Ainsworth Strange Situations

• Ainsworth and Bell ( 1970 ) is your key study for individual differences in attachment

  • Aimed to produce a method for assessing quality of attachment.
  • It places the infant in a ‘strange’ situation to measure the quality of attachment.
  • It systematically studies and measures attachment - therefore it is a controlled observation, this is when observational techniques are used in a controlled environment, this is different to a naturalistic observation, as they are carried out in a natural setting.
• Type A: Avoidant Insecure: 22% ‘I don’t care’

  • Willingness to explore - high
  • Stranger anxiety - low
  • Separation anxiety - indifferent
  • Reunion behaviour - avoid contact with caregiver
  • Caregivers behaviour - sometimes ignored infant
  • Space willing - no real worry - no safe space
• Type B: Secure Attachment 66% ‘I trust you’

  • Willingness to explore - high
  • Stranger anxiety - high
  • Separation anxiety - some easy to soothe upon return ( moderate )
  • Reunion behaviour - enthusiastic
  • Caregivers behaviour - sensitive
  • Space willing - but goes back to person they trust
• Type C: Resistant Insecure: 12% ‘I don’t trust you’

  • Willingness to explore - low
  • Stranger anxiety - high
  • Separation anxiety - distressed
  • Reunion behaviour - seeks caregiver but then rejects and isn’t soothed by them
  • Caregivers behaviour - ambivalent ( mixed signals)
  • Space willing - low
• The study shows there are significant individual differences between infants

  It shows that most American children are securely attached.

  There appears to be a distinct association between the mother’s behaviour and the infant’s attachment type. Ainsworth called this ‘caregiver sensitivity hypothesis’
• Evaluation:

  Culturally bias - do all cultures raise children in the same way - some culture may have different expectations and environments
• Evaluation:

  Ecological validity - can we generalise all real life settings? -

  Population validity - only tested on American children, reduces generalisability among all infants
• Evaluation:

  Internal validity - attachment or temperament of child? - child’s needs such as feeding and changing might not be fulfilled resulting in their cries/behaviour
• Internal validity - attachment or temperament of child? - child’s needs such as feeding and changing might not be fulfilled resulting in their cries/behaviour

  Can a child show type A/B depending on the carer they are with?
• Realisability  - controlled observation but other factors such as who the stranger is ( male/female ) may impact but depends on individual differences of the baby.
• Ethical issues - knowingly causing distress on baby, only small amount of time baby is distressed, baby would forget, - protection from psychological harm. CAN BE JUSTIFIED.