ATTACHMENT TYPES + STRANGE SITUATION

• The strange situation was a controlled observation to test attachment
• PROXIMITY SEEKING - Good attachment means stay close to carer
• EXPLORATION + SECURE BASE BEHAVIOUR - Good attachment - baby is confident to explore - CG = secure base
• REUNION RESPONSE - Greet CG return with pleasure + seek comfort
• 60 to what % of babies fall into the secure attachment type?

  75 %
• 20 to what % of babies fall into the insecure-avoidant attachment type?

  25 %
• What % of babies fall into the insecure-resistant attachment type?

  3
• SECURE ATTACHMENT (high/moderate/low)

  • PROXIMITY SEEKING - Moderate
  • EXPLORATION/SECURE BASE - Moderate/High
  • STRANGER ANXIETY - Moderate
  • SEPARATION ANXIETY - Moderate
  • REUNION RESPONSE - High
• INSECURE-AVOIDANT ATTACHMENT

  • PROXIMITY SEEKING - Low
  • EXPLORATION/SECURE BASE - High/Low
  • STRANGER ANXIETY - Low
  • SEPARATION ANXIETY - Low
  • REUNION RESPONSE - Low
• INSECURE-RESISTANT ATTACHMENT

  • PROXIMITY SEEKING - High
  • EXPLORATION/SECURE BASE - Low/High
  • STRANGER ANXIETY - High
  • SEPARATION ANXIETY - High
  • REUNION RESPONSE - Low ( resist comfort after seeking it)
• STRENGTH 1 - Good inter-rater reliability

  E - Observers agree on attachment type - controlled conditions + behaviour categories = easy to observe - Bick et al - 94 % of infants agreed on by researchers

  L - Objective not subjective judgements
• STRENGTH 2 - Good predictive validity

  E - Type B ( secure ) babies involved in less bullying + better school achievement (Kokkinos 2007) - (Ward 2006) - better mental health

  L - SS measures something real + meaningful in development
• LIMITATION 1 - Some don't fit into the 3 OG attachment types

  E - Main + Solomon (1986) - Type D ( disorganised ) - mix of avoidant + resistant behaviour -

  L - Findings could be invalid as some children ignored by Ainsworth - reducing reliability
• Did Ainsworth or Bowlby conduct the strange situation?

  Ainsworth
• LIMITATION 2 - SS not generalised to other cultures ( culture bias )

  E - Takahashi (1990) - Not used in Japan - rare for separation of mother + child - Incorrectly diagnosed with insecure - resistant due to high levels of separation anxiety - REUINION - Child immediately picked up (cannot see reaction)

  L - Hard to know what SS is measuring outside Europe + USA