7. types of attachment

what is the strange situation

developed by ainsworth & bell 1970 - aim was to be able 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

• occurs in a room with quite controlled conditions (ie a laboratory) with a two way minner and/or cameras through which psychologists can observe the baby’s behaviour

what behaviours were used to judge attachment

1. proximity seeking - a baby with a good quality attachment will stay fairy close to a caregiver

2. exploration and secure base behaviour - good attachment enables a baby to feel condident to explore, using their caregiver as a secure base

3. stranger anxiety - one of the signs of becoming closely attached is a display of anxiety when a stranger approaches

4. separation anxiety - another sign of becoming attached is to protest at separation from the caregiver

5. response to reunion - babies who are securely attached greet the caregivers return with pleasure and seek comfort

the seven episodes of the procedure (each lasting 3 mins)

1. baby is encouraged to explore - tests exploration and secure base

2. stranger comes in, talks to caregiver and approaches baby - tests stranger anxiety

3. caregiver leaves baby and stranger together - tests separation and stranger anxiety

4. caregiver returns and stranger leaves - tests reunion behaviour and exploration/secure base

5. caregiver leaves baby alone - tests separation anxiety

6. stranger returns - tests stranger anxiety

7. caregiver returns and is reunited with the baby - tests reunion behaviour

findings

found there were distinct patterns in the way babies behaved and identified three main types of attachment

1. TYPE A - insecure avoidant

2. TYPE B - secure

3. TYPE C - insecure resistant

A - insecure avoidant

• babies explore freely but don’t seek proximity or show secure base behaviour

• show little or no reaction when their caregiver leaves, and little stranger anxiety

• make little effort to make contact when the caregiver returns and may avoid such contact

• about 20-25% british babies

B - secure

• babies explore happily but regularly go back to care giver (proximity seeking and secure base behaviour)

• usually show moderate separation distress and moderate stranger anxiety

• securely attached babies require and accept comfort from the caregiver in reunion stage

• about 60-75% british babies

C - insecure resistant

• babies seek greater proximity than others and so explore less

• show high levels of stranger and separation distress but resist comfort when reunited with their caregiver

• about 3% british babies

evaluation

1. good reliability

2. low ecological validity

3. test may be culture bound

4. other attachment types

good reliability

• strange situation has high inter-rater reliability

• bick et al 2012 tested inter-rater reliability for the strange situation for a team of trained observers and found 94% agreement between different observers - high reliability is due to controlled environment and clearly observable behaviours

• means we can trust it produces consistent, objective results

low ecological validity

• occurs in a controlled unfamiliar setting that may not reflect the child’s typical behaviour at home 

• the episodes that occurred are unlikely to happen in a real life scenario meaning infants may be wrongly classified reducing validity

• raises questions about how well the attachment types identified in the study generalise to real life situations

test may be culture bound

• it is ethnocentric and an example of imposed etic 

• because it assumes western norms and interpretations are the standard for all cultures which can lead to misinterpretations of infant behaviour in non-western contexts 

• eg in japan children are rarely separated from their mothers and the separation episode in the strange situation caused extreme anxiety as in TAKAHASHI’s study 90% of children had to stop the procedure due to distress 

• suggests the high insecure resistance rates may reflect cultural norms rather than attachment issues highlighting the need for more culturally sensitive methods of assessing attachment 

other attachment types

• main & solomon suggested there is a fourth attachment type - disorganised attachment

• they identified this as a mix of resistant and avoidant behaviours, suggesting attachment classifcations are more complex than ainsworths original three

• means ainsworths classifications may need updating to include type D attachment