Types of Attachment

• WHO RESEARCHED STRANGE SITUATION?


  MARY AINSWORTH (1970)
• WHAT WERE THE STAGES OF STRANGE SITUATION?


  STAGE 1-MOTHER AND CHILD ENTER PLAYROOM-BEFORE TESTING

  STAGE 2-THE CHILD IS ENCOURAGED TO EXPLORE-USE OF PARENT AS SECURE BASE

  STAGE 3-STRANGER ENTERS AND ATTEMPTS TO INTERACT-STRANGER ANXIETY

  STAGE 4-MOTHER LEAVES WHILE STRANGER IS PRESENT-SEPARATION ANXIETY

  STAGE 5-MOTHER ENTERS AND STRANGER LEAVES-REUNION BEHAVIOUR

  STAGE 6-MOTHER LEAVES-SEPARATION ANXIETY

  STAGE 7-STRANGER RETURNS-STRANGER ANXIETY

  STAGE 8-MOTHER RETURNS AND INTERACTS WITH CHILD-REUNION BEHAVIOUR
• EPISODES OF BEHAVIOUR THAT ARE TESTED


  PROXIMITY SEEKING

  WILLINGNESS TO EXPLORE

  STRANGER ANXIETY

  SEPARATION ANXIETY

  REUNION BEHVAIOUR
• WHAT IS TYPE A OF BEHAVIOUR?


  INSECURE AVOIDANT ATTACHMENT

  WILL PLAY WITH STRANGER REGARDLESS OF MOTHERS PRESENCE. DOESNT CHECK FOR IT.

  IS NOT DISTRESSED BY MOTHERS ABSENCE AND CAN SEEK COMFORT FROM STRANGER.

  SHOWS NO INTEREST IN MOTHERS RETURN.
• WHAT IS TYPE B OF BEHAVIOUR?


  SECURE ATTACHMENT

  IS INDIFFERENT TO STRANGER WHEN MOTHER IS PRESENT BUT IGNORES THE STRANGER WHEN ALONE.

  BECOMES UPSET AND DISTRESSED WHEN MOTHER LEAVES.

  IS HAPPY WHEN MOTHER RETURNS IN BOTH REUNIONS AND QUICKLY SETTLES. THE CHILD EASILY CALMS AND EXPLORING RESUMES.
• WHAT IS TYPE C OF BEHAVIOUR?


  INSECURE RESISTANT ATTACHMENT

  SHOWS FEAR OF STRANGER AND AVOIDS THEM WITH OR WITHOUT MOTHERS PRESENCE.

  INTENSE REACTION TO MOTHERS ABSENCE AND IS CLEARLY DISTRESSED.

  THE CHILD WANTS THE COMFORT OF THE MOTHER BUT MAY PUSH HER AWAY WHEN APPROACHED. RESISTS COMFORT EVEN IF ITS DESIRED.
• HOW COULD THIS RESEARCH BE USEFUL IN LONG TERM IMPLICATIONS?

  COULD SIGNIFY HOW CHILDS LATER RELATIONSHIPS WILL BE LIKE EG WEAK NOW= WEAK SOCIAL ATTACHMENT

  HELP CREATE A POSITIVE INTERNAL WORKING MODEL
• INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES-TEMPERAMENT

  KAGAN (1982) HAS SUGGESTED THAT TEMPERAMENT, THE GENETICALLY INFLUENCED PERSONALITY OF A CHILD IS A MORE IMPORTANT INFLUENCE THAN ATTACHMENT. MEANING IT IS A COFOUNDING VARIABLE. WHICH REDUCES THE INTERNAL VALIDITY OF THE PROCEDURE AS IT IS DIFFICULT TO ESTABLISH WHETHER THE PROCEDURE ONLY ASSESSES ATTACHMENT BEHAVIOUR OR TEMPERAMENT.
• RELIABILITY

  SHOWS VERY GOOD INTER-RATER RELIABILITY. THE PROCEDURE TAKES PLACE UNDER CONTROLLED CONDITIONS AND BEHAVIOUR CATEGORIES ARE EASY TO OBSERVE. BICK ET AL (2012) LOOKED AT INTER-RATER RELIABILITY IN A TEAM OF TRAINED STRANGE SITUATION OBSERVERS AND FOUND AGREEMENT ON ATTACHMENT TYPE FOR 94% OF THE TESTED BABIES. THIS MEANS WE CAN BE CONFIDENT THAT THE ATTACHMENT TYPE FOR AN INFANT IDENTIFIED DOES NOT DEPEND ON WHO IS OBSERVING THEM.
• CULTURALLY BIASED

  A WEAKNESS IS THAT THERE IS SOME DOUBT THAT THE STRANGE SITUATION IS A CULTURE-BOUND TEST AS IT DOES NOT HAVE THE SAME MEANING IN COUNTRIES OUTSIDE THE USA AND WESTERN EUROPE. THIS IS FOR 2 REASONS. FIRST, CULTURAL DIFFERENCES IN CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES ARE LIEKLY TO MEAN THAT CHILDREN FROM DIFFERENT CULTURES BEHAVE DIFERENTLY. FOR EXAMPLE TAKASHI (1990) NOTED THAT THE TEST DOES NOT WORK IN JAPAN AS JAPANESE MOTHERS ARE SO RARELY SEPARATED FROM THEIR BABIES SO THERE WOULD BE XTREME LEVELS OF SA. ALSO IN THE REUNION STAGE THEY SCOOPED UP THEIR BABY SO IT WAS HARD TO OBSERVE.
• CONFLICTING THEORIES- TYPE D ATTACHMENT

  RESEARCH BY MAIN AND SOLOMON (1986) POINTED OUT THAT A MINORITY OF CHILDREN DISPLAY ATYPICAL ATTACHEMNT THAT DOES NOT FALL INTO A,B OR C. THIS TYPE OF ATTACHMENT IS KNOWN AS 'DISORGANISED ATTACHEMNT' (D). THIS MEANS THAT IT CANNOT BE GENERALISABLE SO RESEARCHERS HAVE ACCEPTED THAT THERE SHOULD BE 4 STAGES IN THE STRANGE SITUATION.
• WHAT TYPE OF PROCEDURE WAS THIS?

  A NATURALISTIC OBSERVATION TAKEN PLACE IN A CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT EG LAB WITH A TWO WAY MIRROR.
• HOW LONG DID EACH STAGE LAST?

  APPROXIMATELY 3 MINUTES EACH