types of attachment - Strange situation

• Ainsworth strange situation - controlled observation, 9-18 month infants. Involves playing a child and their mother in an environment of mild stress observed and videoed through a one way mirror, 8 situations.
• 1

  Mother and child enter playroom
• 2

  Child encouraged to explore toys
• 3

  Stranger enters and attempts to interact with child
• 4

  Mother leaves whilst stranger present
• 5

  Mother enters and stranger leaves
• 6

  Mother leaves
• 7

  Stranger returns
• 8

  Mother returns and interacts with child
• he found: securely attached= won't cry at mothers leaving, mother soothes stranger anxiety insecure avoidant= little response to separation, no social interaction with others insecure resistant= high separation anxiety, resist being picked up
• • methodological issue, overt lab, parents aware. Issue of demand characteristics, mothers may be overly affectionate, could alter infants behaviour, makes study less valid
• • ethical issues, child distress
• + real world application, 'circle of security project' teaches caregivers to understand signals of infants distress
• + high reliability, under strict and controlled methods of predetermined behavioural categories