ainsworth strange situation Flashcards
(16 cards)
what did ainsworth base her ideas off of?
she worked as bowlby’s assistant and developed his ideas from an explanation of attachment into the types of attachment
- she studies 28 ganda infants and their mothers and discovered that SECURELY attached children used their mother as a safe base to explore the world
- insecure attached babies tended to cling to the mother and refuse to venture away
what is the strange situation procedure?
a research technique used to assess attachment type in babies under the age of 1 year to observe 4 behaviour
how does strange situation work?
it is a structured observation which takes place in a room that is new to the baby and involves the baby, its caregiver and a stranger
- there are 8 episodes, designed to highlight certain behaviours where the caregiver and stranger alternatively stay with the baby or leave
what is the purpose of the strange situation procedure?
it enables observation of the baby’s response to:
1) separation from the caregiver - separation anxiety is shown by babies when they are left on their own without an attachment figure
2) reunion with caregiver - babies have characteristic ways of getting the caregiver on their return (reunion behaviour)
3) response to a stranger - babies respond to unfamiliar people in different ways, especially showing stranger anxiety (feeling fearful about someone unknown
4) the novel environment aims to encourage exploration and thus tests the secure base concept
how was the data collected?
collected by a group of observers using a video recorder or a two way mirror
- they note what the baby is doing every 15 seconds using behavioural categories such as whether the baby is showing contact-seeking behaviours
each item is scored for intensity on a scale of 1-7
what is secure attachment types?
sensitive, responsive parenting encouraged trust and safety for the child
what is insecure-avoidant attachment type?
behavioural cues ignored by mother and insensitive to their needs
what is insecure-ambivalent/resistant attachment type?
inconsistent parenting strategies both loving and rejecting and couldn’t rely on their mothers resulted in clingy children who did not trust the mother to stay close to them and who were angry on their return
what are the features of insecure avoidant (type a)?
- not upset when mother leaves the room
- will interact with a stranger
- does not seek closeness to mother
- will explore by themselves
- does not use mother as a safe base
- mother can be insensitive, rejecting and interfering
- 22% of children
what are the features of secure (type b) attachments?
- distressed when mother leaves the room
- avoids stranger and resists comfort
- seeks comfort from the mother
- quick to soothe
- uses mother as a safe base when around
- mother is sensitive and responsive
- when mother not around, not willing to explore
- 66% of children
what are the features of insecure-ambivalent (type c) attachment types?
- very intense distress when mother leaves the room
- shows signs of stranger fear
- child will seek mothers comfort but pushes them away
- cries more than other types and is clingy
- doesn’t explore
- mother cna be warm and responsive sometimes but rejecting on others
- 12% of children
what is a strength of this theory?
high reliability
- observations by experienced panel of researchers = high inter-observer reliability
there was a high level of agreement of ratings for exploratory behaviour
what is a weakness of this theory?
only have types a,b and c = oversimplified = reduced validity
- main and solomon (1990) studies videotapes of the SSP and defined a type D (insecure-disorganised)
- this defined by a lack of consistent patterns of social behaviour - therefore no strategy for dealing with stress of separation
there is also now a type e = disinhibited attachment (children with severe privation)
what is the low internal validity issue?
the aim was to measure attachment type of the children but it actually measures quality of a relationship
- main and weston = babies don’t have one attachment type, but several depending on which parent they are with, therefore may only be measuring the attachment type with the mother (one relationship)
what is the competing argument of the validity issue?
one can argue that there was validity if you were measuring the relationship with the primary attachment figure
- because the argument is that the kay factor determining attachment style is the quality of relationship between baby and primary care giver
how can this be applied?
it can be applied to childcare:
- cooper et al (2005) circle of security project
- caregiver taught to better understand a babies signals of distress and taught to understand the feeling of anxiety
this found an increase in securely attached babies (40%)
- therefore, the study of attachment is applicable in real life
