The strange situation

• What was the strange situation

  Method of assessing quality of attachment between baby and caregiver by observing key attachment behaviours
• What are the 5 key attachment behaviours

  1. proximity seeking
  2. exploration and secure-base behaviour
  3. stranger anxiety
  4. separation anxiety
  5. reunion behaviour
• Describe the procedure

  • controlled observation
  • two-way mirror so psychologists could observe baby's behaviour
• What were the 7 episodes

  1. child is encouraged to explore
  2. stranger enters and tries to interact
  3. caregiver leaves stranger and infant alone
  4. caregiver returns and stranger leaves
  5. child is left alone
  6. stranger returns
  7. caregiver returns and is reunited with child
• What were the findings of the Strange situation

  • Ainsworth observed distinct patterns in the way the babies behaved and identified 3 attachment types:
  • secure, insecure-resistant and insecure-avoidant
• Describe secure attachment

  • 70-75% of babies in strange situation
  • Explore happily but regularly return to mum
  • moderate separation & stranger anxiety
  • need & accept comfort upon reunion
• Describe insecure-avoidant attachment

  • children explore freely
  • do not show proximity seeking or secure-base behaviour
  • low levels of/ no separation or stranger anxiety
  • do not require comforting
  • 22% are classified as insecure-avoidant
• Describe insecure-resistant attachment

  • 12% of infants
  • seek greater proximity and explore less
  • extreme separation and stranger anxiety
  • refuse comfort upon reunion
• Describe a strength of the strange situation

  Attachment types are highly predictive of future development

  • securely attached babies tend to have better outcomes than insecurely attached babies in many areas:
  • in childhood- better achievement in schools and less involvement in bullying
  • tend to have better mental health in adulthood
  • insecure-resistant have worst outcomes
• Describe a counterpoint


  Not all psychologists believe strange situation is assessing attachment

  E.g Kagan suggests that genetically-influenced anxiety levels could account for variations in attachment behaviour and later development

  • This means strange situation may not measure attachment
• Describe another strength of The Strange Situation

  Good inter-rater reliability

  • Bick et al found 94% agreement between observers
  • this could be due to the study using controlled methods and predetermined behavioural categories that are easy to observe
  • This means findings are more meaningful as we can be confident attachment types identified do not depend on subjectivity
• Limitation of the strange situation

  • May be culture bound
  • Babies have different experiences in different cultures and these experiences may affect their response to the strange situation
• Japanese study

  • A large number of infants displayed high levels of separation anxiety and so a disproportionate number of them were labelled as insecure-resistant
• Takahashi's suggestion


  High levels of anxiety is due to unusual scenario in Japan where mother-baby separation is very rare rather than high rates of insecure attachment
• This means it is difficult to tell what the strange situation is measuring outside Europe and the US