ainsworth strange situation

name behaviours identified by Ainsworth that indicate attachment strength

• proximity to mother

• exploration

• stranger anxiety

• separation anxiety

• reunion response

• sensitive responsiveness of mother to infants needs

• infants attachment is categorised into three types based on these behaviours

What was the aim of the Strange Situation study?

To assess the quality of attachment by observing infants' behavior in situations that encourage seeking comfort and exploration.

How many infants participated in the Strange Situation study?

About 100 middle-class American infants and their mothers.

What type of observation method was used in the Strange Situation?

Controlled observation with predetermined activities.

Outline type A according to Ainsworht

INSECURE AVOIDANT=

• keeps a distance from mother

• not using her as a secure base and exploring

• low stranger anxiety and separation anxiety

• avoids contact with mother on reunion

• little sensitive responsiveness was shown by mother

Outline type B according to Ainsworth study

SECURE=

• uses their mother as a safe base as they explore, high willingness

• moderate stranger anxiety

• has separation anxiety but are easily soothed

• happy reunion response

• caregivers show sensitive responsiveness

Outline type c according to Ainsworth study of attachment

INSECURE RESISTANT

• won’t explore

• inconsistent in wanting closeness or distance from mum

• high stranger and separation anxiety

• seeks and rejects on reunion

• mother is inconsistent on showing sensitive responsiveness

what percentage of children were a.b and c

insecure avoidant (a)= 22%

secure (b)= 66%

insecure resistant (c )= 12%

What was a significant conclusion from the Strange Situation study?

There are significant individual differences in attachment types among infants.

What association was found between mothers' behavior and infants' attachment types?

Mothers' behavior may influence the attachment type of their infants.

How long did each session of the Strange Situation last, except the first one?

Three minutes.

outline how the strange situation occurred

1. mother an infant enter room

2. baby explores

3. Stanger enters

4. mother leaves, baby alone with stranger

5. mother returns, stranger leaves

6. mother leaves

7. stranger renters

8. mother returns

what is an example of imposed etic in Strage Situation

MEANING=the application of a cultural concept to another culture, which may not be appropriate due to different cultural meanings

where behaviours have different meanings across cultures, making comparisons problematic

EVALUATION: why is was easy to replicate

P: considered good as it was easy to replicate

E: strange situation is highly controlled with standardised procedures and clear behavioural categories. this allows for consistent approach to studying attachment

T: therefore researchers have been able to replicate strange situation and compare results across different groups

EVALUATION: What is a criticism regarding the generalisability of the Strange Situation findings?

P: not considered entirely generalisable

E:The study is culturally biased as it was conducted only with middle-class American infants.

T: therefore the results can’t be generalised to the whole population as the sample is not representative of the whole pop

EVALUATION:the test may be culture bound -disagree

• Imposed etic- when researchers assume their own cultural standards apply to other cultures without considering cultural context.

• Babies in Germany are taught to be more independent. some babies are used to being cared for by many caregivers

• these infants would not show distress which could be misinterpreted as insecure attachment

• This means it is very difficult to know what the strange situation is measuring outside the US and Europe

EVALUATION: What potential issue could affect the internal validity of the Strange Situation findings?

P: the internal validity may be questioned

E:The stressful nature of the procedure may influence the behaviour of both mother and child. mothers may try to be more caring to look better in the study as they know they are being watched

T: this might reduce the internal validity as it is not accurately representing mothers and baby attachment

EVALUATION: other types of attachment were found= disagree

p: strange situation may not be completely accurate as other attachment types were found by Main and Solomon

E:looked at over 200 video footages of strange situation and suggested a type D (insecure disorganised)

Ex: it is not a consistent type of attachment eg very strong attachment behaviour then followed by looking fearfully at caregiver

T: this suggests Ainsworth original conclusion were oversimplified and do no account for all attachment behaviours

EVALUATION: observations had high reliability =support

P: while researching, they found good inter observer reliability, suggesting their results were accurate and reliable

E: measurements are confirmed as meaningful if agreement amongst observers. strange situation has an almost perfect agreement when rating exploratory behaviour (.94)

T: This means we can feel confident that the strange situation is not subjective and that the attachment types are correct and that they are consistent

EVALUATION: good predictive validity =support

P One positive of the strange situation was it had good prediction aspects of babies later development

E: Madigan et al found through meta analysis that insecure resistant predicted higher rates of aggression and mental illness in later childhood eg depression and anxiety

Ex: other researcher found positive mental outcome for securely attached children in adulthood

T: this suggests strange situation measure something meaningful and and real in a babies development

EVALUATION: low internal validity

P: one issue that strange situation might have low internal validity

E: Main and Weston found that children behave differently with different parents

T: this suggests that the classification of an attachment type may not be valid because what they are measuring is one relationship rather than personal characteristic.