Attachment types

• Avoidant attachment can be caused by lack of emotional warmth or responsiveness from parents, which leads to infants learning that they cannot rely on others for comfort and support.
• Ainsworth's strange situation aim: to see how infants between 9-18 months respond to conditions of mild stress and novelty (separation from caregiver, unfamiliar environment).
• What type of experiment was Ainsworth's strange situation?

  a controlled observation method.
• What were the three behaviours shown by infants in the strange situation?

  separation anxiety, stranger anxiety and reunion behaviour.
• Separation Anxiety is when an infant shows distress at being separated from their primary caregiver.
• Stranger Anxiety is when an infant becomes distressed around strangers.
• Reunion Behaviour is when an infant seeks out contact with their primary caregiver upon reuniting with them, and shows general enthusiasm to reunite with the caregiver.
• Ainsworth's strange situation procedure:

  1. The parent and child play together
  2. The parent sits while the child plays alone
  3. A stranger enters the room, speaks with the parent
  4. Parent leaves, the stranger offers infant comfort
  5. Parent returns, stranger leaves
  6. Second separation
  7. Stranger returns
  8. Parent returns, offers comfort
• Stage 4 and 6 of the strange situation showed separation anxiety.
• Stage 5 and 8 showed reunion behaviour in the strange situation.
• Stage 3 and 7 showed stranger anxiety in the strange situation.
• Strange situation results - Secure: 66% of infants were securely attached, Insecure avoidant: 22% were avoidant, Insecure resistant: 12% were resistant.
• Secure exploration behaviour: High willingness to explore new environments with the caregiver as a secure base.
• Insecure avoidant exploration behaviour: Willing to explore but no engagement with the caregiver (insecure base).
• Insecure resistant exploration behaviour: Low willingness to explore, clinging behaviour.
• Secure attachment separation anxiety: Moderate/mild separation anxiety. Reduced play and exploration, may show some distress. This shows the infant trusts the caregiver will return.
• Insecure avoidant separation anxiety: low separation anxiety, infant shows little response to separation from caregiver, indifference.
• Insecure resistant separation anxiety: high separation anxiety, immediate and intense distress, inconsolable crying. Shows the infant does not trust the caregiver will return.
• Secure response to stranger: moderate/mild stranger anxiety, some signs of distress but not overly anxious.
• Insecure avoidant response to a stranger: low stranger anxiety, indifferent, willing to explore with or without the parent present.
• Insecure resistant response to a stranger: intense stranger anxiety, high levels of distress and total avoidance of the stranger.
• Secure reunion behaviour: Enthusiastic, no prolonged comfort needed as they are soothed easily. Instantaneous joy, return to play almost immediately.
• Insecure avoidant reunion behaviour: Avoid contact with the parent entirely. Independence.
• Insecure resistant reunion behaviour: seek contact from the parent but reject attempts to emotionally connect. Constant seeking and rejecting affection is conflicting.
• Ainsworth's study suggests that parents who are consistent and show high sensitive responsiveness are more likely to securely attach with their child.
• Parents who are inconsistent, neglectful and lack sensitive responsiveness are more likely to form an insecure attachment with the child.
• If parents employ the incorrect response in attempting to fulfil a child's needs as well as general inconsistency, The attachment formed may become insecure resistant.
• Limitation of the strange situation: Research has found that Ainsworth's study overlooked a fourth attachment type. Main and Solomon- found insecure disorganised attachment characterised by lack of consistent behaviour patterns and lack of coping ability. This is supported by Van Ijzendoorn's meta analysis of 80 US studies. Ainsworth's conclusions are oversimplistic, no account for all attachment behaviours.
• Strength of the strange situation: reliable observational study. observers agreed almost perfectly among themselves about behaviours of the children, experiences panel of judges. This gives the study inter-observer reliability (0.94 agreement). Results are reliable can be generalised.
• Criticism of the strange situation: Ethical issues - deception of the mother, artificiality of the environment, only tested on middle class white American mothers. Generalisations cannot be made to other cultures or socioeconomic groups.