strange situation Flashcards
what is the strange situation
a controlled observation of 12-18 month old infants, developed to investigate the degrees of separation, stranger anxiety, and reunion behaviour
Ainsworth procedure
100 middle class white American children and their mothers
- standardised procedure of 7 episodes, 3 minutes each way through a 1 way mirror
episode 1 what happens + what it tests
- caregiver takes infant into laboratory room and they are left to explore
- exploration and secure base
episode 2 what happens + what it tests
stranger enters and approcches infant
stranger anxiety
episode 3 what happens + what it tests
caregiver leaves obtrusively and stranger interacts with the infant
stranger anxiety
separation anxiety
episode 4 what happens + what it tests
caregiver returns and stranger leaves
reunion behaviour
exploration and secure base
episode 5 what happens + what it tests
caregiver leaves so infant is alone
seperation anxiety
episode 6 what happens + what it tests
the stranger enters and interacts with the infant
stranger anxiety
episode 7 what happens + what it tests
caregiver returns and greets the infant
reunion behaviour
what are the 3 types of attachment
insecure avoidant
secure attachment
insecure resistant
insecure avoidant
high exploration
low proximity seeking
low secure base behaviour
-show little/ no reaction the caregiver leaves
-makes little effort to make contact when the caregiver returns,
-show little stranger anxiety
dont require comfort at reunion stage
20-25%
secure attachment
- explore happily, regularly go back to caregiver (moderate proximity seeking and secure base behaviour)
- moderate seperation distress and moderate stranger anxiety
- accept comfort on reunion and are easily calmed
60-75%
insecure resistant
seek greater proximity, than others so they explore less
show huge stranger and separation distress, resist comfort when reunited with their carer
3% of british toddler
describe how Ainsworth studied types of attachment
6 marker
procedure and episodes
- investigated using strange situation observation
- conducted on 100 middle class white American babies and their mothers
- controlled observation
- 7 episodes to test stranger and separation anxiety, secure base behaviour, proximity seeking and reunion behaviour
- stage one was baby exploring room, testing proximity and secure base behaviour
- then stranger came and tried to interact with baby, testing stranger anxiety
- then caregiver left baby alone with stranger, testing stranger and separation anxiety
- when mother came back, tested to see if baby was happy, resisted comfort, or avoided reunion
limiations of ss
cultural bias
- used sample of 100 American babes, might not have same meaning in countries outside the western world e.g outside west Europe and usa
- cultural differences in childhood means that children may respond differently to ss
- e.g may not work in Japan, Japanese mothers are rarely separated from their baby so naturally the babies gonna show rlly high levels of seperation anxiety
strength of ss
support for validity
- attachment type strongly predicts future development
- secure infants have better outcomes = success at school, stronger friendships and romantic relationships
- insecure resistant is associated with the worst outcomes = bullying in childhood, mental health problems in adulthood
