The Strange Situation Flashcards
What was the procedure in Ainsworth and Bell’s 1970 study?
100 middle class US infants and mothers, controlled observation during activities. Mother and child shown room, left alone to investigate, stranger talks and gives toy, mother leaves, mother returns and greets, child left alone, stranger tries to engage, mother returns and picks up child
What are the 4 main behaviours observed during the Strange Situation?
separation anxiety, infant willingness to explore, stranger anxiety, reunion behaviour
What are the 3 attachment types? What % were the children?
B: securely attached, 66%, explored, mothers sensitive, greeted positively. A: avoidant insecure, 22%, exploring not orientated around mother, not fazed by her leave/return, mothers ignore sometimes. C: resistant insecure, 12%, intense distress, rejected return, mothers mixed feelings
What is the temperament hypothesis?
Kagan 1982, attachment type formed may reflect their own innate temperament rather than sensitivity of care giver
What is the sensitivity hypothesis?
More sensitive parents are more likely to produce more securely attached infants, Ainswoth attachment conclusions based on this
Who has conducted research on sensitivity?
De Wolff and van Ijzendoorn 1997
meta of 66, 4000 families, correlation of 0.24 between sensitivity and attachment
Who has conducted research on temperament?
Fox 1991
strong relationship between the attachment types of a child to both parents, supports that attachment links to inbuilt temperament
Who provides evidence that the SS is consistent across ages?
Wartner 1994
78% children same at age 1 and 6
What did Van Ijzendoorn find in 1992?
An average of the attachments a child has is a better predictor of later attachment, SSC needs to consider >1 attachment relationship a child has
Who is the sensitivity hypothesis supported by?
Isabella 1989
mothers and infants responsive to each other at one month were likely to be secure at 1 year
Who is the temperament hypothesis supported by?
Belsky and Rovine 1987
newborns who showed behavioural instability signs (tremors) were less likely to become securely attached
Who has shown that the SS has low population validity?
Takahashi 1990
68% secure, 32% resistant, 80% would be secure but excess distress when left alone, SSC not cross cultural
Who conducted a meta analysis into cultural variations in attachments?
Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg 1988
32 studies, China, Japan, Israel= collectivistic, 2000 infants, universally all more secure, W. Germany 35% avoidant and USA 14% resistant (high for West), Japan 5% avoidant (lowest), overall mean 65B, 21A, 14C
What is common expectations of children in Germany?
keep some distance from parents so don’t engage in proximity, inter personal distance: insecure higher
What is the common child-rearing practise in Japan?
Collectivistic, less separation from parents, sleep with parents until 2yrs, children taught avoidant behaviour is rude
