Types of attachment

• What are strange situation?

  • A controlled observation designed to test attachment security. Babies are assessed on their response to playing in an unfamiliar room, being left alone, left with a stranger and being reunited with a caregiver.
• What is a secure attachment?

  • Generally thought of as the most desirable attachment type, associated with psychologically healthy outcomes. In the strange situation this is shown by a moderate stranger and separation anxiety and ease of comfort at reunion.
• What is insecure-avoidant attachment?

  • An attachment type characterised by low anxiety but weak attachment. In the strange situation this is shown by low stranger and separation anxiety and little response to reunion, maybe even an avoidance of the caregiver.
• What is insecure-resistant attachment?

  • An attachment type characterised by strong attachment and high anxiety. In the strange situation this is shown by high levels of stranger and separation anxiety and by resistance to being comforted at reunion.
• What is the procedure of Ainsworths ’strange situation’?

  • Controlled observation.
  • Designed to measure the security of attachment a baby displays towards a caregiver.
  • Takes place in a room with quite controlled conditions.
  • Two-way mirror or cameras through which psychologists can observe the baby’s behaviour.
• What is the procedure of the behaviours used to judge attachment in Ainsworths ‘strange situations’?

  • Proximity-seeking- a baby with a good quality attachment will stay fairly close to a caregiver.
  • Exploration and secure-based behaviour- good attachment enables a baby to feel confident to explore, using the caregiver as a secure base.
  • Stranger anxiety
  • Separation anxiety
  • Response to reunion- babies who are securely attached greet the caregivers return with pleasure and seek comfort.
• What are the findings?

  • Secure attachment (type B)-babies explore happily but regularly go back to the caregiver. (Proximity-seeking + secure-base behaviour). Show moderate separation distress and moderate stranger anxiety. Securely attached babies require and accept comfort from the caregiver in the reunion stage 60-75% babies =secure.
• what are the findings? - CONTINUED

  • Insecure-avoidant attachment (type A)- babies explore freely but don’t seek proximity or show secure-base behaviour. Show little to no reaction when their caregiver leaves and little stranger anxiety. Make little effort to make contact when their caregiver returns and may avoid contact. 20-25% babies = insecure-avoidant.
• what are the findings? - CONTINUED

  • Insecure- resistant attachment (type C)- babies seek greater proximity than other and so explore less. They show high levels of stranger and separation distress but they resist comfort when reunited with their caregiver. 3% babies= insecure-resistant.
• EVALUATION- good predictive validity- STRENGTH

  • Its outcomes predicts a number of aspects of the baby’s later development.
  • Research shows that babies and toddlers assessed as type B have better outcomes than others, in childhood they have better achievement and less involved in bullying (McCormick et al 2016). Have better mental health (ward et al 2006). Babies assessed as having insecure-resistant attachment and not falling into the categories have the worst outcomes.
  • Suggests strange situations measure something real and meaningful in a baby’s development.
• EVALUATION- good reliability- STRENGTH

  • Good inter-rater reliability.
  • Bick et al (2012) tested inter-rater reliability for the strange situations for a team of trained observers and found agreement on attachment type in 94% of cases. High levels of reliability may be due to the procedure taking place under controlled conditions and because behaviours involve large movements and are therefore easy to observe.
  • Means that we can be confident that attachment type as assessed by Strange situations doesn’t depend on subjective judgements.
• EVALUATION- test may be culture-bound- LIMITATION

  • May not be a valid measure of attachment in different cultural contexts.
  • SS developed in UK and US, may be culture-bound. One reason is that babies have different experiences in different cultures and these experiences may affect their responses to the SS. EG a Japanese study by Takahashi (1986) babies displayed high levels of separation anxiety and insecure-resistant. Suggest the anxiety response was not due to high rates of attachment insecurity but to the unusual nature of the experience in Japan where mother-baby separation is rare.
• EVALUATION- COUNTERPOINT- good predictive validity- LIMITATION

  • The Strange Situation clearly measures something important that is associated with later development. However , not all psychologists believe this something is attachment. EG Kagan (1982) suggested that genetically-influenced anxiety levels could account for variations in attachment behaviour in the Strange Situation and later development
  • Means that the Strange Situation may not actually measure attachment
• EVALUATION- other attachment types- LIMITATION

  • Main and Solomon (1986) identified a fourth category of attachment - a disorganised or Type D attachment , a mix of resistant and avoidant behaviour
  • However , Type D babies are unusual and have generally experienced some form of severe neglect or abuse. Most will go on to develop psychological disorders by adulthood.