Types of attachment Flashcards
What is the strange situation designed to measure?
A child’s attachment type
Name the 5 behavioural categories used in the strange situation
- Proximity-seeking to caregiver
- Uses parent as a secure base
- Accepting comfort from strangers
- Separation anxiety
- Response to being reunited
How long did each episode last?
3 minutes
What scale is used to rate the behaviours?
0-7 scale
How does a securely attached child behave in the study?
-Explore happily but go back to their mothers regularly
-Moderate stranger anxiety
-Moderate separation anxiety
-Accept comfort from caregiver
How does an insecure avoidant chid behave in this study?
-Explore freely but do not seek secure base
-No reaction when mother leaves
-Doesn’t make effort to make contact when mother returns
How does an insecure resistant child behave in this study?
-Seek greater proximity than other babies
-Explore less
-High levels of stranger and separation anxiety
-Refuse comfort from the mother
What were the % of each attachment type in Ainsworth’s study?
Secure attachment: 66%
Insecure avoidant: 22%
Insecure resistant: 12%
Why does the study have good reliability?
Shows good inter-observer reliability because the study is done under controlled conditions and has clear behavioural categories which are easy to observe. It is also carried out in a controlled environment which means extraneous variables are reduced and the study can be replicated under the same conditions
Why does the study have high validity?
It is good at predicting outcomes for children which suggests it is an accurate measure of attachment. For example, securely attached children are more likely to have secure romantic relationships and do better at school
Why is the study culture bound?
The SS may not have the same meaning when used to measure attachment in other cultures outside the USA. Cultural differences in child-rearing mean children respond differently to the strange situation and so may appear insecure when they are actually secure
How might child temperament affect their behaviour in the study?
Some children are shy and may appear resistant but actually have secure attachment. Others may be confident and appear avoidant but are actually securely attached
What is the fourth attachment type?
Disorganised attachment which is a mixture of insecure resistant and insecure avoidant, challenging Ainsworth’s study as she only included 3 categories
Why is Van Ijzendoorn’s study described as a meta-analysis?
It studies 32 studies in 8 countries and all used the strange situation to measure the attachment type
How many studies, countries and babies did he study?
32 studies, 8 countries and 2000 babies
What was the most common attachment found worldwide?
Secure
Which country has the highest levels of insecure avoidant children?
Germany (33%)
Which country has the highest levels of insecure resistant children?
Israel (30%) and Japan (26%)
Which country has the highest levels of secure attachment?
Britain (75%)
Why does Germany have higher numbers of avoidant attachment compared to other countries?
German children are raised to be independent and so may appear to be avoidant but may actually be securely attached
Why does Japan have higher numbers of resistant children compared to other countries?
Children in Japan are rarely separated from their mothers in the first year and so may appear very clingy and resistant in the SS but may actually be very securely attached
Why does Israel have higher numbers of resistant children compared to other countries?
Children are used to being regularly separated frothier caregiver so the SS is not too distressing for them
Why is having a large sample size a strength of the research?
It gives a representative sample
Why is the research criticised for being culture bound?
Sampled may not represent the whole culture. For example in Japan many rural communities were used
