

Answer 5

• observations took place under strict and controlled methods using predetermined behavioural categories,
• ainsworth had several observers watching and coding the same infant behaviours so there was a high level of inter-observer reliability
• Bickman et al found 94% agreement between observers in one team. This may be due to the fact that they had 5 clearly operationalised behavioural categories which means it was easy for researchers to look for the behaviours.
• this that we’re confident that the attached of a baby identified in SS doesn’t depend on whos observing them.

Question 6

limitation - culturally biased

Answer 6

• It was developed based on ethnocentric ideas (based on only one culture). So, the test and operationalised behaviours may not be generalisable cross-culturally.
• takahashi notes japanese mothers are rarely separated from their infants so infants show a high level of anxiety throughout strange situation,
• suggests they have insecure-resistant attachment style but may not be true
• This means its difficult to know what SS is measurIng in some countries/culture’s.

Question 7

One limitation of the strange situation is that Ainsworth only identified 3 types of attachment- secure, insecure avoidant and insecure resistant.

Answer 7

• Yet, Main and Solomon (1986) found that some childrendisplay atypical attachments that don’t fit any of these three types and identified a 4th type of attachment disorganised.
• Children with disorganised attachment show a mix of avoidant and resistant behaviours.
• This shows Ainsworths explanation is undeveloped as it is unable to fully explain all instances of attachment in children- and decreases the validity of the theory