Types of attachment: Ainsworth's strange situation

Question 1

What is the strange situation?

Answer 1

A controlled observation, used to test attachment security

Question 2

Who developed ‘strange situation’?

Answer 2

Ainsworth and Bell

Question 3

What was Ainsworth’s procedure in 7 episodes?

Answer 3

1- Baby encouraged to explore
2- Stranger talks to caregiver and approaches baby
3- Caregiver leaves stranger with baby
4- Caregiver returns and stranger leaves
5- Caregiver leaves baby alone
6- Stranger returns
7- Caregiver returns and is reunited with baby

Question 4

What type of observation and experimental design is used in ‘strange situation’?

Answer 4

• Controlled observation
• Covert (two-way mirror)
• Laboratory design

Question 5

What are the 5 behaviours used to judge attachment?

Answer 5

1- Proximity-seeking (stay close to caregiver)
2- Exploration and secure-base behaviour (babies feel confident to explore)
3- Stranger anxiety (display of anxiety when approached by strangers)
4- Seperation anxiety (protest at separation from caregiver)
5- Response to reunion (greet return with pleasure, and seek comfort)

Question 6

What were the ‘strange situation findings’?

Answer 6

Concluded there were 3 types of attachments:
- Secure attachment (Type B)
- Insecure-avoidant attachment (Type A)
- Insecure-resistant attachment (Type C)

Question 7

What are the percentages of British babies for each attachment type?

Answer 7

• Secure= 60-75%
• Insecure-avoidant= 20-25%
• Insecure-resistant= 3%

Question 8

What are secure babies like?

Answer 8

• Explore happily, but regularly go back to caregiver
• Moderate separation distress and stranger anxiety
• Seek comfort from caregiver at reunion

Question 9

What are insecure-avoidant babies like?

Answer 9

• Explore freely but do not seek proximity/show secure-base behaviour
• Little reaction to caregiver leaving and little stranger anxiety
• Little effort to make contact when caregiver returns

Question 10

What are insecure-resistant babies like?

Answer 10

• Seek most proximity and explore less
• High levels of stranger anxiety and separation anxiety
• Resist comfort when reunited with caregiver

Question 11

Strength:
I- Good predictive validity

Answer 11

D- Predicts a number of developmental aspects. Type B babies have better outcomes. McCormick et al and Kokkinos say type B have better achievement in school and less involvement in bullying. Ward et al say type B have better mental health in adulthood
E- Suggests ‘strange situation’ measured something real and meaningful

Question 12

Limitation:
I- May not measure attachment

Answer 12

D- Kagan suggests genetically-influenced anxiety levels may account for variations in attachment behaviour in ‘strange situation’ and in development
E- Shows a lack of validity

Question 13

Strength:
I- Good reliability

Answer 13

D- Bick et al tested inter-rater reliability for ‘strange situation’ and found agreement in 94% of cases. This could be due to controlled conditions and easy to observe behaviours
E- Means we can be confident that attachment types assessed by ‘strange situation’ are not subjective

Question 14

Limitation:
I- Culture-bound

Answer 14

D- May be an invalid measure of attachment in different cultural contexts. Developed in US and Britain. Takahashi’s study in Japan= babies displayed high levels of separation anxiety, so a disproportionate amount were insecure-resistant (due to unusualness of mother-baby separation in Japan)
E- Means it is difficult to know what ‘strange situation’ is measuring outside of the US and Europe

Question 15

Evaluation extra:
Other attachment types

Answer 15

LIMITATION:
- Main and Soloman identified a 4th type of attachment= disorganised (mix of avoidant and resistant)
- This is a problem for Ainsworth’s classification as it has been shown incorrect

STRENGTH:
- Type D is unusual and behaviour occurs due to severe neglect or abuse
- Argued that Ainsworth’s classification is adequate