Ainsworth's Strange Situation

What was the name of Ainsworth’s procedure for measuring attachment types?

The strange situation

What two things does the strange situation test?

• Attachment type

• Quality of attachment

What was the sample of participants used in Ainsworth’s strange situation study?

100 middle class US mother-infant pairs

What was the research method used?

A controlled observation

What four aspects were specifically being tested within the strange situation?

1. Proximity seeking, exploration & secure base behaviour

2. Stranger anxiety

3. Separation anxiety

4. The response to reunion

The procedure itself consisted of how many episodes?

7

How long was each episode?

3 minutes

How many attachment types did Ainsworth identify from her initial study?

3

Name the three attachment types & the approximate percentages obtained

• Secure (65%)

• Insecure-avoidant (between 15-20%)

• Insecure-resistant (between 15-20%)

What are the characteristics of a secure infant?

• Explore happily but regularly go back to their caregiver

• Moderate separation/stranger anxiety

• Require & accept comfort from the caregiver in the reunion stage

What are the characteristics of an insecure-avoidant infant?

• Explore freely but do not display proximity or secure-bas behaviour

• Show little/no reaction when the caregiver leaves & make little effort to make contact with the caregiver when they return

• They show little stranger anxiety & do not require comfort at reunion

What are the characteristics of an insecure-resistant infant?

• Seek greater proximity & explore less

• Show greater stranger/separation but resist comfort upon reunion

Ainsworth reached two conclusions from her study. Name them

1. There are different types of attachment

2. The type of attachment between mother & child is largely dependent on the mother’s behaviour (particularly her sensitive responsiveness) towards the child

What were 3 advantages of the research method used?

• As the research is highly operationalised, observers have a clear view of how a securely attached infant should behave

• There is high inter-rater reliability

• It is replicable so its reliability can be checked

Waters was interested in how stable the classification was in infants from 12 months to 18 months. What was the greatest consistency in behaviours?

Reunion after brief separation

How many of Waters’ 50 infants were still in the same category at 18 months as at 12 months, suggesting that Ainsworth’s classification is consistent?

48

In what way can Ainsworth’s work be linked to Bowlby’s monotropic theory?

The idea of an internal working model given that the mother’s behaviour may be important in determining attachment type

Who found that mothers who had secure attachments themselves tend to be more responsive to their own children so producing securely attached children & what method did they use?

• Main

• Adult attachment interview

In what way can Ainsworth’s results be argued to have low population validity?

The sample was restricted to 100 middle class Americans & their infants

Why can we not assume that Ainsworth was measuring general attachment types?

• Children may form different attachments with different people (e.g. secure attachment to mother but avoidant with father)

• Attachment type must therefore be derived from consideration of more than one attachment relationship

What was the fourth attachment type that was developed & who proposed this?

• Disorganised

• Main & Solomon

What are the characteristics of a disorganised child?

The child would appear confused & apprehensive with no consistent response to the events of the Strange Situation

The procedure itself is culturally bias & suffers from what as a result of being tested on US children?

Imposed etic

What is a psychological term for the problem that non-Americans will be judged according to American standards?

Ethnocentric

Give an example of how Ainsworth’s work was ethnocentric

• Japanese infants were judged as being resistant due to high levels of distress that were observed

• But this reflects their lack of experience during the “infant alone” part of the research, rather than a resistant attachment type

Whose cross-cultural research suggested that the results are not universal?

Van Ijzendoom & Kroonenberg

Why might German children have shown differences from American, thereby suggesting a high insecure avoidant attachment type?

• In Germany, there is more interpersonal distance between parent and infant

• This means the infant is less likely to engage in proximity-seeking behaviour

Ainsworth’s focus was on the mother but what did Belsky believe were other factors that were important?

• Characteristics of the child

• Context (e.g. job conditions, finance, social support, family)

• Parent factors (e.g. mental health & relationships)

Who found that the infant’s temperament could explain the results of the Strange Situation rather than sensitive responsiveness of the care-giver?

Kagan

Why has proximity questioned the validity of Ainsworth’s work?

• Proximity-seeking is arguably a sign of insecurity rather than secure attachment

• Securely attached children would be more likely to be those that felt confident to explore their environments