Types Of Attachment Flashcards
What are the 3 types of attachment
- Type A (Insecure Avoidant)
- Type B (secure attachment)
- Type C (insecure resistant)
How many babies were insecure avoidant
20%
How many babies were securely attached
70%
How many babies were insecure resistant
10%
Insecure avoidant traits
- largely ignoring their caregiver & playing independently while they explore the room
- no separation protest
- no reunion joy (ignore the caregiver when they return)
- distressed when left alone, but comforted by the stranger as easily as the caregiver (no stranger anxiety)
Secure attachment traits
- play happily while the caregiver is present and use them as a safe base while they explore the room
- separation protest expressed when caregiver leaves
- seeks contact with caregiver at return (reunion joy)
- accepts some comfort from strangers, but is wary (stranger anxiety)
Insecure resistant babies traits
- will not explore the room / play with toys (clingy)
- extreme separation protest & distress when caregiver leaves
- but no reunion joy; resists comfort from the caregiver on reunion
- extreme stranger anxiety (strongly resists the stranger’s attempts to make contact
How did Ainsworth et al (1970) investigate differences in attachments between infants & their caregivers
The strange situation
-> a controlled observation which took place in a room that had been furnished with some toys
What was the series of episodes that the investigators observed the infants in
- mother & baby
- stranger enters
- mother leaves
- mother returns
How long was each episode
3 mins
What did the investigators record
An infants:
Proximity seeking
Stranger anxiety
Separation protest
Reunion joy
What’s one strength about the strange situation
- has been replicated many times
- high level of control + standardised procedures
-> therefore, successfully carried in many different culture
AO3 (-) why might the methodology be culturally biased
- developed in US
- attachment behaviour seen as healthy there ≠ in other countries e.g. in Germany, only 1/5 mothers worked (even less tbh) but children encouraged to be independent and self reliant, and refused to reward ‘spoilt’ behaviour e.g. crying when their mother leaves
- therefore, the kids may have shown less separation protest, & been classed as avoidant
AO3 P3 (-) what measure’s validity has been questioned
Proximity seeking could be a measure of insecurity, rather than security
AO3 (-) P4 - gender bias
- strange situation has only been carried out using mothers as the caregiver
- children may be in securely attached to mothers, but secure with fathers etc
- strange situation measures the child’s attachment to one parent, rather than overall
(Main & Weston) 1981
That children behave differently depending on which parent they are with
