Types of attachment

Ainsworth's 'Strange Situation'

- Developed by Ainsworth and Bell (1970). The aim was to observe key attachment behaviours as a means of assessing the quality of a baby's attachment to a caregiver

Procedure

- Controlled observation designed to measure the security of attachment a baby displays towards a caregiver. Takes place in a room with controlled conditions (laboratory) with a two-way mirror and/or cameras so psychologists can observe the baby's behaviour used to judge attachment. The procedure has seven episodes, each of which lasts three minutes

Behaviours used to judge attachment: Proximity-seeking

- A baby with a good quality will stay fairly close to a caregiver

Behaviours used to judge attachment: Exploration and secure-base behaviour

- Good attachment enables a baby to feel confident to explore, using their caregiver as a point of contact that will make them feel safe

Behaviours used to judge attachment: Stranger anxiety

- One of the signs of becoming closely attached is a display of this when a stranger approaches

Behaviours used to judge attachment: Separation anxiety

- Another sign of becoming attached is to protest at this from the caregiver

Behaviours used to judge attachment: Response to reunion

- Babies who are securely attached greet the caregiver's return with pleasure and seek comfort

Findings (Types of attachment)

- Ainsworth et al (1978) found that there were distinct patterns in the way that babies behaved. They identified three main types of attachment

Findings (Types of attachment): Secure attachment

- These babies explore happily but regularly go back to the caregiver (proximity-seeking and secure-base behaviour). They usually show moderate separation anxiety and moderate stranger anxiety. These type of babies require and accept comfort from the caregiver in the reunion stage. About 60-75% of British babies are classified as this

Findings (Types of attachment): Insecure-avoidant attachment

- These babies explore freely but do not seek proximity or show secure-base behaviour. They show little to no reaction when their caregiver leaves and little stranger anxiety. They make little effort to make contact when the caregiver returns and may even avoid such contact. About 20-25% of British babies are classified as this

Findings (Types of attachment): Insecure-resistant attachment

- These babies seek greater proximity than others and so explore less. They show high levels of stranger and separation anxiety but they resist comfort when reunited with their caregiver. Around 3% of British babies are classified as this

Evaluation: Strengths (1)

- The outcome of the Strange Situation predicts a number of aspects of the baby's later development. (Good predictive validity). A body of research has shown that babies and toddlers assessed as secure tend to have better outcomes than others, both in later childhood and adulthood. In childhood this includes better achievements and less involvement in bullying (McCormick et al 2016, Kokkinos 2007). Securely attached babies also tend to go on to have better mental health in adulthood (Ward et al 2006). Babies assessed as being insecure-resistant tend to have the worst outcomes

- This suggests the Strange Situation measures something real and meaningful in a baby's development

Genetically influenced anxiety levels being measured instead?

Evaluation: Strengths (2)

- Good inter-rater reliability. Bick et al (2012) tested inter-rater reliability for the Strange Situation for a team of trained observers and found agreement on attachment type in 94% of cases. This high level of reliability may be because the procedure takes place under controlled conditions and because the behaviours tested require large and clear movements and are therefore easy to observe, e.g. anxious babies cry and crawl away from strangers

- This means that we can be confident that attachment type as assessed by the Strange Situation does not depend on subjective judgements

Evaluation: Weaknesses

- May not be a valid measure of attachment in different cultural contexts. The Strange Situation was developed in Britain and the US. It may be culture-bound. One reason for this is that babies have different experiences in different cultures and these experiences may affect their responses to the Strange Situation. Takahashi (1986) found that babies displayed very high levels of separation anxiety and so were classified as insecure-resistant. Takahashi (1990) suggests that this response was because of the unusual nature of the experience in Japan where mother-baby separation is rare

- This means it is very difficult to know what the Strange Situation is measuring when used outside Europe and the US

What were the behaviours used to judge attachment?

• Proximity-seeking

• Exploration and secure-base behaviour

• Stranger anxiety

• Separation anxiety

• Response to reunion

What were the types of attachment?

• Secure attachment

• Insecure-avoidant

• Insecure-resistant

Strengths

Observation

RWA