Ainsworth's strange situation

• Types of attachment found in the strange situation:

  • Type B Secure - 66%
  • Type A Insecure avoidant - 22%
  • Type C Insecure resistant - 12%
• Types of attachment found in the strange situation:

  • Type B Secure - 66% - harmonious & cooperative interaction with their caregiver
  • Type A Insecure avoidant - 22% - avoid social interaction & intimacy with others
  • Type C Insecure resistant - 12% - seeks & resists intimacy & social interaction. Responds to separation with immediate & intense distress
• Ainsworth's strange situation AO3:

  • ❌ Limited sample - all pts were white, middle class Americans - unrepresentative & can't be generalised
  • ❌ Type D Insecure Disorganised - infants who don't have a consistent type of attachment - 15% were type D - oversimplified
  • ✅ Real World Applications - tackle situations where disordered pattern of attachment develop (Circle of security project )
  • ❌ Ethical issues - infants experience distress. ✅ No more distressing than everyday
  • ✅ High reliability - inter-observer reliability was 0.94
  • ❌ Low internal validity - measures the quality of one relationship
• Ainsworth's Strange Situation AO3:

  • ❌ Limited Sample
  • ❌ Type D Insecure Disorganised
  • ✅ Real World Applications
  • ❌ Ethical Issues
  • ✅ High Observer Reliability
  • ❌ Low Internal Validity
• The strange situation:

  • Ainsworth (1978)
  • Aim: to see how infants behave under conditions of mild stress & novelty
  • 106 middle class infants
  • The strange situation Procedure : (each lasts 3 minutes )

  1. Parent & infant play
  2. Parent sits & infant plays - secure base
  3. Stranger enters - stranger anxiety
  4. Parent leaves - separation anxiety
  5. Parent returns, stranger leaves - reunion behaviour
  6. Parent leaves infant alone - separation
  7. Stranger enters - stranger anxiety
  8. Parent returns - reunion behaviour