Attachment: Types of attachment

Question 1

What are secure attachments (type B)

Answer 1

• strong bond between child and caregiver.
• if separated, the infant becomes distressed.
  -> when reunited child is easily comforted by the caregiver.
  -> secure attachments are associated with healthy cognitive and emotional development.

Question 2

What are insecure attachments

Answer 2

• Bond is weaker, Ainsworth est 2 types:
• insecure-avoidant (type A)
• insecure-resistant (type C)

Question 3

What are insecure-avoidant attachments (type A)

Answer 3

• if separated from caregiver, child doesn’t become distressed, can be comforted by a stranger.
  -> shown by children who generally avoid social interaction and intimacy with others.

Question 4

what are insecure-resistant attachments (type C)

Answer 4

• child is often uneasy around caregiver, but becomes upset if they’ve separated.
  -> comfort can’t be given by strangers, also often resisted from the caregiver.
  -> children who show this style of attachment both accept and reject social interaction and intimacy.

Question 5

Explain Ainsworth’s Strange situation

Answer 5

• Method: assessed how children react under conditions of stress and to new situations.
• controlled observation: 12-18 month old infants left in a room with the mother.
  -> 8 different scenarios: being approached by a stranger, infant left alone, mother returning etc.
• Results: 15% were insecure-avoidant -> ignored the mother, no distress when left, stranger can give comfort.
• 70% securely attachment -> content with mother, upset when left, happy on return, avoid strangers.
• 15% insecure-resistant -> uneasy around the mother + upset if left, resisted strangers + hard to comfort when the mother returned.
• conclusion: infants showing different reactions to carers have different attachment types.

Question 6

Evaluate Ainsworth’s Strange situation

Answer 6

(+) controlled observation -> variables controlled -> reliable results.
(-) lab-style situation makes it artificial -> reduces ecological validity.
(-) demand characteristics -> parents knew of the observation -> may change their behaviour which affects the behaviour of the baby.
-> may not represent real life behaviour.
(-) mother may not be the child’s main attachment figure.
(-) cultural relativity -> only set in the USA.

Question 7

Explain Van Ljzendoorn and Kroonenberg meta-analysis on the strange situation

Answer 7

• method: meta-analysis of strange situation in other countries (e.g. Japan, Britain, sweeten et) -> searching for patterns.
• Results: the percentage of children classed as secure or insecure were similar across countries tested -> however there were more differences within countries.
  -> west: insure-avoidant most common.
  -> non-western culture -> insecure-resistant most common.
• Conclusion: cross-cultural similarities -> common reactions.

Question 8

Evaluate Van Ljzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s meta-analysis of the strange situation

Answer 8

(-) cultural differences -> children raised in different ways in different cultures -> different cultures types in different cultures.
-> ‘strange situation’ may be unsuitable for cross-cultural attachment.
(-) use of different types of study -> may instead reveal different attachment type in different cultures.
(-) assumes different countries are the same as other cultures.
(-) meta-analysis can hide individual results that show an unusual trend.

Question 9

Give extra evaluations for the strange situation

Answer 9

(+) some cultural differences were found -> Grossman -> more ‘avoidant’ infants found in Germany due to the value of independence -> avoidance is seen as good.
-> individualist culture.

(-) causes of different types are debatable -> may be due to sensitivity of carer and / or their inborn temperament.

(-) doesn’t show a characteristic of the child -> only shows relationship with a specific person.
-> may reaction differently with other carers later in life.