Ainsworth's strange situation; types of attachment

Question 1

what are the three types of attachment according to Ainsworth

Answer 1

1) insecure-avoidant
2) insecure- resistant
3) secure

Question 2

define insecure-avoidant attachment

Answer 2

a type of attachment which describes those children who tend to avoid social interaction and intimacy with others

Question 3

define insecure resistant

Answer 3

a type of attachment which describes infants who both seek and reject intimacy and social interaction

Question 4

define secure attachment

Answer 4

a strong and contented attachment of an infant and caregiver which develops as a result of sensitive responding by the caregiver to infant needs. the infant is comfortable with social interaction and seeks intimacy

Question 5

outline the procedure of Ainsworth’s strange situation

Answer 5

1) an observation was conducted in a 9x9 room with a one-way mirror in which observers could watch
2) consisted of 8 episodes designed to highlight key behaviors
3) the caregiver ad Stanger alternatively leave with the infant or stay
4) observation of infants separation anxiety, reunion behavior, and stranger anxiety were recorded using behaviour categories every 15 seconds

Question 6

what were the behavioural categories used in the procedure

Answer 6

1) proximity seeking behavior
2) contact maintaining behavior
3) proximity-interaction avoiding behaviors
4) contact and interaction resiting behaviors
5) search behaviours

Question 7

outline the findings of Ainsworths’s strange situation

Answer 7

1) Ainsworth combined data from several studies to form 106 infant observations
2) she found noted similarities and differences between behaviors which ultimately clustered to form 3 types of attachment
3) secure attachment showed infants less likely to cry if mother leaves, show signs of distress when left with a stranger, seek bodily contact when anxious, easily soothed, comfortable with intimacy and interaction
4) insecure resistance- seeks ad rejects intamcy, immediate and intense distress when the mother leaves, high stranger anxiety, reunion behaviors showed conflict against contact
5) insecure avoidant= little response at separation, lack proximity seeking behaviors upon reunion, happy to explore without the presence of a caregiver

Question 8

compare willingness to explore between attachment types

Answer 8

IA- high
IR- low
S- high

Question 9

compare stranger anxiety between attachment types

Answer 9

IA= low 
IR= high
S= moderate

Question 10

compare separation anxiety between attachment types

Answer 10

IA- indifferent
IR- distressed
S- some easy to soothe

Question 11

compare reunion behaviours between different attachment types

Answer 11

IA- avoids contact
IR- seeks and rejects
S- enthusiastic

Question 12

evaluate Ainsworth’s strange situation

Answer 12

1) overlooked another form of attachmet= an analysis of 200 strange situations videotapes proposed a 4th type known as insecure-disorganized characterized by lack of consistent patterns of social behavior, for example showing strong attachment behavior suddenly followed by avoidance. Further research suggested that 15% of the infants were this.- suggests it was oversimplified and doesn’t account for all behavior
2) observations had high reliabiliyt- measurements are confirmed as meaningful if there is agreement amongst observers. Inter-observer reliability found almost perfect agreement between the rating of exploratory behavior (0.94)
3) real-world application- can develop intervention strategies to tackle disordered patterns of attachment between infant and caregiver. for example the circle of security project which helps caregivers understand infant signals of distress. The project showed a decrease in caregivers classed as disordered.