The Strange Situation (Ainsworth 1971)

Question 1

Define Strange situation

Answer 1

A controlled observation designed to test attachment security. Infants are assessed on their response to playing in an unfamiliar room, being left alone, left with a stranger and being reunited with a caregiver.

Question 2

Define secure attachment

Answer 2

Generally thought of as the most desirable attachment type, associated with psychologically healthy outcomes. In the strange situation this is shown by moderate stranger and seperation anxiety and ease of comfort at reunion.

Question 3

Define insecure-avoidant attachment

Answer 3

An attachment type characterised by low anxiety but weak attachment. In the strange situation this is shown by low stranger and seperation anxiety and little response to reunion - an avoidance of the caregiver.

Question 4

Define Insecure-resistant attachment

Answer 4

An attachment type characterised by strong attachment and high anxiety. In the strange situation this is shown by high levels of stranger and seperation anxiety and by resistance to be comforted at reunion.

Question 5

what was the aim of the strange situation experiment by Ainsworth 1971

Answer 5

to be able to observe key attachment behaviours as a means of assesing the quailty of the child’s attachment to a caregiver.

Question 6

What was the procedure of the strange situation (Ainsworth 1971)

Answer 6

The strange situation is a controlled observation procedure designed to measure the security of attachment a child displays towards a caregiver. It takes place in a room with quite controlled conditions with a two-way mirror through which psychologists can observe the infant’s behaviour.
The procedure had 7 episodes lasting 3 minutes each.
The sample consisted of 100 american middle-class infants.

Question 7

list

what behaviours were used to judge the attachment

Answer 7

• Proximity seeking
• exploration and secure base behaviour
• stranger anxiety
• seperation anxiety
• response to reunion

Question 8

Define proximity seeking behaviour

Answer 8

an infant with a good attachment will stay fairly close to the caregiver.

Question 9

define exploration and secure-base behaviour

Answer 9

good attachment enables a child to feel confident to explore, using their caregiver as a secure-base.

- point of contact that will make them feel safe.

Question 10

Define stranger anxiety

Answer 10

one of the signs of becoming closely attached is a display of anxiety when a stranger approaches

Question 11

define what is meant by response to reunion

Answer 11

the child’s response to the reunion with the caregiver after seperation for a short period of time under controlled conditions.

Question 12

list the 7 episodes in the strange situation procedure

Answer 12

1. the child is encouraged to explore.
2. A stranger comes in and tries to interact with the child.
3. the caregiver leaves the child and stranger together.
4. the caregiver returns and the stranger leaves.
5. the caregiver leaves the child alone
6. the stranger returns
7. the caregiver returns and is reunited with the child

exploration and secure base - 1, 4
stranger anxiety

each lasts for 3 minutes

Tests
exploration and secure base - 1,4
stranger anxiety - 2, 3, 6
seperation anxiety - 3, 5
reunion behaviour - 4, 7

Question 13

Define seperation anxiety

Answer 13

another sign of becomeing attached is to protest at seperation from the caregiver.

Question 14

what were the results of the stange situation

found by Ainsworth 1971

Answer 14

70% of the sample were securely attached (type B)
20% were insecure-aviodantly attached (type A)
10% were insecure- resistantly attached (type C)

Question 15

What are the characteristics of a securely attached child

Type B attachment

Answer 15

these happily explore but regularly return to caregiver. Usually show moderate separation distress and stranger anxiety.
Require and accept comfort from the caregiver at reunion.
Avoident of strangers but friendly when the primary caregiver was present

Question 16

What are the characteristics of an insecure-avoident attached child

type A attchment

Answer 16

These explore freely but don’t seek proximity. They show little/ no reaction when caregiver leaves and makes little effort to make contact when they return. Do not require comfort at reunion.
They are strongly avoidant of mother and stranger

Question 17

What are the characteristics of an insecure-resistant attached child

type C attachment

Answer 17

These children seek greater proximity so explore less. Show huge stranger and separation distress but resist comfort at reunion - mix clingyness with rejection.
They show apparent fear towards the stranger.

Question 18

What parenting is secure attachment associated with

Answer 18

sensitive and responsive primary care

Question 19

What parenting is insecure-avoidant attachment associated with

Answer 19

unresponsive primary care

Question 20

What parenting is insecure-resistant attachment associated with

Answer 20

inconsistant primary care

Question 21

what conclusion can we draw from Ainsworth 1971’s strange situation experiment

Answer 21

The majority of infants have secure attachment

Question 22

method strength

Evaluate the strange situation

Answer 22

A methodological strength is that it has been repeated in other western countries with similar results. This is a strength because it shows that it has good reliability. This means that we can be confident that the attachment type of an infant identified isn’t dependant on the person observing them.

Question 23

weakness - app

Evaluate the strange situation

Answer 23

A weakness of the strange situation is that it is a culture bound test. When repeated in Japan (Takahashi 1990), because mothers are so rarely separate from their infants there were very high levels of separation anxiety and at the stage of reunion the mothers rushed and scoped up the child making it hard for the observers to see its reaction. This is a weakness because it means that the observation is limited in its application which means that the results cannot be generalised to other cultures.

Question 24

method strength - reseach incl.

Evaluate the strange situation

Answer 24

Another methodological strangth is that it also has good inter-rater reliability, this is a strength because different observers watching the same children generally agree on the attachment type to classify them, Bick et al 2012 looked at inter-rater reliability in a team of trained strange situation observers and found agreement 94% of the time. This means that we can be confident that the attachment type of an infant doesnt depend on who observed them.

Question 25

weakness - culture NOT study

Evaluate the strange situation

Answer 25

A problem of the study is that it lacks of population validity. The original study used American infants. The study tells us about how this particular group behaves and cannot be generalised to the wider population and other cultures.

Question 26

weakness - involved

Evaluate the strange situation

Answer 26

An ethical weakness of the study is that it causes distress. This is a weakness because it damages psychology’s reputation. This means that it becomes harder to aquire volunteers for studies which is relied upon.

Question 27

weakness - parents

Evaluate the strange situation

Answer 27

A weakness is the study focuses on mums, this is a weakness becuase it ignores fathers due to the time when it was conducted and the social norms held at the time. This means that as time has moved on a more fathers are staying at home to look after the infant we have no data that is applicable.