L7 Ainsworth's strange situation test

2. Development

Strange situation test

A standardized procedure devised by Mary Ainsworth in the 1970s to observe attachment security in children within the context of caregiver relationships

Infants 9-18 months

Ainsworth’s strange situation: Study aim

To measure the quality of attachment infants had with their main attachment figure

Ainsworth’s strange situation: Sample

100 American infants and their mothers from middle class families

Ainsworth’s strange situation: Materials

Chair and toys for children to play with

Ainsworth’s strange situation: Research design

Experimental research

Ainsworth’s strange situation: Independent variable

Mother and stranger entering and leaving the room

Ainsworth’s strange situation: DV

Observed behaviour of the infant

Ainsworth’s strange situation: Procedure

7 episodes in a controlled lab setting - each 3 minutes in duration

1. Mother and baby alone

2. Stranger joins mother and infant

3. Mother leaves baby and stranger leaves

4. Mother returns and stranger leaves

5. Mother leaves, infant left completely alone

6. Stranger returns

7. Mother returns and stranger leaves

Strength of attachment - Strange situation observations

Exploration/secure base: Willingness to use mum as a safe base to explore the environment

Proximity seeking: Whether the infant stays located close to their mother

Separation anxiety: How anxious the infant becomes when around the stranger

Reunion response: Infants behaviour towards the mum on her return

Ainsworth’s three attachment types

Type A: Insecure avoidant (insecure) ~20%

Type B: Secure attachment ~70%

Type C: Insecure resistant (insecure) ~10%

Types of maternal responses to infants: Secure

• Caregiver is sensitive to infant’s signals and responds appropriately to their needs

• Mother has the time, resources, and desire to mother

  Consistent and supportive care

Types of maternal responses to infants: Insecure avoidant

• Caregiver is insensitive and rejecting of infant’s needs

• Caregiver may withdraw from helping during difficult tasks and is often unavailable during times of the infant’s emotional distress

  Rejecting of baby

Types of maternal responses to infants: Insecure resistant

• Infant receive an inconsistent level of response to their needs from the caregiver e.g. multiple kids, working

  Inconsistent care

Type A - Insecure avoidant attachment - 20%

Proximity seeking: does not seek proximity to the mother

Separation anxiety: no signs of distress when mother leaves - indifferent

Stranger anxiety: little anxiety around the stranger

Reunion response: little interest in the mother when she returns and does not seek her for comfort

Internal working model: believe themselves to be unworthy leading to poor relationships in life

Type B - Secure attachment - 70%

Proximity seeking: seeks proximity to the mother

Separation anxiety: moderate separation distress

Stranger anxiety: moderate separation distress

Reunion response: happy and seeks comfort from mother - easy to sooth and quick to settle back to exploration play

Internal working model: positive - worthy of love and respect from those they share relationships with during their life

Type C - Insecure resistant attachment - 10%

Proximity seeking: seeks great proximity to mother

Separation anxiety: high levels of separation distress

Stranger anxiety: high levels of stranger anxiety

Reunion anxiety: may approach mother but resists comfort, rejecting of the mothers attempt to sooth, unable to settle

Internal working model: negative - tries to receive attention by exaggerating emotional responses

Contributions of Ainsworth’s research

• Provides a highly controlled standard diagnostic tool used to measure strength and type of attachment between caregivers and their infants

• Provides empirical (evidence/research based) evidence of Bowlby’s attachment theory

Weakness of Ainsworth’s research

• Culturally based - created and tested in the USA

• Caregiver or infant might distort their behaviour due to the artificial laboratory type situation

• Unethical - causes distress in the infants

Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg (1988) - Aim

To carry out a meta-analysis of strange situation research conducted cross culturally across 8 different countries

Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg (1988)

• Evidence of all three attachment types in all cultures

• Type B (Secure) most common

• More insecure avoidant (A) in western Europe and the USA than in China, Japan and Israel

• More insecure resistant (C) in Japan - value an especially close relationship with their children