Types of Attachment

• Mary Ainsworth's Strange Situation study provides evidence for understanding attachment behaviors in children
• Mary Ainsworth’s Strange Situation study provides evidence for the existence of the internal working model
• Ainsworth and Bell (1971) conducted a controlled observation recording the reactions of a child and mother (caregiver) who were introduced to a strange room with toys
• About 100 middle-class American infants and their mothers took part in the Strange Situation procedure
• The child experienced eight ‘episodes’ of approximately 3 minutes each
• Observers noted the child’s willingness to explore, separation anxiety, stranger anxiety, and reunion behavior
• Secure attachment:

  • Infants are upset when left alone by the mother
  • Infants are happy when mother returns and seek contact with the mother
  • Infants avoid the stranger when alone, but friendly when the mother is present
  • The infants use the mother as a safe base to explore their environment
• Insecure Avoidant attachment:

  • Infants are unconcerned by mother’s absence when she leaves the room
  • Infants show little interest when they are reunited with the mother
  • Infants are strongly avoidant of mother and stranger, showing no motivation to interact with either adult
• Insecure Resistant / Ambivalent attachment:

  • Infants are clingy to their mother in a new situation and are not willing to explore
  • They are extremely distressed when left alone by their mother
  • They cannot be comforted by a stranger and will not interact with them
  • When the mother returns they are pleased to see her and go to her for comfort, but then cannot be comforted and may show signs of anger towards her
• Critiques of Attachment Theory:

  • Reductionist as it assumes insecurely attached children will have poor-quality adult relationships
  • Correlational nature of attachment research means causal links cannot be definitively determined
  • Temperament hypothesis suggests innate personality influences attachment and later relationships
• In a controlled observation, Ainsworth observed (through a two-way mirror) babies' attachment behaviours towards their mother in order to assess their quality of attachment.
• 𝘼𝙄𝙈:

  To identify the attachment type of an infant to its parent (Secure, Insecure-Avoidant, Insecure-Resistant).
• 𝙎𝘼𝙈𝙋𝙇𝙀:

  100 middle class American mothers and their babies.
• 𝙈𝙀𝙏𝙃𝙊𝘿:

  Ainsworth observed a mother and her baby (9-18 months old) in a controlled environment, where there were 7 distinct episodes each lasting about 3 minutes.

  1. baby encouraged to explore
  2. stranger enters and approaches baby
  3. caregiver leaves baby and stranger together
  4. caregiver returns and stranger leaves
  5. caregiver leaves baby alone
  6. stranger returns
  7. caregiver returns and is reunited with baby
• 𝙅𝙐𝘿𝙂𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙂𝙊𝙊𝘿 𝘼𝙏𝙏𝘼𝘾𝙃𝙈𝙀𝙉𝙏:

  • Proximity-Seeking:

  = baby stays close to caregiver

  • Exploration and Secure Base:

  = baby feels confident to explore and uses caregiver as safe base

  • Stranger Anxiety:

  = baby displays anxiety when stranger approaches

  • Separation Anxiety:

  = baby protests separation from caregiver

  • Response to Reunion:

  = baby greets caregiver with pleasure and seeks comfort
• 𝙀𝙋𝙄𝙎𝙊𝘿𝙀𝙎:

  1. the baby is encouraged to explore (tests exploration and secure base)
  2. a stranger enters, talks to caregiver and approaches baby (tests stranger anxiety)
  3. caregiver leaves baby with stranger (tests separation and stranger anxiety)
  4. caregiver returns and stranger leaves (tests reunion behaviour and exploration/secure base)
  5. caregiver leaves the baby alone (tests separation anxiety)
  6. stranger enters (tests stranger anxiety)
  7. caregiver returns and is reunited with the baby (tests reunion behaviour)
• 𝗦𝗘𝗖𝗨𝗥𝗘 𝗔𝗧𝗧𝗔𝗖𝗛𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧:

  These babies explore happily but regularly go back to their caregiver (proximity-seeking and secure-base behaviour).

  They usually show moderate separation distress and moderate stranger anxiety.

  Securely attached babies require and accept comfort from the caregiver in the reunion stage.

  About 65% - 70% of British babies are classified as secure.

  
  

  The mother responds quickly, sensitively and consistently to the infant's needs.
• 𝗜𝗡𝗦𝗘𝗖𝗨𝗥𝗘-𝗔𝗩𝗢𝗜𝗗𝗔𝗡𝗧 𝗔𝗧𝗧𝗔𝗖𝗛𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧:

  These babies explore freely but do not seek proximity or show secure-base behaviour.

  They show little or no reaction when the caregiver leaves and little stranger anxiety.

  They make little effort to renew contact when the caregiver returns and may even avoid such contact.

  About 20% - 25% of British babies are classified as insecure-avoidant.

  
  

  The mother tends to ignore the infant, acts disengaged, tends to be self-centred and rigid in behaviour.
• 𝗜𝗡𝗦𝗘𝗖𝗨𝗥𝗘-𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗧 𝗔𝗧𝗧𝗔𝗖𝗛𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧:

  These babies seek greater proximity than others and explore less as they have difficulty moving away from caregiver.

  They show high levels of stranger and separation distress but they resist comfort when reunited with caregiver (show anger).

  Infant tends to ignore stranger and resists their attempts at interaction.

  Around 3% of British babies are insecure-resistant.

  
  

  The mother sometimes rejects and is angry with the infant but sometimes overly sensitive and responsive - inconsistent (responds when she feels like it).
• 𝘼𝙄𝙉𝙎𝙒𝙊𝙍𝙏𝙃:

  • A controlled observation: Researcher manipulates key variables and environment.
  • Secure-base behaviour: Assesses exploration and contact behaviour with caregiver.
  • Anxiety: Assesses stranger and separation anxiety.
  • Reunion: Assesses the child's response to caregiver's return.
  • Attachment types: Babies classified with attachment type according to above – secure, insecure–avoidant and insecure–resistant.
• What method is used to measure attachment types in children?

  Ainsworth's strange situation.
• What are the behaviours that Ainsworth uses to judge attachment?

  • proximity seeking
  • exploration and secure base behaviour
  • stranger anxiety
  • separation anxiety
  • response to reunion
• List the episodes of Ainsworth's strange situation.

  1. child and mother enter unfamiliar playroom
  2. child encouraged to explore
  3. stranger enters and attempts to interact with the child
  4. mother leaves child and stranger together
  5. mother returns and stranger leaves
  6. mother leaves
  7. stranger returns
  8. mother returns and is reunited with the child
• List the three attachment types.

  • secure attachment
  • insecure-avoidant attachment
  • insecure-resistant attachment
• What personality will an insecure-resistant child tend to develop?

  Controlling and argumentative.