The Strange Situation (Ainsworth 1971) Flashcards
Define Strange situation
A controlled observation designed to test attachment security. Infants are assessed on their response to playing in an unfamiliar room, being left alone, left with a stranger and being reunited with a caregiver.
Define secure attachment
Generally thought of as the most desirable attachment type, associated with psychologically healthy outcomes. In the strange situation this is shown by moderate stranger and seperation anxiety and ease of comfort at reunion.
Define insecure-avoidant attachment
An attachment type characterised by low anxiety but weak attachment. In the strange situation this is shown by low stranger and seperation anxiety and little response to reunion - an avoidance of the caregiver.
Define Insecure-resistant attachment
An attachment type characterised by strong attachment and high anxiety. In the strange situation this is shown by high levels of stranger and seperation anxiety and by resistance to be comforted at reunion.
what was the aim of the strange situation experiment by Ainsworth 1971
to be able to observe key attachment behaviours as a means of assesing the quailty of the child’s attachment to a caregiver.
What was the procedure of the strange situation (Ainsworth 1971)
The strange situation is a controlled observation procedure designed to measure the security of attachment a child displays towards a caregiver. It takes place in a room with quite controlled conditions with a two-way mirror through which psychologists can observe the infant’s behaviour.
The procedure had 7 episodes lasting 3 minutes each.
The sample consisted of 100 american middle-class infants.
list
what behaviours were used to judge the attachment
- Proximity seeking
- exploration and secure base behaviour
- stranger anxiety
- seperation anxiety
- response to reunion
Define proximity seeking behaviour
an infant with a good attachment will stay fairly close to the caregiver.
define exploration and secure-base behaviour
good attachment enables a child to feel confident to explore, using their caregiver as a secure-base.
- point of contact that will make them feel safe.
Define stranger anxiety
one of the signs of becoming closely attached is a display of anxiety when a stranger approaches
define what is meant by response to reunion
the child’s response to the reunion with the caregiver after seperation for a short period of time under controlled conditions.
list the 7 episodes in the strange situation procedure
- the child is encouraged to explore.
- A stranger comes in and tries to interact with the child.
- the caregiver leaves the child and stranger together.
- the caregiver returns and the stranger leaves.
- the caregiver leaves the child alone
- the stranger returns
- the caregiver returns and is reunited with the child
exploration and secure base - 1, 4
stranger anxiety
each lasts for 3 minutes
Tests
exploration and secure base - 1,4
stranger anxiety - 2, 3, 6
seperation anxiety - 3, 5
reunion behaviour - 4, 7
Define seperation anxiety
another sign of becomeing attached is to protest at seperation from the caregiver.
what were the results of the stange situation
found by Ainsworth 1971
70% of the sample were securely attached (type B)
20% were insecure-aviodantly attached (type A)
10% were insecure- resistantly attached (type C)
What are the characteristics of a securely attached child
Type B attachment
these happily explore but regularly return to caregiver. Usually show moderate separation distress and stranger anxiety.
Require and accept comfort from the caregiver at reunion.
Avoident of strangers but friendly when the primary caregiver was present
What are the characteristics of an insecure-avoident attached child
type A attchment
These explore freely but don’t seek proximity. They show little/ no reaction when caregiver leaves and makes little effort to make contact when they return. Do not require comfort at reunion.
They are strongly avoidant of mother and stranger
What are the characteristics of an insecure-resistant attached child
type C attachment
These children seek greater proximity so explore less. Show huge stranger and separation distress but resist comfort at reunion - mix clingyness with rejection.
They show apparent fear towards the stranger.
What parenting is secure attachment associated with
sensitive and responsive primary care
What parenting is insecure-avoidant attachment associated with
unresponsive primary care
What parenting is insecure-resistant attachment associated with
inconsistant primary care
what conclusion can we draw from Ainsworth 1971’s strange situation experiment
The majority of infants have secure attachment
method strength
Evaluate the strange situation
A methodological strength is that it has been repeated in other western countries with similar results. This is a strength because it shows that it has good reliability. This means that we can be confident that the attachment type of an infant identified isn’t dependant on the person observing them.
weakness - app
Evaluate the strange situation
A weakness of the strange situation is that it is a culture bound test. When repeated in Japan (Takahashi 1990), because mothers are so rarely separate from their infants there were very high levels of separation anxiety and at the stage of reunion the mothers rushed and scoped up the child making it hard for the observers to see its reaction. This is a weakness because it means that the observation is limited in its application which means that the results cannot be generalised to other cultures.
method strength - reseach incl.
Evaluate the strange situation
Another methodological strangth is that it also has good inter-rater reliability, this is a strength because different observers watching the same children generally agree on the attachment type to classify them, Bick et al 2012 looked at inter-rater reliability in a team of trained strange situation observers and found agreement 94% of the time. This means that we can be confident that the attachment type of an infant doesnt depend on who observed them.
weakness - culture NOT study
Evaluate the strange situation
A problem of the study is that it lacks of population validity. The original study used American infants. The study tells us about how this particular group behaves and cannot be generalised to the wider population and other cultures.
weakness - involved
Evaluate the strange situation
An ethical weakness of the study is that it causes distress. This is a weakness because it damages psychology’s reputation. This means that it becomes harder to aquire volunteers for studies which is relied upon.
weakness - parents
Evaluate the strange situation
A weakness is the study focuses on mums, this is a weakness becuase it ignores fathers due to the time when it was conducted and the social norms held at the time. This means that as time has moved on a more fathers are staying at home to look after the infant we have no data that is applicable.
