Types of attachment

Question 1

What was the strange situation?

Answer 1

• A controlled observation designed to test attachment & security
  Babies are assessed on thier response to playing in an unfamiliar room, being left alone, left w a stranger & being reunited with caregiver

Question 2

How was the procedure of the strange situation conducted?

Answer 2

SS conducted in a room with:
* A one way window for observing & filming
* A door for adults to enter & leave
* Collection of toys for infant to explore
* Chair for mother to sit in
* Chair for a research assistant to sit in

Question 3

What was the purpose of the strange situation?

Answer 3

• To see if there were different attachments between the primary caregiver & the infant
• To see if it is possible to categorise these into different types

Question 4

What were the behaviours used do judge attachment in the SS?

Answer 4

• Proximity-seeking
• Exploration & secure base behaviour
• Stranger anxiety
• Separation anxiety
• Response to reunion

Question 5

Proximity seeking-

Answer 5

A baby with a good quality attachment will stay fairly close to caregiver

Question 6

Exploration & secure base behaviour-

Answer 6

Good attachment enables a baby to feel confident to explore using their caregivers as a secure base

i.e point of contact that will make them feel safe

Question 7

Stranger anxiety-

Answer 7

One of signs of becoming closely attached is a display of anxiety when stranger approaches

Question 8

Separation anxiety-

Answer 8

Another sign of becoming attached is to protest at separation from caregiver

Question 9

Response to union-

Answer 9

Babies who are securely attached greet caregivers return with pleasure & seek comfort

Question 10

The procedure had 7 episodes each of which lasts three minuets what were these episodes?

Answer 10

Beginning: Caregiver & baby enter unfamiliar room
1. Baby is encouraged to explore- test exploration & secure base
2. A strangers comes in, talks to caregiver & approaches baby- tests stranger anxiety
3. Caregiver leaves baby & stranger together- test separation & stranger anxiety
4. Caregiver returns & stranger leaves- Test reunion behaviour & exploration/secure base
5. Caregiver leaves the baby alone-Test separation anxiety
6. Stranger returns-Test stranger anxiety
7. Caregiver returns & is reunited w baby-Test reunion behaviour

Question 11

What were Ainsworths et al’s findings?

Answer 11

Found distinct patterns in the way that babies behaved- They identified 3 main types of attachment:
* Insecure-avoidant attachment (type A)
* Secure attachment (type B)
* Insecure-resistant attachment (type C)

Question 12

What is insecure-avoidant attachment (type A)?

Answer 12

• These babies explore freely but do not seek proximity or show secure base behaviour.
• Show little or no reaction when their caregiver leaves & little stranger anxiety
• Make little effort to make contact when caregiver returns & may avoid such contact

About 20-25% of british babies are classified as insecure-avoidant

Question 13

What is secure attachment (type B)?

Answer 13

• These babies explore happily but regularly go back to caregiver (proximity seeking & secure base behaviour)
• Usually show moderate separation distress & moderate stranger anxiety
• Securely attached babies require & accept comfort from caregiver in reunion stage.

About 60-75% of babies are classified as secure

Question 14

What is insecure resistant attachment (type C)?

Answer 14

• These babies seek greater proximity than others & so explore less
• Show high levels of stranger & separation distress
• But resist comfort when reunited with caregiver
  (almost like they are angry at them for leaving)

Around 3% of british babies are classified as insecure-resistant

Question 15

Give one strength of the strange situation.

Answer 15

• It has good predictive validity
  Accurately predicts a number of aspects of the baby’s later development
• Large body of research showed that babies & toddlers assessed as type B tend to have better outcomes than others in later childhood & adulthood
• Secure- better achievement in school, less involvement in bullying, better mental health
• Those babies who have insecure-resistant attachment & those not falling into types A,B or C tend to have the worst outcomes

Suggests that strange situation measures something real & meaningful in a baby’s development

Question 16

Give another strength of the Strange situation.

Answer 16

• It has good inter-rater reliability (the agreement between different observers)
  Bick et al (2012)
• Tested inter-rater reliability for SS- a team of trained observers found agreement on attachment in 94% of cases

Means we can be confident that attachment type as assessed by strange situation does not depend on subjctive judgements

Question 17

What was the supporting study for the limitation of the SS being culture bound?

Answer 17

For example in on Japanese study by KeikoTakahashi:
Babies displayed v high levels of separation anxiety & so disproportionate number were classified as insecure resistant

• However, Takahashi suggests this anxiety response was not due to high rates of attachment insecurity but due to the fact that mother-baby separation in Japan is very rare

Means v difficult to know what the SS is measuring when outside Europe & US

Question 17

What one limitation of the strange situation?

Answer 17

• The test may be culture bound & may not be a valid measure of attachment in different cultural contexts
  SS was developed in Britain & Us (may be culture bound & therefore only valid for Britain & US)

One reason for this is that babies have different experiences in different cultures & these experiences may affect their response to SS