Strange situation

• Outline the strange situation ?

  In 1970, Mary Ainsworth and Silvia Bell aimed to observe 106 infants aged between 9-18 months and assess them for their quality of attachment to their primary caregiver. They measured 5 behaviours; Exploration behaviour, proximity seeking behaviour, stranger anxiety, separation anxiety and reunion behaviour. 
• what was the method of the strange situation?

  There were 8 stages: Stage 1 – Mother and child enter, Stage 2 – The child is encouraged to explore by the mother, Stage 3 – Stranger enters and attempts to interact with child, Stage 4 – Mothers leaves leaving stranger and child, Stage 5 – Mother enters and the stranger leaves, Stage 6 – Mothers leaves, Stage 7 – Stranger returns and Stage 8 – Mother returns and interacts with child.
• what did they find from the strange situation?

  They found that children could classified as secure (Type B), insecure-avoidant (Type A) or insecure-resistant (Type C). 

  Around 70% were classified as secure, 15% insecure-avoidant and 15% insecure-resistant. She concluded that the way the mother acts towards the child and the child’s needs will have an impact on the child’s behaviour. This is called the Maternal Sensitivity Hypothesis.
• elaborate on type B children?

  Type B children used their mother as safe base and showed moderate distress when she left, welcoming her back on her return. They had moderate stranger anxiety and treated them very differently to their mother. The mother was sensitive to the child’s needs. 
• elaborate on type A children?

  Type A children showed a willingness to explore, indifference to mother’s departure and did not seek comfort from her when she returned. They also rejected the stranger’s attempts to comfort them but had little stranger anxiety. The mother was uninterested in the infant, not caring for their needs. 
• elaborate on type C children?

  Type C children explored less than the others and were very upset at separation. They were not easily comforted when the mother returned as they were angry at her. They alternated between seeking closeness and wanting distance and had high stranger anxiety. The mother interested in the child but misunderstood it’s needs. 
• What are the weaknesses of the strange situation?

  ethnocnetric

  artificial settings

  reductionist
• elaborate on ethnocentric as a weakness for the SS?

  research suggests that the SS uses an imposed etic of western values to judge attachment types. E.g. Takahashi (1990) found that Japanese babies had a high percentage of Type C, but this could be because it is very rare for mothers to be separated from their babies there. Ainsworth would suggest that these children are insecure in their attachment but this does not take into account that in Japanese culture it is desirable to show this type of attachment. Therefore, Ainsworth’s study is not useful in understanding attachment across cultures.
• elaborate on artificial settings as a weakness for SS?

  However, the artificial setting was unfamiliar to the participants and so the mothers may have behaved differently than when they were at home. They were also aware they were being watched so they may have acted more attentive towards their children than they do normally due to fear of being judged. This could result in a higher percentage of securely attached children being recorded and so distorts the results. Therefore, the methodology lacks internal validity.
• elaborate on reductionism as a weakness for SS?

  Soloman & Main (1986) argue that simply putting infants into 3 categories is too simple so they found a 4th attachment type (type D disorganised). Also, Kagan (1984) suggested the temperament hypothesis could explain differences in attachment type. This is that some children naturally seek out more intimate attachments than others and those born with more difficult personalities find it harder to form attachments. Therefore, Ainsworth’s SS fails to measure these innate tendencies, only assuming the mothers’ behaviour to be important.
• what are the strengths of the stage situation?

  One strength of the strange situation is the use of laboratory conditions, through this a high degree of control over extraneous variables can be created which ensures they cannot confound the results allowing a cause and effect relationship to be established. Furthermore the standardisation of variables means they can be measured accurately, increasing the internal reliability which in turn increases the external reliability as it can be easily replicated.