Strange Situation

Ainsworth & Bell's Strange Situation

Aim

• To study children's responses to situations varying in stressfulness.

Procedure

• Ainsworth and Bell (1971) conducted a controlled observation recording the reactions of a child and mother (caregiver), who were introduced to a strange room with toys. In the strange situation about 100 middle-class American infants and their mothers took part. The infant’s behaviour was observed during a set of pre-determined activities.
• The Strange Situation procedure involved the child experiencing eight ‘episodes’ of approximately 3 minutes each.
• The child is observed playing for 20 minutes while caregivers and strangers enter and leave the room, recreating the flow of the familiar and unfamiliar presence in most children's lives. Observers noted the child’s willingness to explore, separation anxiety, stranger anxiety and reunion behaviour.
• Ainsworth & Bell observed from the other side of a one-way mirror so that the children did not know that they were being observed.

Findings

• Secure Attachment:
• Separation anxiety - Distressed when mother leaves.
• Stranger anxiety - Avoidant of stranger when alone but friendly when mother present.
• Reunion behaviour - Positive and happy when mother returns.
• Other - Will use the mother as a safe base to explore the environment.
• Percentage of infants - 70%

Findings

• Insecure-Resistant Attachment:
• Separation anxiety - Infant shows signs of intense distress when mother leaves.
• Stranger anxiety - Infant avoids the stranger (shows fear of stranger).
• Reunion behaviour - Child approaches mother but resists contact, may even push her away.
• Other - Infant cries more and explores less than the other two types.
• Percentage of infants - 15%

Findings

• Insecure-Avoidant Attachment:
• Separation anxiety - Infant shows no sign of distress when mother leaves.
• Stranger anxiety - Infant is OK with the stranger and plays normally when stranger is present.
• Reunion behaviour - Infant shows little interest when mother returns.
• Other - Mother and stranger are able to comfort the infant equally well.
• Percentage of infants - 15%

Types of Attachment

• Secure Resistant: 70%
• The main characteristics of this attachment type are:
• Infants are upset when left alone by the mother.
• Infants are happy when mother returns and seek contact with the mother.
• Infants avoid the stranger when alone, but friendly when the mother is present.
• The infants use the mother as a safe base to explore their environment.
• This type of attachment occurs because the mother meets the emotional needs of the infant.

Types of Attachment

• Insecure-Resistant: 15%
• The main characteristics of this attachment type are:
• Infants are clingy to their mother in a new situation and are not willing to explore - suggesting that they do not have trust in her.
• Infants are extremely distressed when left alone by their mother.
• Infants cannot be comforted by a stranger and will not interact with them - they treat the stranger and the mother very differently.
• When the mother returns, infants are pleased to see her and go to her for comfort, but then cannot be comforted and may show signs of anger towards her.
• This type of attachment occurs because the mother sometimes meets the needs of the infant and sometimes ignores their emotional needs, i.e. the mother's behaviour is inconsistent.

Types of Attachment

• Insecure-Avoidant: 15%
• The main characteristics of this attachment type are:
• Infants are unconcerned by mother's absence when she leaves the room.
• Infants show little interest when they are reunited with the mother.
• Infants are strongly avoidant of mother and stranger, showing no motivation to interact with either adult. The stranger is treated similar to the mother (does not seek contact).
• This type of attachment occurs because the mother ignores the emotional needs of the infant.

Evaluation

• Weakness: A problem with the study is that it lacks 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.
• Weakness: Another criticism of the study is that it has low ecological validity, the results may not be applicable outside of the lab. The environment of the study was controlled and the eight scripted stages of the procedure would be unlikely to happen in real life.
• Strength: One strength of the study is that it is easy to replicate. This is because it follows a standardised procedure involving the eight episodes of the mother and stranger entering and leaving the room.