Strange Situation

• Who developed the strange situation classification and why?

  Mary Ainsworth et al -> see how infants behave under stress (stranger/ separation) and novelty (secure base concept)
• Procedure:

  • Research room- 9x9 foot marked off with squares to record movement easier.
  • 7 episodes made to highlight certain behaviours
  • Data collected every 15 seconds by a group of observers through a two way mirror.
  • Researcher notes the behaviours (categories) and the intensity on a scale of 1-7
• What were the behaviour categories

  • Proximity Seeking behaviours
  • Exploration & secure base behaviours
  • Stranger Anxiety
  • Separation Anxiety
  • Reunion Behaviour
• What were the 7 events:

  1. Mother and infant - left to explore
  2. Stranger enters and approaches the infant
  3. Caregiver / mother leaves and stranger interacts with infant
  4. The caregiver returns and the stranger leaves
  5. The caregiver leaves so the infant is alone
  6. The stranger enters and interact with the infant
  7. The caregiver returns and greets the infant
• Findings: similarities in the way infants behaved

  • Exploratory behaviours declined in all infants from episode 2 onwards, amount of crying increased.
  • Proximity seeking and contact-maintaining behaviour intensified during separation and stranger being present.
  • Contact-resisting and proximity avoiding behaviours occurred rarely toward the caregiver prior to separation.
• Findings: differences in the way infants behaved

  • 3 main types of children found (A, B, C)
• Secure attachment (type B)

  • harmonious and cooperative interactions with their caregivers.
  • They happily explore but often go back to their caregiver
  • Show moderate separation anxiety and moderate stranger anxiety
  • Require and accept comfort from caregiver upon reunion.
• Insecure-Avoidant (Type A)

  • Children avoid social interaction and intimacy.
  • Explore freely but don’t seek proximity or secure base behaviour
  • Little to no reaction when caregiver leaves.
  • Make little effort to make contact upon reunion, they do not require comfort.
  • Show little stranger anxiety
• Insecure-Resistant (type C)

  • Seek and reject intimacy and social interaction.
  • Children seek greater proximity than others so explore less.
  • High stranger anxiety and separation anxiety
  • Resist comfort upon union with caregiver.
  • Only 3% of BRITISH children classed as type C.
• Strength - Predictive validity

  • Attachment types defined by the Strange situation are a good predictor of later development.
  • McCormick et al (2016) –> securely attached infants had better outcomes (academic success, more friends and better romantic relationships)
  • Resistant infants were bullied (Kokkinos 2007) and had adult mental health problems (Ward et al 2006)
  • This is evidence for the validity because it can be used to explain future developments
• Strength - Predictive validity -> counter

  • While it measures something that predicts later development, it may not be measuring genetic differences in anxiety (Kagan 1982)
  • Means strange situation might not actually measure attachment
• Strength - inter-rater reliability

  • Inter-rater reliability = more than one observer used and then compared by judging panel
  • Multiple observers ratings were compared by a panel of experience judges.
  • Behaviour categories were clearly defined -> therefore more reliable
  • Ainsworth (1978) found an almost perfect agreement when rating exploratory behaviour – 0.94 agreement (1.00 is perfect).
• Weakness - Culture-bound test

  • This test might not have the same meaning in other countries (outside of Western Europe and the USA)
  • Cultural differences in children’s experiences mean they respond differently
  • e.g. Japanese babies show anxiety because they are not used to being left by their caregiver (Takashi 1986)
  • This means it is difficult to know what the Strange Situation is measuring in some countries/cultures
• Weakness - The 4th type of attachment

  • Reanalysis of over 200 Strange Situation videotapes led Main and Solomon (1986) to propose a fourth attachment type.
  • Disorganised Attachment
  • A lack of consistent patterns of social behaviour.
  • Lack coherent strategy for dealing with separation anxiety.
  • An odd mix of avoidant and resistant.
• What does each of the 7 episodes test?

  1. Exploration and secure base
  2. Stranger anxiety
  3. Separation anxiety and stranger anxiety
  4. Reuinion behaviour and exploration / secure base
  5. Separation anxiety
  6. Stranger anxiety
  7. Reunion behaviour