A03 Ainsworth's Strange Situation

• Support for Validity

  Babies assessed as 'secure' tend to have better outcomes in many aspects: school, romantic relationships, friendships in adulthood
• Associations with insecure-resistant attachment

  Kokkinos found insecure-resistant attachment is associated with the worst outcomes like bullying in childhood. Ward et al found adult mental health problems due to insecure-resistant attachment. Evidence for validity of concept as it can explain subsequent outcomes
• Good reliability

  Good interrater reliability as the strange situation takes place under controlled observations and behavioural categories are east to observe
• Subjectivity

  Bick et al said that observers in strange situation agreed on attachment type for 94% of tested babies. Thus, we know the strange situation does not just depend on who observes them making it not subjective
• The test may be culture-bound

  Strange situation does not have the same meaning in countries outside Western Europe and USA. Cultural differences in childhood experiences likely to mean that children respond differently to the strange situation. Caregivers from different cultures behave differently
• Takahashi


  Found that strange situation does not work in Japan as mothers do not separate from children much and in reunion stage, the mothers scooped the babies so they couldn't be seen
• What does the strange situation measure?

  Measures child's responses to the attachment produces by being in an unfamiliar environment. Controversy whether main influence on anxiety is attachment. Kagan found temperament is more important and it may be a confounding variable
• There is at least one more attachment type

  Ainsworth conceived of 3 attachment types but Main and Solomon pointed out minority of children display atypical attachments that don't fall with Types A,B,C behaviour- disorganised attachment. Disorganised children display odd mix of resistant/avoidant behaviours