Ainsworth's Strange Situation

• Ainsworth wanted to observe key attachment behaviour as a means of assessing the quality of a baby's attachment to a caregiver
• Takes place in a room with controlled conditions, a two-way mirror and cameras for observation
• Behaviours used to judge attachment included:

  1. Proximity seeking
  2. Exploration and secure base behaviour
  3. Stranger anxiety
  4. Separation anxiety
  5. Response to reunion
• Proximity seeking- whether or not a child seeks to stay close to a CG
• Exploration and secure base behaviour- the confidence to explore, using the CG as a secure base
• Stranger anxiety- How the infant displays signs of distress when a stranger approaches
• Separation anxiety- How does the infant react when separated from the CG
• Response to reunion- reaction when the CG returns after a period of separation
• 1. CG and baby enter an unfamiliar playroom
  2. Baby explores
  3. Stranger come in, talks to CG and approaches baby
  4. CG leaves baby with stranger
  5. CG returns, stranger leaves
  6. CG leaves baby alone
  7. Stranger returns
  8. CG returns and is reunited with baby
• Baby exploring tests exploration and CG as a base
• The stranger tests stranger anxiety
• CG leaving tests separation anxiety
• CG returning tests reunion behaviour
• Types of attachment

  1. insecure-avoidant
  2. Secure
  3. Insecure-resistant
• Insecure avoidant

  • explores freely
  • Avoids interaction
  • No base behaviour
  • Little to no reaction to CG leaving
  • Little effort during reunion
  • Little stranger anxiety
  • 15% of infants
• secure

  • explores happily but regularly returns to CG
  • Interacts with CG in a cooperative manner
  • CG=secure base
  • Mild distress reaction to CG leaving
  • Require and accept comfort during reunion
  • Mild stranger anxiety
  • 70% of infants
• Insecure resistant

  • explores less
  • seeks and resists interaction
  • greater proximity than others
  • Extreme stranger and separation anxiety
  • Resists CG during reunion
  • 15% of infants
• Ainsworth (1978) suggested that the caregiver's behaviour towards her infant will predict attachment type
• Ainsworth came up with the caregiver sensitivity hypothesis
• Attachment differences depended upon the sensitivity of the caregiver
• Sensitive caregivers generally had infants who were securely attached
• Less sensitive and responsive CGs had babies who were more likely to be insecurely attached
• STRENGTHS

  • Good predictive value- Kokkinos (2007) found that securely attached babies typically have greater success in many areas in future life
  • High inter-rater reliability- Bick et al (2012) found agreement on attachment type for 94% of tested babies
• LIMITATIONS

  • lacks ecological validity- study was conducted in labs, not the baby's natural environment, which may affect behaviour
  • Cultural bias- Takahashi (1990) proposed Japanese babies have higher levels of separation anxiety as they rarely spend time away from their mothers. They are incorrectly labelled insecure resistant.