Types of attachment & The strange situation

Question 1

Strange situation - overview

Answer 1

• Controlled observation - designed to measure the security of att a baby displays towards a caregiver
• Lab experiment (controlled room)
• Two-way mirror and/or cameras where the psychologists can observe the baby’s behaviour
• Behaviours used to judge att:
• Proximity seeking - stays fairly close to caregiver
• Exploration + secure-base behaviour - a baby feels confident to explore, using caregiver as a secure base
• Stranger anxiety - displays anxiety when a stranger approaches
• Separation anxiety - baby protests at separation from the caregiver
• Response to reunion - greets the caregiver with pleasure and comfort

Question 2

Strange situation - procedure

Answer 2

• Caregiver and baby enter an unfamiliar playroom
  1) Baby is encouraged to explore - tests exploration + secure base
  2) Stranger comes in, talks to caregiver and approaches baby - tests stranger anxiety
  3) Caregiver leaves baby and stranger together - tests stranger + separation anxiety
  4) Caregiver returns and stranger leaves - tests reunion behaviour + exploration/secure base
  5) Caregiver leaves baby alone - tests separation anxiety
  6) Stranger returns - tests stranger anxiety
  7) Caregiver returns and is reunited with baby - tests reunion behaviour

Question 3

Findings - Types of attachment

Answer 3

• Found distinct patterns in the way babies behaved - identified 3 main types of att
  1) Secure att - babies explore happily but regularly go back to their caregivers (proximity seeking + secure base behaviour) - show moderate separation and stranger anxiety distress - securely attached babies require and accept comfort from caregiver in reunion stage

2) Insecure-avoidant att - babies explore freely but don’t seek proximity or show secure base behaviour - show little to no reaction when caregiver leaves and little stranger anxiety - make little effort to make contact when caregiver returns and may even avoid contact

3) Insecure-resistant att - babies seek greater proximity than others and so explore less - show high levels of stranger and separation distress but they resist comfort when reunited with caregiver

Question 4

Strange situation - Evaluation - Strength

Answer 4

• Good inter-rater reliability
• Other researchers found agreement on att types in 94% of cases
• high level of reliability may be due to the controlled conditions and because behaviours involve large movements and are easy to observe
• means we can be confident that att types assessed doesn’t depend on subjective judgements

Question 5

Strange situation - Evaluation - Limitation

Answer 5

• Culture-bound
• SS was developed in Britain and the USA - may only be valid for use in certain cultures
• e.g some babies have different experiences in different cultures which may affect their response in the SS
• e.g in a Japanese study babies displayed very high separation anxiety so many were insecure-resistant
• means it’s very difficult to know what the SS is measuring when used outside Western Europe and the USA