ainsworth Strange Sitaution

Question 1

aim

Answer 1

to identify different attachment types and the quality of attachments by observing attachment behaviours

Question 2

what is the Strange situation

Answer 2

controlled observation procedure designed to measure attachment child displays towards a caregiver

developed by mary wins worth and invokes a series’s of episodes where child is left alone and stranger comes in and out of the room

Question 3

procedure of Ainsworth SS

Answer 3

child and caregiver enter an unfamiliar playroom

child encouraged to explore

stranger comes in and tries to interact with child

caregiver leaves the child and stranger together

caregiver returns and the stranger leaves

caregiver leaves child alone

stranger returns

caregiver returns and is reunited with child

Question 4

findings

Answer 4

found there are three main attachment types

Secure attachment
Insecure-avoidant
Insecure-resistant
study tip:SIIC

Question 5

secure attachment (Type B)

Answer 5

most desirable attachment type
infant shows moderate levels of separation and stranger anxiety
securely attached babies play happily and use caregiver as a secure base

Question 6

Insecure-avoidant attachment (Type A)

Answer 6

shown by low anxiety but weak attachment
these babies explore freely but do not seek proximity or show secure base behaviour. They show little/no reaction when their caregiver leaves and little stranger anxiety

Question 7

Insecure-resistant attachment(Type C)

Answer 7

an attachment type characterised by strong attachment and intense anxiety
these babies seek greater proximity than others and so explore less
show high levels of stranger and separation anxiety but can resist comfort when reunited with their caregiver

Question 8

weakness-test may be culture bound

Answer 8

ss may not be valid measure of attachment in dfferent cultural contexts. SS was developed in Britain and the USA hence may be culture-bound e.g only valid for use in certain cultures. One reason for this is that babies have different experiences in different cultures abd these experinces may affect their responses to the SS

Question 9

weakness-SS lacks ecological validity

Answer 9

procedure is low in ecological validity. this is because Ainsworth and Bell had strict control over the events that occurred in the controlled observation and it’s extraneous variables

Question 10

strength-SS shows good reliability

Answer 10

Bick et al tested inter-rated relativistic for the SS for a team of trained observers and found an agreement on attachment type in 94% of cases

Question 11

weakness-low in internal validity

Answer 11

this is because of Main and Weston found children behave diffeeenyly depending on which parent they were with

Question 12

findings of attachment types

Answer 12

secure attachment-60-75% babies are secure

insecure-avoidant attachment-20-25% babies are insecure avoidant

insecure resistant-3% babies insecure resistant