Ainsworth's strange situation

strange situation

an observational method for testing strength of attachment between a caregiver and an infant devised by Ainsworth et al. (1971). Infants aged between 9–18 months were placed in a novel situation of mild stress, namely an unfamiliar room whereby they are left alone, left with a stranger and reunited with their caregiver. Ainsworth observed how the infants behaved through a one-way mirror during a set of eight different scenarios, each lasting approximately three minutes. Observations of the following behaviours were video recorded:

• Separation anxiety/distress on separation

• Reunion behaviour/seeking proximity

• Exploration/safe-base behaviour

• Stranger anxiety

66% - secure - Type B

22% - insecure-avoidant - Type A

12% - insecure-resistant - Type C

aim: to see how infants (aged 9-18 months) behaved under conditions of mild stress and novelty

sample: 100 middle class infants

consisted of 8 episodes designed to highlight certain behaviours

Strange situation stages

1) tests exploration - The mother and infant enter the room. The mother sits on one of the chairs and reads a magazine. The child is placed on the floor and is free to explore the toys.

2) tests stranger anxiety - A stranger enters and sits on the second chair and talks briefly with the mother.

3) tests stranger anxiety - The stranger approaches the infant and attempts to interact and play with them.

4) tests stranger and separation anxiety - The mother leaves the room so that the infant is alone with the stranger. The stranger comforts the baby if they are upset and offers to play with them.

5) tests reunion behaviour - The mother returns and the stranger leaves.

6) tests separation anxiety - The mother departs again leaving the baby briefly alone in the room.

7) tests stranger anxiety - The stranger re-enters and offers to comfort and play with the baby.

8) tests reunion behaviour - The mother returns and the stranger leaves.

types of attachment

secure, insecure-avoidant, insecure-resistant

strange situation results for exploration behaviour

secure - The infant explores unfamiliar environment, returning to the mother at regular intervals and using her as a safe-base.

insecure-avoidant - The infant explores the unfamiliar environment but does not return to the mother and does not use her as a safe base.

insecure-resistant - The infant does not explore the environment around them, choosing the stay close to the mother, i.e. being clingy.

strange situation results for separation anxiety

secure - Moderate separation anxiety: the infant’s play is seriously disrupted when the mother leaves.

insecure-avoidant - Low separation anxiety: the infant is not concerned by the mother’s departure.

insecure-resistant - High separation anxiety: the infant is extremely distressed and violent when the mother leaves.

strange situation results for stranger anxiety

secure - Moderate stranger anxiety: the infant is wary of strangers and will move closer to the mother when she is present with the stranger.

insecure-avoidant - Low stranger anxiety: the infant is unconcerned about stranger and shows little preference between mother and stranger.

insecure-resistant - High stranger anxiety: the infant becomes extremely distressed when the stranger goes to comfort them.

strange situation results for reunion behaviour

secure - The infant is pleased to see the mother, seeks proximity and is easily comforted in her presence. The child shows joy on reunion.

insecure-avoidant - The infant shows little reaction upon the mothers return and often ignores her. The child does not seek proximity or show joy on reunion, i.e. avoids intimacy.

insecure-resistant - The infant is not easily comforted by mother – seeks but rejects (resists) attempts of mother’s comfort on reunion.

limitations of the strange situation

• One weakness of Ainsworth’s strange situation is that it lacks ecological validity. Ainsworth conducted her observation in a controlled, artificial setting which was unfamiliar to both the parents and the infants. Therefore, the children she was observing may have acted differently to how they would act in a more familiar environment, such as at home. This means that we do not know if the behaviours displayed by children (for example, high separation anxiety) would be the same when the children are not in a novel environment, making Ainsworth’s findings less externally valid.

• A methodological weakness of Ainsworth’s strange situation is the type of observation she conducted, which was overt in its design. The parents in Ainsworth’s study knew they were being observed through the one-way mirror and therefore may have displayed demand characteristics. This meant that the mothers may have been overly affectionate towards their children as they believed this is the behaviour that the scenario demanded of them. In turn, this could have altered the children’s behaviour and therefore lowers the internal validity of the experiment.

• There is a possibility that Ainsworth’s classification system of attachment types is incomplete. Main and Solomon (1986) conducted subsequent research whereby they analysed several hundred strange situation episodes via videotape and suggest that Ainsworth overlooked a fourth type. It was noted that some infants showed inconsistent patterns of behaviour which they termed Type D: insecure disorganised. Further support for this claim comes from a meta-analysis of studies from the US conducted by Van Ijzendoorn et al. (1999) which found that 15% of infants were, in fact, classified as Type D.

• Ainsworth’s strange situation takes a nomothetic approach by suggesting that all children can be characterised (based on their behaviour in the strange situation) into just one of three attachment types. However, later research suggests that some children do not fit into one of these categories (insecure–disorganised) which suggests that an idiographic approach may be more appropriate.

• Furthermore, Ainsworth’s strange situation demonstrates a culture bias. Her theory and methods were based on Western ideals in relation to infant behaviour, categorising a higher proportion of children from other cultures are insecure–avoidant (e.g. Japan) or insecure–resistant (e.g. Germany). Consequently, according to Bowlby, such children will develop less stable adult relationships based on their attachment type and therefore Ainsworth’s culture bias could have potentially negative consequence for children in other cultures.

strength of the strange situation

The strange situation method of assessing attachment type is said to have high reliability. The observations took place under strict and controlled methods (including video recording) using predetermined behavioural categories. Since Ainsworth has several observers watching and coding the same infant behaviours, agreement on attachment classifications could be ensured. Ainsworth et al. (1978) found 94% agreement between observers and when inter-observer/inter-rater reliability is assumed to a high degree the findings are considered more meaningful.

factors influencing the development of secure and insecure attachments

1. maternal sensitivity - a mothers positive emotions, responsiveness to the child’s needs and gentleness of behaviour. The more sensitive the caregiver is, the more likely a secure attachment will develop

   e.g. Ainsworth - the maternal behaviour most related to attachment was sensitivity to signals and communications of the infant

2. temperament of infant

   e.g. Kagan (1984) - temperament plays a key role in attachment to the mother

strengths of the strange situation

• There is an absence of demand characteristics as the sample consists of young children (aged between 9 and 18 months). The children are unaware that they are being studied and so will not alter/change their behaviour. Therefore higher in internal validity as it is measuring the participant’s normal behaviour rather than how they think the experimenter wants them to behave.

• Large sample size (i.e. 100 infants), meaning the sample is likely to be representative of the whole population and therefore has high population validity. The results can therefore be generalised to the wider population.

• Parents do give their fully informed consent on their child’s behalf once they are aware of what they are required to do in the study.