Ainsworth's strange situation

• procedure

  was a controlled observation to measure the security of attachment a child displays towards a caregiver. it took place in a room with controlled conditions with a two-way mirror through which psychologists could observe the infants behaviour
• behaviours used to judge attachment

  1. proximity seeking = an infant with a good attachment will stay fairly close to the caregiver
  2. exploration and secure-base behaviour = good attachment enables child to feel confident to explore using their caregiver as a secure base
  3. stranger anxiety = one of the signs becoming attached is anxiety with strangers
• behaviours continued

  4. separation anxiety = another sign of becoming attached is to protest separation from caregiver

  5. response to reunion = with the caregiver after separation for a short period of time under controlled conditions
• Ainsworths findings

  secure attachment = these children explore happily but regularly go back to their caregiver. they show moderate separation distress and moderate stranger anxiety. securely attached children require and accept comfort from the caregiver in the reunion stage. around 60-75% of British toddlers are classified as secure
• Ainsworth's findings

  insecure-avoidant attachment = these children explore freely but do not seek proximity or show secure base behaviour. they show little or no reaction when the caregiver leaves and make little effort in the reunion. they show little stranger anxiety. about 20-25% of toddlers are classified as insecure-avoidant
• Ainsworth's findings

  insecure-resistant = these children seek greater proximity than others and explore less. they show huge stranger and separation distress but they resist comfort when reunited with their carer. around 3% of British toddlers are classified as insecure-resistant.
• A03 - support for validity

  • strongly predictive for later development
  • babies assessed as secure go on to have better outcomes such as school and relationships in adulthood
  • insecure-resistant is associated with the worst outcome such as mental health problems
• A03 - good reliability

  • shows good inter-rater reliability, all different observers agreed on what attachment type to classify them
  • the study is under controlled conditions and the behavioural categories are easy to observe
  • observers found agreement on 94% of the tested babies meaning we are confident in what attachment type is which
• A03 - test may be culture-bound

  • does not have the same meaning in countries outside the Western Europe and USA
  • cultural differences in childhood experiences are likely to mean that children respond differently to the strange situation
  • caregivers from different cultures also behave differently in the strange situation e.g. Japanese mothers rushed to the baby when reunited because of separation anxiety