Attachment: Ainsworth’s Strange Situation

Question 1

What was the aim of the strange situation

Answer 1

• aim was to be able to observe key attachment behaviours as a means of assessing quality of a child’s attachment to their caregiver
• controlled observation designed to test attachment security

Question 2

Outline the procedure of the strange situation

Answer 2

• takes place in room with controlled conditions + two way mirror, through which researchers can observe
• procedure has 7 ‘episodes’, each lasting 3 minutes
• child encouraged to explore room, stranger comes in and interacts with child, caregiver leaves room, caregiver returns and stranger leaves, caregiver leaves child alone, stranger returns, caregiver returns

Question 3

What were the five behaviours used to judge attachment in the strange situation

Answer 3

• proximity seeking - infants with good attachment will stay close to caregiver
• exploration and secure base behaviour
• stranger anxiety
• separation anxiety
• response to reunion

Question 4

Outline the findings of the strange situation

Answer 4

• ainsworth identified 3 main types of attachment:
• secure attachment (type B) - 60-75% British toddlers, explore happily but return to caregiver, moderate separation/stranger anxiety
• insecure avoidant attachment (type A) - 20-25% British toddlers, explore freely but do not seek proximity, little stranger anxiety + little reaction when caregiver leaves
• insecure resistant attachment (type C) - 3% British toddlers, seek greater proximity, explore less, huge stranger and separation anxiety

Question 5

What are the three evaluation points for ainsworth strange situation

Answer 5

• support for validity
• good reliability
• test may be culture bound

Question 6

Outline ‘support for validity’ as an evaluation point for the strange situation

Answer 6

-attachment type as defined by the strange situation is strongly predictive of later development
- babies assessed as secure go on to have better outcomes - academically, romantically etc
- insecure resistant is associated with the worst outcomes - including adult mental health problems (ward et al)

Question 7

Outline ‘good reliability’ as an evaluation point for the strange situation

Answer 7

• shows good inter rater reliability - different observers watching the same children in the strange situation all agree on what attachment type to classify them as
• potentially because it is controlled setting + behavioural categories used are easily observed
• bick et al - looked at inter rater reliability in a team of trained strange situation observers + found 94% agreement

Question 8

Outline ‘test may be culture bound’ as an evaluation point for the strange situation

Answer 8

• cultural differences in childhood experiences mean children will respond differently to the strange situation
  -also, caregivers fro different cultures behave differently in the strange situation