strange situation MA

• Th strange situation is research by Mary Ainsworth that assesses the quality of the attachment between a mother and her baby
• AIM


  to measure security of attachment a child shows towards their caregiver.
• METHOD


  • controlled observation
  • 100 infants
  • aged 9-18 months
• Assessing - psychologists observed behaviour through a 2-way mirror and found 3 patterns of attachment
• 3 patterns of attachment


  • SECURE type b (66%)
  • INSECURE-AVOIDANT type a (22%)
  • INSECURE-RESISTANT type c (12%)
• Secure attachment - child is happy to explore, child seeks proximity to care-giver, child has moderate levels of separation anxiety when care-giver isn't present.
• Insecure-avoidant - child explores freely, child does NOT seek proximity to care-giver, little-to-no separation (or reaction when care-giver leaves).
• Insecure-resistant - child explores less, child seeks greater proximity, child displays considerable amounts of separation and stranger anxiety when care-giver isn't present, child resists comfort of care-giver when reunited with them.
• CONCLUSION: Ainsworth suggested attachment type was determined by primary care-giver's behaviour (mother')
• EVALUATION POINT 1


  other types of attachment - disorganised attachment.

  characterised by a lack of consistent social patterns (not showing behaviour that is strictly any of 3 attachment types)
• EVALUATION POINT 2


  high reliability - methods used to observe behaviour in Ainsworth's study are clear and accurate
• EVALUATION POINT 3

  real world application

  • greater understanding of people and relationships
  • promotes stability and functional families
  • brings attention to parenting
• EVALUATION POINT 4

  overt observation

  • mother may behave differently to appear like a good parent
  • this biases the results as it is likely to change child's responses
  • threatens the validity of the findings
• EVALUATION POINT 5


  ethical considerations

  • children intentionally put in stressful situations
  • can be argued that child wasn't protected from harm
  • children examined for response regardless of stress levels