Attachment : Types Of Attachment

Question 1

Who developed the Strange Situation?

Answer 1

Mary Ainsworth and Silvia Bell

Question 2

Describe the procedure of the Strange situation

Answer 2

The strange situation was developed by Mary Ainsworth and Silvia Bell to assess the quality of a baby’s attachment to a caregiver.

Procedure:
- controlled observation
- takes place in a room with a two-way mirror and cameras for researchers to observe babies’ behaviour through

Researchers took note of a range of different behaviours to judge attachment, including:
- proximity seeking
- exploration + secure base behaviour
- stranger anxiety
- separation anxiety
- response to reunion

Question 3

What are the 3 types of attachment identified by Ainsworth?

Answer 3

1. Secure attachment
2. Insecure - avoidant attachment
3. Insecure - resistant attachment

Question 4

What behaviour is associated with a secure attachment?

Answer 4

• moderate stranger and separation anxiety
• easily comforted at reunion
• explore happily but regularly return to caregivers as their secure base

It is the most desirable attachment type and is associated with psychologically healthy development

Question 5

What percentage of British babies are classified as securely attached?

Answer 5

60-75 %

Question 6

What behaviour is associated with insecure - avoidant attachment?

Answer 6

Don’t care!!

• often characterised by low anxiety but weak attachment
• low stranger and separation anxiety
• little response to reunion, maybe even avoidance of caregiver
• explore freely
• don’t seek proximity or show secure base behaviour

Question 7

What percentage of British babies are classified as insecure avoidant?

Answer 7

20-25 %

Question 8

What behaviour is associated with insecure resistant attachment?

Answer 8

• characterised by strong attachment and strong anxiety
• high levels of stranger and separation anxiety
• resistance to being comforted at reunion - baby may seem angry at caregiver for leaving
• seek greater proximity and explore less

Question 9

What percentage of British babies are classified as insecure resistant?

Answer 9

3 %

Question 10

What are 2 limitations of Ainsworth’s strange situation?

Answer 10

❌ It lacks internal validity
- eg It only measures the attachment type with one caregiver - only mothers and their babies were in the study
- this could lead to identifying the wrong attachment type for the baby, as even though they may not show secure attachment towards the mother, they could have a much more secure relationship with their father instead
- eg also, the study ignores the influence individual differences on the baby’s behaviour (personality and genetics) - some babies may naturally be more anxious whilst some may be more extroverted
- This means that the study lacks internal validity as it doesn’t always correctly measure a child’s attachment type with their primary caregiver and ignores other factors which could explain behaviour.

❌ It lacks population validity
- eg it was primarily focused on Western culture since most of the studies took place in Britain and in America
- however this means the findings could be culturally biased as babies experience different things and are raised differently in different cultures
- eg in a Japanese study, babies showed more extreme levels of separation anxiety - however this could be because, as a part of Japanese culture, it is very rare for the mother and baby to be separated
- furthermore, since Western countries tend to be more individualistic, babies are often raised to be more independent, which would lead to them exploring more freely in the strange situation
- This means that findings vary depending on the culture, so lack both population and ecological validity, because results can only be generalised to the research settings in which they were found

Question 11

What are two strengths of the strange situation?

Answer 11

✅ It’s findings can be used to predict the baby’s later development
- research has shown that babies classified as secure in the strange situation tended to be more successful in school, were less involved in bullying during childhood and experienced better mental health in adulthood
- This means that there is some value in what findings from the strange situation can tell us.

✅ It has high internal validity
- it was conducted in a lab setting, so all variables were highly controlled
- this meant that any EVs and CVs would have been removed, helping researchers to establish a cause and effect relationship between attachment type and behaviour
- this also meant that the study is easily replicable so findings are highly reliable
- This means findings from the strange situation are reliable and valid.