Types of Attachment: The Strange Situation

• What was the Strange Situation?

  - A controlled observation developed by Ainsworth and Bell (1970) designed to test attachment security.

  - They aimed to be able to observe key attachment behaviours as a means of assessing the quality of a baby's attachment to a caregiver.

  - The behaviours used to measure attachment security include:

  - Proximity-seeking: a baby with good quality attachment will stay fairly close to a caregiver.

  - Exploration and secure-base behaviour: good attachment enables a baby to feel confident to explore, using their caregiver as a secure base.

  - Stranger anxiety: one of the signs of becoming closely attached is a display of anxiety when a stranger approaches.

  - Separation anxiety: another sign of becoming attached is to protest at separation from the caregiver.

  - Response to reunion: babies who are securely attached greet the caregiver's return with pleasure and seek comfort.
• The procedure

  - The Strange Situation takes place in a room with controlled conditions (a lab) with a two-way mirror and/or cameras where psychologists can observe the baby's behaviour.

  - The procedure is comprised of seven episodes.

  1. The baby is encouraged to explore. (Tests exploration and secure-base behaviour)

  2. A stranger comes in, talks to the caregiver and approaches the baby. (Tests stranger anxiety)

  3. The caregiver leaves the baby and stranger together. (Tests separation and stranger anxiety)

  4. The caregiver returns and the stranger leaves. (Tests reunion behaviour and exploration and secure-base behaviour)

  5. The caregiver leaves the baby alone. (Tests separation anxiety)

  6. The stranger returns. (Tests stranger anxiety)

  7. The caregiver returns and is reunited with the baby. (Tests reunion behaviour)
• Findings of Ainsworth et al. (1978)

  - Ainsworth et al. identified 3 types of attachment: secure attachment (type B), insecure-avoidant attachment (type A) and insecure-resistant attachment (type C).

  - Secure attachment: Explore the area happily but regularly return to the caregiver. Usually show moderate levels of separation and stranger anxiety. Require and accept comfort from the caregiver at reunion. Approx. 60-75% of British babies are securely attached.

  - Insecure-avoidant attachment: Explore freely but do not seek proximity or show secure-base behaviour. Little to no separation and stranger anxiety. Make little effort to make contact with the caregiver at reunion, and may even avoid it. Approx. 20-25% of British babies are classified as insecure-avoidant.

  - Insecure-resistant attachment: Seek greater proximity to caregiver and so explore less. High levels of separation and stranger anxiety, but resist comfort from caregiver at reunion. Approx. 3% of British babies are insecure-resistant.
• Evaluating the Strange Situation: Good predictive validity (with counterpoint)

  - A strength of the SS is that its outcome predicts a number of aspects of a baby's development.

  - Lots of research has shown that babies and toddlers assessed as secure tend to have better outcomes than others, both in later childhood and adulthood.

  - McCormick et al. (2016) and Kokkinos (2007) found that in childhood, this takes the shape of better achievement in school and less involvement in bullying.

  - Moreover, Ward et al. (2006) found that securely attached babies go on to have better mental health in adulthood.

  - Those assessed as insecure-resistant and those not falling into Types A, B or C tend to have the worst outcomes.

  - These findings suggest that the SS measures something real and meaningful in a baby's development.

  
  

  - Counterpoint: The SS clearly measures something important that is associated with later development.

  - However, not all psychologists believe that this is attachment. Kagan (1982) suggested that genetically-influenced anxiety levels could account for variations in attachment behaviour in the SS and later development.

  - This means that the SS may not actually measure attachment.
• Evaluating the Strange Situation: Good reliability

  - Another strength of the SS is that it has good inter-rater reliability.

  - Bick et al. (2012) tested the inter-rater reliability of the Strange Situation for a team of observers and found that they agreed on the attachment type 94% of the time.

  - This high level of reliability may be because of the highly-controlled conditions and also because the observed behaviours are large movements, and so are easier to observe.

  - This means that we can be confident that attachment type identified by the SS isn't dependent on subjective judgements
• Evaluating the Strange Situation: The test may be culture-bound

  - A limitation of the SS is that it may not be a valid measure of attachment in different cultures.

  - The procedure was developed in the USA and England, therefore, it my only be applicable and valid in Western cultures.

  - This is because babies in different cultures have different upbringings, and so may have different responses to the stages of the SS.

  - For example, Takahashi (1986) found that Japanese babies displayed very high levels of separation anxiety, therefore a disproportionate number were classed as insecure-resistant.

  - Takahashi (1990) suggested that this is because in Japanese culture, mother and baby separation is very rare.

  - This means that the SS may not be measuring attachment in cultures outside of England and the USA.
• Evaluating the Strange Situation: Other attachment types

  - Main and Solomon (1986) identified a fourth category of attachment, known as Type D, or disorganised attachment.

  - Babies of this type show a mix of avoidant and resistant behaviours.

  - However Type D babies are rare and have generally experienced some form of severe neglect or abuse. Most will go on to develop mental disorders by or during adulthood.