Types of attachment

Question 1

Who completed the ‘strange situation’ research?

Answer 1

Mary Ainsworth and Silvia Bell (1969)

Question 2

What was the ‘strange situation’ procedure?

Answer 2

• controlled observation
• measure security of attachment a babu displays to a caregiver
• lab setting - controlled conditions, with a two way mirror and/or cameras through which psychologists can observe the baby’s behaviour

Behaviours used to judge attachment:
1. Proximity seeking - a baby with a good attachment will stay fairly close to a caregiver
2. Exploration and secure-base behaviour - good attachment enables a baby to feel confident to explore, using their caregiver as a safe/secure base (a point of contact which will make them feel safe)
3. Stranger anxiety - close attachment displays anxiety when stranger approaches
4. Separation anxiety - another sign of becoming attached is to protest at separation from the caregiver
5. Response to reunion - babies who are securely attached greet the caregiver’s return with pleasure and seek comfort

1. baby encouraged to explore = tests exploration and secure base
2. stranger comes in, talks to caregiver and approaches baby = tests stranger anxiety
3. Caregiver leaves baby and stranger together = tests stranger anxiety and seperation
4. caregiver returns and stranger leaves = tests reunion and exploration/safe base
5. caregiver leaves baby alone = tests separation anxiety
6. the stranger returns = tests stranger anxiety
7. the caregiver returns and is reunited with the baby = tests reunion behaviour

Question 3

What were the ‘strange situation’ findings?

Answer 3

3 main types of attachment:

Secure (type b) = babies explore happily, regularly go back to caregiver, show moderate separation distress and stranger anxiety, require and accept comfort at reunion with caregiver, about 60-75% British babies are classified as secure

Insecure-Avoidant (type A) = explore freely, do not seek proximity or secure base behaviour, no reaction/little when caregiver leaves, little stranger anxiety, little effort to male contact when caregiver returns and may even avoid such contact, about 20-25% British babies are classified as insecure-avoidant

Insecure-Resistant (type C) = seek greater proximity than others and so explore less, high levels of stranger anxiety and separation anxiety, resist comfort on reunion with caregiver, around 3% of British babies are classified as insecure-resistant

Question 4

Evaluation for the ‘strange situation’ procedure

Answer 4

Good predictive validity:
- predicts aspects of babies later development
- type b have better outcomes than others in both childhood (better achievement in school and less involvement in bullying) and adulthood (better mental health)
- Insecure-resistant and those not falling into any category tend to have the worst outcomes
This suggests that the Strange situation measures something real and meaningful in a baby’s development

Good reliability:
- Bick tested inter - rater reliability for the SS for a team of trained observers and found agreement on 94% of cases
- high level could be as a result of controlled conditions and easy observation conditions
This means that we can be confident that attachment type as assessed by the strange situation does not depend on subjective judgements

The test may be culture bound:
- Developed in Britain and USA (western cultures)
- babies have different experiences in different cultures (may effect response to the SS)
- This means that it is very difficult to know what the strange situation is measuring when used outside Western Europe and the USA

Other attachment types:
- fourth category pf attachment = type D (disorganised) a mix of resistant and avoidant behaviours
- however type d are unusual and have generally experienced severe neglect or abuse
- Most will go on to develop psychological disorders by adulthood