Strange Situation

Strange Situation

1. Aim

   • To Produce a method of assessing attachment

2. Procedure

   • 100 American, middle-class parents and infants placed in a room full of toys
   • 7 three minute episodes where the mother left the room then re entered and a stranger left the room and then re entered
   • They looked for separation protest, Joy on reunion, preference for mother over stranger and whether mother is a base for exploration

3. Findings

   • Found three types of attachment
   • Type A- Insecure avoidant
     • Indifferent to mother, no separation anxiety or joy on reunion.
     • No preference for mother over stranger
     • Doesn't use mother as a safe base for exploration
     • 22%
   • Type B- Secure
     • 66%
     • Separation anxiety
     • Joy on reunion
     • Preference for mother over stranger
     • Uses mother as a safe base
   • Type C- Insecure resistant
     • 12%
     • Extreme distress on separation
     • Clingy
     • Not comforted easily

4. Conclusions

   • There are individual differences in attachment
   • Appears to be an association between mother's behaviour and attachment type
     • Mother's behaviour determines type of attachment

5. Strengths

   • Test-retest reliability
     • German study
   • Inter-observer reliability
     • Correlation co-efficient is +0.94
   • Predictive validity
     • Love quiz

6. Weaknesses

   • Internal Validity
     • Demand characteristics
   • Variation in culture
     • Japan
   • Temperament hypothesis
     • Differ in innate personality
   • Other social classes
     • Only used middle class
   • Ethics
     • No protection from psychological harm