✔️The strange situation

Who was the strange situation proposed by?

Mary Ainsworth

What is the strange situation?

A method of assessing attachment type

What was her sample size?

100 American infants (9-18months)

How did psychologists observe the infants in the strange situation?

Through a 2 way mirror (8 episodes)

What were the 8 episodes (steps) that occurred and were observed in the strange situation?

1. Mother and child enter unfamiliar room

2. Mother sits on chair and reads magazine, infant encouraged to play

3. stranger enters and tries to interact with child

4. mum leaves and stranger interacts with infant

5. mum returns and stranger leaves

6. mum leaves child alone

7. stranger enters and interacts with child

8. mum returns and reunited with child

What were the 5 behaviours psychologists were observing?

• Proximity seeking

• Exploration and secure base behaviour

• Stranger anxiety

• Separation anxiety

• Response to reunion

What are the 3 types of attachment?

• secure (66%) Type B

• insecure- avoidant (22%) Type A

• insecure-resistant (12%) Type C

How do secure children behave?

Explore happily but regularly go back to caregiver (proximity seeking), moderate separation/stranger distress. They require and accept comfort from caregiver at reunion stage

How do Insecure- avoidant children behave?

Explore freely but don’t seek proximity or show secure base behaviour. Little/ no separation/stranger anxiety and little effort to make contact upon reunion (independent)

How do Insecure- resistant children behave?

Seek greater proximity and explore less. Huge stranger/separation anxiety, seeks comfort upon reunion but resists it (hot and cold behaviours)

What is the conclusion about attachment types? (how they’re determined)

Attachment type determined by primary caregivers behaviour

Evaluation of the strange situation? (1 strength, 2/3 weaknesses)

Strength/Weakness- methodological issues

strength- highly controlled (videos, multiple observers) high reliability

→ 94% agreement between observers on child’s attachment type

Weakness- Overt observation, mum knew she was being observed, altered her behaviour/way she interacted with child, reduces validity of findings

Weakness- Sample Issues

All american babies, could be argued results can only be applied to American babies (and american parenting styles)

→ culturally relative, can’t be universally applied

Weakness- possibility that Ainsworths classification of attachment is incomplete

Main + Soloman conducted subsequent research and suggested that Ainsworth overlooked a 4th type. Notes that some infants showed inconsistent patterns of behaviour- Type D, Insecure-Disorganised

CULTURAL VARIATIONS

What does it mean by individualistic culture?

Emphasises personal independence and achievement (UK, US and Germany)

What does it mean by collectivist culture?

Emphasises importance of family and shared goals above individual needs and desires (China and Japan)

Who’s the main researcher for Cultural variations)

Marinus Van Ijzendoorn

What was Marinus Van Ijzendoorn aim?

Look at proportions of secure, Insecure-avoidant and Insecure-resistant across a range of countries.

Also looked at differences within same countries to get idea of variations within cultures

What was Marinus Van Ijzendoorn procedure?

Looked at 32 studies where strange situation had been used to assess attachment type. 32 studies conducted in 8 countries, 15 in USA, overall 32 studies yielded results for 1990 children. Data of these 32 studies were meta analysed

what were the results (% of children with different attachment types) in Japan, Israel, Germany and the Uk?

Description of the findings of Van izendoorns study?

Countries, secure attachment was the most common (varied from 75 in the UK to 50% in China). Insecure resistance overall with the least common (ranged from three in the UK to 30% in Israel).

what was an interesting find from Van Izendoorns study about within culture variations?

Variations between results of studies within the same country was 150% greater than those between countries. For example in USA, one study found 46% securely attached compared to one sample as high as 90%.

Evaluation of research into cultural variations? (3 weaknesses, 2 strengths)

Weakness- biased sample, 27/32 studies in individualistic cultures

→ poor population validity

Strength- 1990 children, large sample size, more representative

Weakness- culturally biased

→ strange situation developed in America, only suitable for western cultures as it represents their values and norms- ethnocentric

Weakness- compared countries not cultures

→ within each country, there’s many sub cultures, one area of the UK not representative of the whole country