types of attachment- strange situation

• intro>>>

  - The strange situation was developed by Ainsworth and Bell (1970)

  - It’s a controlled observation to test attachment security by assessing the quality of a baby’s attachment to a caregiver
• procedure>>> (1/ )

  - takes place in a room in controlled conditions (I.e. lab) with a two-way mirror / camera so psychologists can observe the babies behaviour

  - Babies used to judge attachment included

  - Proximity-seeking

  - Exploration and secure-base behaviour

  - Stranger anxiety

  - Separation anxiety

  - Response to reunion
• procedure>>> (2/ )

  • The procedure has seven episodes – each lasting 3 minutes
  • The caregiver and baby enter an unfamiliar play room
  • Proximity – seeking : baby will stay close to a caregiver if they have a good quality attachment
  • Exploration and secure-base behaviour- good attachment allows a baby to feel confident to explore – caregiver as safe- base
  • Stranger anxiety- show anxiety when stranger approaches
  • Seperation anxiety – protest when seperated from their caregiver
  • Response to reunion – securely atttached babies greet the caregiver’s return with pleasure and comfort
• Findings- types of attachment>>>

  - Ainsworth et al (1978) found that there were 3 distinct patterns in the way babies behaved

  - Secure attachment (type B)

  - Insecure-avoidant attachment (type A)

  - Insecure- resistant attachment (type C)
• findings - secure attachment (type B)>>>

  - Babies are happy to explore but go back to there caregiver

  - Proximity- seeking and secure –base behaviour

  - Show moderate separation and stranger anxiety

  - Require and accept comfort from their caregiver at the reunion stage

  - About 60-75% of British babies were classified as this
• findings - insecure-avoidant attachment (type A)>>>

  - Babies explore freely but don’t seek proximity or secure-base behaviour

  - Show little/no interaction when their caregiver leaves

  - Little stranger anxiety

  - Little effort to contact caregiver when they return – sometimes avoid this contact

  - About 20-25% of British babies are classified as insecure –resistant
• ao3 predicts aspects of the baby's later development+ cp>>> (1/2

  - research shows that type B (secure) babies/ toddlers tend to have a better outcome than others both in child and adulthood

  - Childhood: better achievement in school , less involved in bullying (McCormick et al 2016, Kokkinos 2007 )

  - Adulthood: tend to have better mental health in adulthood (Ward et al 2006)

  - Those who have insecure- resistant attachment or don’t fall into types A B or C tended to have the worst outcomes

  - .. suggests that the strange situation measures real and meaningful in a babies development
• ao3 predicts aspects of the baby's later development+ cp>>> (2/2)

  • cp// Though the strange situation measures important factors associated with later development, not all psychologists believed it measures attachment
  • - Jerome Kagan (1982) suggested that genetically influenced anxiety levels could account for variations in attachment behaviour in the strange situation and later development
  • - … means the strange situation might not actually measure attachment
• ao3 good inter-rater reliability (~ the agreement between different observers)>>>

  - Bick et al (2012) tested inter-rater reliability of the strange situation for a team of trained observers

  - Found agreement on the attachment type in 94% of cases

  - High levels of reliability due to the procedure taking place under controlled conditions

  - Such behaviours (proximity- seeking and stranger anxiety) involve lots of movement – easier to observe

  - e.g. anxious babies cries and crawl away from stranger

  - … means attachment types assessed by the SS doesn’t depend on subjective judgements
• ao3 test may be culture-bound>>> (1/2)

  - May not be a valid measure of attachment in different cultural contexts

  - Strange situation was developed in the UK and USA – so might be culturally bound

  - Only valid for use in certain cultures ( western Europe, America )

  -Babies have different experiences in different cultures – these experience may effect their responses to the strange situation test
• ao3 test may be culture-bound>>> (2/2)

  A Japanese study by Takashi (1986) showed how babies displayed very high levels of separation anxiety, so many were classified as insecure-resistant

  - Takashi (1990) suggests that this anxiety response was not due to high rates of attachment insecurity but because the babies were in an unusual situation because the mother- baby separation was very rare in Japan

  • … mean very difficult to know what the strange situation is measuring in different cultures