Ainsworth strange situation

• What was strange situation observed

  In a controlled environment (lab) with two way mirror and cameras for psychologists to observe behaviour
• What are first four stages to SS procedure

  Baby encouraged to explore - tests exploration

  Stranger enters, talk to caregiver and approach baby - test stranger anxiety

  Caregiver leaves stranger and baby - test separation and stranger anxiety

  Caregiver return, stranger leaves - test reunion behaviour
• What are last three stages to SS procedure

  Caregiver leave baby alone - test separation anxiety

  Stranger returns - test stranger anxiety

  Caregiver return and reunite w baby - test reunion behaviour
• What are three types of attachments found

  Secure attachment

  Insecure-avoidant attachment

  insecure-resistant attachment
• What are characteristics of secure attachment

  Happily explore but regularly return to caregiver

  Moderate separation and stranger anxiety

  Require and accept comfort in reunion stage
• What are characteristics of insecure-avoidant attachment

  Explore freely and do not seek caregiver proximity

  Little to no separation and stranger anxiety

  Make little effort to make contact in reunion stage
• What are characteristics of insecure-resistant attachment

  Seek greater proximity and explore less

  High levels of stranger and separation anxiety

  Resist comfort when reunited with caregiver
• What sort of behaviours did SS assess (three)

  Stranger and separation anxiety, response to reunion
• One strength of Ainsworth strange situation

  Good predictive validity - lots of research show babies classed as secure attachment tend to have better achievements school and less involvement in bullying than other attachment types (McCormick et al). Also tend to have better mental health. This means SS measures something meaningful in baby development
• A limitation of Ainsworth strange situation

  May not apply to all cultures - Babies have different experiences in different cultures. Takahashi found that a disproportionate number of babies were classed as insecure-resistant but not due to attachment insecurity but because baby separation from mothers in Japan is rare. Do difficult to apply SS outside of western culture
• Another strength of Ainsworth strange situation

  good inter-rater reliability - A retest of the strange siustion found that trained observers found agreement in 94% of attachment types . This agreements may be due to high levels of control and because the behaviours are easy to observe. So SS is t based on subjective judgement