Ainsworth’s Strange Situation Flashcards
(18 cards)
What is a Strange situation, in reference to psychological research?
It is a controlled observation designed to test attachment security. Infants are assessed on their response to playing in an unfamiliar room, being left alone, left with a stranger and being reunited with a caregiver.
What is Secure attachment?
It is thought to be the most desirable attachment, associated with psychologically healthy outcomes. This is shown by moderate stranger and separation anxiety and ease of comfort at reunion.
What is insecure avoidant attachment?
It is characterized by low
anxiety but weak attachment. This is shown by low stranger and separation anxiety and little response to reunion – an avoidance of the caregiver.
What is insecure resistant attachment?
It is characterised by strong attachment and high anxiety. This is shown by high levels of stranger and separation anxiety and by resistance to be comforted at reunion.
What is a strength of Ainsworth’s strange situation?
The strange situation has been used for cross-cultural research to assess different attachment types in different countries, this has led to the development of an understanding of different child-rearing practises across the globe.
What was the Aim of Ainsworth’s strange situation observation?
Ainsworth used structured/controlled observational research
to assess & measure the quality of attachment in order to investigate how
attachments might vary between children.
What was the Method of Ainsworth’s strange situation observation?
Controlled, covert observation designed to measure the security of attachment a child displays towards caregiver.
Time sampling method was used: each observation was 20
minutes and behaviour was recorded every 15 seconds within this 20 minute time frame.
Took place in controlled conditions- a laboratory with a two way mirror so that the psychologists could observe the infants behaviour.
The behaviours judged included:
Proximity seeking
Exploration and secure-base behavior
Stranger anxiety
Separation anxiety
Response to reunion
What is Proximity seeking?
Where an infant with a good attachment will
stay fairly close to the caregiver.
What is Exploration and secure-base behavior?
It is when good attachment
enables a child to feel confident to explore, using their caregiver as a secure
base (point of contact that will make them feel safe).
What is Stranger anxiety?
It is one of the signs of becoming closely attached is a display of anxiety when a stranger approaches.
What is Separation anxiety?
It is another sign of becoming attached is to
protest a separation from the caregiver.
Response to reunion?
When there is a response to reunion with the caregiver after separation for a short period of time under controlled condition.
What were the findings of Ainsworth’s strange situation observation?
Findings: Ainsworth et al (1978) found that there were distinct patterns in
the way in which infants behaved. She identified three main types of attachment:
Secure attachment (Type B) - 70%
Insecure avoidant attachment (Type A) – 15%
Insecure resistant attachment (Type C) – 15%
What did Main & Soloman
(1986) find that counters Ainsworth’s observations?
A minority of children display atypical (abnormal)
attachments that do not fall within types A,B or C behaviour.
This is known as a disorganised attachment where children display an
odd mix of resistant and avoidant behaviours.
How does Ainsworth’s observation lack ecological validity?
P: One weakness of the SS is that it lacks ecological validity.
E: Ainsworth conducted her observation in controlled, artificial setting which
was unfamiliar to both the parents and the infants. Therefore the children she
was observing may have acted differently than normal.
C: This means that we do not know if the behaviour displayed by the children
would be the same, making Ainsworth’s finding extremely less valid.
How does Ainsworth’s observation lack internal validity?
P: A methodological weakness of the SS is the type of observation she
conducted, which was overt in its design.
E: The parents knew they were being observed thorough the one way mirror
and therefore may have displayed demand characteristics.
C: This means the mothers may have been overly affectionate to their
babies which could in turn affect the behaviour of their behaviour.
How does Ainsworth’s observation show an Incomplete classification system?
P: A further limitation is that there is a possibility that the SS is incomplete.
E: Main and Solomon (1986) conducted subsequent research whereby they
analysed several hundred SS episodes via videotape and suggest that
Ainsworth overlooked a fourth type of attachment: insecure-disorganised
(inconsistent behaviour).
C: Further support for this claim comes from a meta-analysis by Van
Ijzendoorn et al (1999).
How does Ainsworth’s observation link to the nomothetic approach?
P: Ainsworth’s Strange Situation takes a nomothetic approach.
E: By taking a Nomothetic approach she is suggesting that all children can
be characterised (based on their behaviour in the strange situation) into just
three attachment types.
C: However, later research suggests that some children do not fit in to one of
these categories (insecure-disorganised) which suggests that an idiographic
approach may be more appropriate.
