Mary Ainsworth strange situation

• the strange situation was a controlled obersvation designed to test attachment security. infants are assessed on their response to playing in an unfamiliar room, being left alone, left with a stranger and being reunited with a caregiver
• the secure attachment was known as type B which is generally thought of as the most desirable attachment type associated with psychologically healthy outcomes. in the strange situation this is shown by moderate stranger and seperation anxiety and ease if comfort at reunion
• the insecure avoidant attachment is known as type A which is an attachment type characterised by low anxiety but weak attachment. in the strange situation this is shown by low stranger and seperation anxiety and little response to reunion
• the insecure resistant attachment is known as type C which is an attachment type characterised by strong attachment and high anxiety. in the strange situation this is shown by high levels of stranger and seperation anxiety and by resistance to be comforted at reunion
• the strange situation was developed by Mary Ainsworth (1969). the aim was to systematically test the nature of attachment by observing infants behaviour under conditions of stress and novelty
• procedure: the strange situation was a controlled observation designed to measure the security of attachment a child displays towards a caregiver. infants aged 9 and 18 months were placed in a novel environment which was a 9x9 room containing toys. observers could view the situation via video or a two way mirror recording what the infant was doing every 15 seconds.
• the behaviours used to judge attachment included 1. proximity seeking - an infant with a good attachment will stay fairly close to the caregiver 2. exploration and secure base behaviour - good attachment enables a child to feel confident to explore using their caregiver as a secure base 3. stranger anxiety - one of the signs of becoming closely attached is a display of anxiety when a stranger approaches 4. seperation anxiety - another sign of becoming attached is to protest at seperation from the caregiver 5. response to reunion - with the caregiver after seperation for a short period of time
• observed over 8 episodes lasting 3 minutes. 1. the child is encouraged to explore- tests exploration and secure base 2. a stranger comes in and tries to interact with the child- tests stranger anxiety 3. the caregiver leaves the child and stranger together- tests seperation and stranger anxiety 4. the caregiver returns and the stranger leaves- tests reunion behaviour and secure base/ exploration 5. the caregiver leaves the child alone- tests seperation anxiety 6. the stranger returns- tests stranger anxiety 7. the caregiver returns and is reunited with the child- tests reunion behaviour
• the observers record what the infant is doing every 15 seconds using the following behaviour categories 1. proximity and contact seeking 2. contact maintaining 3. proximity and interaction avoiding 4. contact and interaction seeking 5. searching behaviours
• Ainsworth et al found that there were distinct patterns in theway that infants behaved. she indentfied three types of attachment. 1. secure attachment (type B) - about 60 - 75% of British toddlers are classified as secure. 2. insecure avoident attachment (type A) - about 20 - 25% of toddlers are classified as insecure avoidant 3. insecure resistant attachment - about 3% of British toddlers are classified as insecure resistant.
• findings for secure attachment . 1. proximity seeking - moderate 2. exploration - moderate 3. stranger anxiety - moderate 4. seperation anxiety - moderate 5. response on reunion - easily calmed
• findings for insecure avoidant attachment. 1 proximity seeking - low 2. exploration - high 3. stranger anxiety - low 4. seperation anxiety - low 5. response to reunion - ignores
• findings for insecure resistant attachment - 1. proximity seeking - high 2. exploration - low 3. stranger anxiety - high 4. seperation anxiety - high 4. response on reunion - hard to calm
• conclusions - ainsworth concluded that the mothers behaviour toward her infant will predict the attachment formed. this is called the caregiver sensitivity hypothesis. the fact that the majority of infants were securely attached seemed to support this hypothesis
• there is at least one more attachment type that Mary Ainsworth overlooked. Main and Soloman analysed 200 strange situation videotapes and poitned out that a minority of children displayed an atypical attachment that do not fall within types A B or C behaviours. this is known as disorgansied attachment which is a mix of insecure resistant and avoidant behaviours. it is now widely accepted amongst attachment researchers that there are at least four attachment types that can be identified using the strange situation
• the strange situation measures a childs response to the anxiety produced by being in an unfamiliar environment. however, there is some controversy as to whether the main influence on this anxiety is attachment as Ainsworth assumed. Kagan suggested that temperament, the genetically influenced personality of the child, is a more important influence on behaviour in the strange situation than attachment. it means that temperament may be a confounding variable. this means it may not be valid
• the strange situation (ss) shows high inter rater reliability. observers watching the same children in the strange situation agreed on what attachment type to classify them with. this may be because the ss takes place under controlled conditions and the behavioural categories are easy to observe. Bick et al looked at inter rater reliability in a team of trained ss observers and found agreement on attachment type for 94% of tested babies. this means we can be confident that attachment type of an infant identified in the ss doesnt just depend on who is observing them