Ainsworth’s ‘Strange Situation’

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Insecure Avoidant (Type A)

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Infants keep a distance from their mother, not using her as a secure base but exploring freely. The infant displays low stranger anxiety. If their mothers leave the room, they have low separation anxiety, when mum returns, they are indifferent, not attempting to get comfort from her. Their mothers seem to show little sensitive responsiveness to their infants needs

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What are Ainsworth’s 3 attachment types?

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  • Insecure avoidant (type A)

  • Secure (type B)

  • Insecure resistant (type C)

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20 Terms

1
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Insecure Avoidant (Type A)

Infants keep a distance from their mother, not using her as a secure base but exploring freely. The infant displays low stranger anxiety. If their mothers leave the room, they have low separation anxiety, when mum returns, they are indifferent, not attempting to get comfort from her. Their mothers seem to show little sensitive responsiveness to their infants needs

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What are Ainsworth’s 3 attachment types?

  • Insecure avoidant (type A)

  • Secure (type B)

  • Insecure resistant (type C)

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Secure (Type B)

Infants use their mother as a safe base as they explore their environment. They show a moderate level of stranger anxiety, and when separated from mum, they show separation anxiety, but a happy reunion response allows them to settle quickly back to exploration. Caregivers show sensitive responsiveness

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Insecure Resistant (Type C)

Infants do not explore the environment and are clingy, seeking closeness to mum. They have high stranger and separation anxiety, when their mothers return, the infants appear ambivalent, with mixed emotions, seeming to both crave and reject her attention. Mothers appear to be inconsistent with their sensitive responsiveness

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Ainsworth judged attachment by 6 behaviours, what are they?

  • Proximity to mother

  • Exploration/safe base behaviour

  • Stranger anxiety

  • Separation anxiety

  • Reunion response

  • Sensitive responsiveness (of the mother)

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Define ‘proximity to the mother’

The infant tries to stay close to the mother for safety and comfort

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Define ‘exploration/safe base behaviour‘

The infant explores the environment but keeps returning to the mother as a ‘safe base’

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Define ‘stranger anxiety’

The infant shows fear or distress when around unfamiliar people

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Define ‘separation anxiety’

The infant becomes upset or distressed when separated from the mother

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Define ‘reunion response’

How the infant behaves when reunited with the mother after a separation (eg seeking comfort or showing avoidance)

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Define ‘sensitive responsiveness (of the mother)’

The mothers ability to notice, understand and respond appropriately to her infants needs

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Ainsworth (1970-73) Procedure:

106 infants (48 to 57 weeks) and mother pairs participated in the original structured observations. Conducted in a controlled lab setting (room with toys) each stage lasted 3 minutes. Two observers behind a one-way mirror recorded infants’ responses at each stage. The stages assessed the infant’s proximity to their mother, willingness to explore, use of their mother as a secure base, stranger anxiety, separation anxiety, reunion response and the sensitive responsiveness of the mother to the infant’s needs

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What are the 8 episodes of Ainsworth’s ‘Strange Situation’?

  1. Observer introduces mother and baby to the experimental room and then leaves

  2. The baby explores freely, the mother does not interact

  3. Stranger enters. First minute: stranger silent. Second minute: stranger talks to the mother. Third minute: stranger approaches baby

  4. First separation episode: stranger interacts with the baby

  5. First reunion episode: mother greets and/or comforts baby, then tries to settle him again in play. Mother then leaves saying “bye bye”

  6. Second separation episode: the baby is alone

  7. Continuation of second separation. Stranger enters

  8. Second reunion episode: mother enters and the stranger leaves

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What did Ainsworth find?

Provided evidence for 3 distinct attachment types that seemed to correlate with the level of sensitive responsiveness shown by the mother

  • 66% of infants were classified as secure (type B)

  • 22% of infants were insecure avoidant (type A) - low sensitive responsiveness

  • 12% of infants were insecure resistant (type C) - inconsistent sensitive responsiveness

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What did Ainsworth’s research suggest?

That a secure attachment develops due to the attention of a consistently sensitively responsive mother

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AO3 - Standardised procedures

The strange situation is a highly controlled observational research study with standardised procedures and clear behavioural categories. This standardisation has allowed for a systematic and consistent approach to studying attachment, researchers have been able to replicate the strange situation and compare results across different groups

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AO3 - Predictive validity

Eg children classified as securely attached tend to have better social, emotional and academic outcomes in later childhood and adulthood. McCarthy studied 40 adult women assessed with the strange situation as infants. It was found adults with the most long lasting and secure adult friendships and romantic relationships were securely attached in infancy

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AO3 - Culture Bound Study

The Strange Situation was developed in one culture (America) and therefore it may be culture bound, not valid when applied to other cultures. An imposed etic is when researchers assume their own cultural standards apply to other cultures without considering the cultural context. Eg in some cultures children are taught to be more independent or are cared for by many caregivers, this infant would not show distress, which would be misinterpreted in the Strange Situation as signs of an insecure attachment

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AO3 - Highly Artifical

The highly controlled methodology is criticised as highly artificial. The observations lack ecological validity as they are held in a laboratory, not a familiar environment like the family home. Additionally, the observations lack ecological is overt for the mother, as she knows her behaviour is being monitored, so she may show more sensitive responsiveness than usual due to demand characteristics

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AO3 - Strange Situation may be measuring temperament not attachment type

Kagan’s temperament hypothesis suggests infants have an inherited high or low reactive temperament. High reactivity results in distressed babies and low reactive infants show low distress. The biological explanation explains the varying infant behaviour, but also the mothers behaviour, as they would struggle to interact with infants with high reactivity