Types of attachment

• What was Ainsworth's Strange Situation's procedure?

  • Controlled observation in a laboratory with a two-way mirror and cameras for analysis of behaviour

  1. Baby is encouraged to explore
  2. Stranger enters, approaches baby
  3. Caregiver leaves stranger and baby alone together
  4. Stranger leaves, caregiver returns
  5. Caregiver leaves baby alone
  6. Stranger returns
  7. Caregiver returns to reunite with the baby
• What behaviours did Ainsworth use to judge good quality attachment?

  • Proximity-seeking: babies will stay fairly close to caregivers
  • Exploration/secure-base behaviour: enables baby to feel confident to explore, using caregiver as a secure base
  • Stranger anxiety: displaying anxiety when a stranger approaches
  • Separation anxiety: signs of protest at separation from caregiver
  • Response to reunion: greets caregiver with pleasure and seeks comfort from them
• What is the secure attachment in Ainsworth's findings? (B)

  • Babies explore happily but regularly return to caregiver
  • Show moderate separation and stranger anxiety
  • When reunited they require and accept comfort from caregiver
  • 60-75% of British babies are classified as secure
• What is the avoidant attachment in Ainsworth's findings? (A)

  • Babies explore freely but don't seek proximity or show secure-base behaviour
  • Little to no stranger and separation anxiety
  • Little to no contact with caregiver at reunion
  • 20-25% of British babies are classified as avoidant
• What is the resistant attachment in Ainsworth's findings? (C)

  • Babies explore less and seek greater proximity than others
  • High levels of stranger and separation anxiety
  • Resist comfort when united with caregiver
  • 3% of British babies are classified as resistant
• What is one strength of research into types of attachment?

  • Good predictive validity: McCormick et al. (2016) and Kokkinos (2007) found that babies and toddlers assessed as type B (secure) tend to have better outcomes than others, including better academic achievements and less involvement in bullying
  • Ward et al. (2006) found securely attached babies go on to have better mental health during adulthood
  • Suggests the Strange Situation measures real and meaningful aspects of a baby's development
• What is another strength of research into types of attachment?

  • High reliability: Bick et al. (2012) tested inter-rater reliability for the Strange Situation for a team of trained observers and found agreement on attachment type in 94% of cases
  • High level of reliability may be due to the controlled conditions and easily observable behavioural categories such as proximity-seeking and stranger anxiety
  • Means we can be confident that attachment type as assessed was not dependent on subjective judgements
• What is one limitation of research into types of attachment?

  • Cultural differences: Takahashi (1986) found that Japanese babies displayed very high levels of separation anxiety meaning a disproportionate number were classified as insecure-resistant
  • Takahashi (1990) suggested that this anxiety was due to the unusual nature of mother-baby separation in Japan as mothers typically do not return to work after giving birth, not due to high rates of attachment insecurity
  • Suggests the Strange Situation is culture-bound and not valid for use across different cultures where other experiences may affect babies' responses to the experiment
• What is another limitation of research into types of attachment?

  • Limited explanation: Main and Solomon (1986) identified a fourth category of attachment called disorganised or type D - consists of a mix of resistant and avoidance behaviours
  • Type D babies are unusual and have generally experiences some form of severe neglect or abuse, most will go on to develop psychological disorders in adulthood
  • Strange Situation's findings are partial and don't cover every attachment type although others are rare