Mary Ainsworth Strange Situation Flashcards
Where did the strange situation take place
A 9 by 9 foot room divided into 16 squares to map infant movements
What did the caregiver or stranger do in the strange situation
Alternatively stay with the infant or leave
What behaviours did Ainsworth observe using this experiment
Seperation anxiety, stranger anxiety and provided a novel environment for the infant to explore, which tests the secure base concept.
How was the data for the strange situation collected
A group of observers used a one way mirror and recorded what the infant was doing every 15 seconds under three categories:
-proximity or contanct seeking behaviour
-contact maintaining behaviours
-proximity and interaction avoiding behaviour
-contact avoiding behaviours (?)
-search behaviours
Each item was scored from 1 to 7
How many infants did Ainsworth observe in total
Ainsworth combined data from several studies to make a total of 106 middle class infants observed
What were the three patterns of behaviour identified by Ainsworth
-Secure Attachment (type B)
-Insecure Avoidant (type A)
-Insecure Resistant (type C)
What behaviour was type A in the strange situation
Insecure Avoidant
What behaviour was type B in the strange situation
Secure Attachment
What behaviour was type C in the strange situation
Insecure Resistant
What behaviours did securely attached infants display in the strange situation
-They had cooperative interactions with their caregiver
-they were unlikely to cry when their caregiver leaves
-show some distress when left with a stranger
-when anxious they seek close contact with caregiver
-they are easily soothed
-they are comfortable with social interaction and intemacy
-they use their caregiver as a secure base to function independently
What behaviours did insecure avoidant infants display in the strange situation
-avoid social interaction and intemacy
-display litte response to seperation
-do not seek proximity on reunion
-do not cling to caregiver
-are happy to explore without caregiver
-have high levels of anxiousness
What behaviours did insecure resistant infants display in the strange situation
-both seek and resist intemacy and social interaction
-respond to seperation from the caregiver with immediate and intense distress
-responded to strangers with immediate and intense distress
-On reunion display conflicting desires both for and against contact e.g angrily resist being picked up while trying other means to maintain proximity
What were the observations like in the strange situation
Highly reliable, with inter rater reliability being high, confiming meaningful measurements. Had an .94 out of 1.00 agreement rating between raters when rating exploratory behaviour. Confirms validity
How has the strange situation been used in real life
Been used to develop intervention strategies to tackle disorganised patterns of attachment. The Circle of Security Project teached cargivers to better understand infants signals of distress, which showed a decrease in the number of caregivers classified as disordered from 60% to 15%, and an increase in securely attached infants from 32% to 40%
Which project helps develop secure attachments
The Circle of Security Project teaches caregivers to better understand infant distress signals. Caregivers classified as disordered fell from 60% to 15%, and securely attached infants rose from 32% to 40%
How does the strange situation have cultural bias and an imposed etic
It was designed around middle class American families, and when used in cultures where childrearing practises differ there is often an overepresentation of insecuely attached children. For example a study by Takahashi in Japan found 32% of children labelled as insecure resistant, as Japanese children are never left on their own so they respond extremely to caregiver seperation. This creates an imposed etic and it cannot be generalised across cultures
(Could use Grossmann and Grossmann German infants)
What did Ainsworth suggest attachment type was linked to and why did it draw criticism
Ainsworth suggested that attachment type was linked to maternal sensitivity, but Raval et al found low correlation between measures of maternal sensitivity and strength of attachment. Slade et al instead suggested maternal reflecive functioning as an explination, which is the ability of the caregiver to understand what the caregiver’s thinking/feeling.
Who suggested maternal reflexive functioning as a reason for attachment type and what is it
Slade et al suggested maternal reflecive functioning, which is the ability of the caregiver to understand what the infant is thinking or feeling
Who found a low correlation between maternal sensitivity and strength of attachment
Raval et al
