Ainsworth's Strange Situation

Ainsworth's Strange Situation

1. Aim; to be able to observe key attachment behaviours as a means of assessing the quality of a child's attachment to a caregiver

2. Procedure

   • Controlled observation
     • Designed to measure the security of attachment a child displays towards a caregiver
     • In a room with quite controlled conditions with a two-way mirror through which psychologists can observe the infant's behaviour
   • Behaviours used to judge attachment:
     • Seeking proximity
     • Exploration & secure-base behaviour
     • Stranger anxiety
     • Separation anxiety
     • Response to reunion

3. Findings

   • 3 main types of attachment
   • Secure attachment (type B): Children explore happily but regularly go back to their caregiver(proximity, secure base behaviour). Usually show moderate separation distress & moderate stranger anxiety. SA children require & accept comfort from caregiver in reunion stage - 60-75% of British toddlers are classed as this
   • Insecure-avoidant (type A): Children explore freely but don't seek proximity or show secure base behaviour. Show little reaction or no reaction when their caregiver leaves and they make little effort to make contact when they return. Show little stranger anxiety. Don't require comfort at the reunion stage - 20-25& of British toddlers are classed as this
   • Insecure-resistant (type C): Children seek greater proximity than others & so explore less. Show huge stranger & separation anxiety but they resist comfort when reunited with caregiver - around 3% of British toddlers are classed as this

4. Evaluation

   • Support for validity
     • Explains subsequent outcomes
       • SS is strongly predictive of later development
   • Good reliability
     • Researchers agree beforehand the behaviours to judge & they're easy to judge. It's also tightly controlled
   • Test may be culture-bound
     • Results can't be generalsied to other countries because of the variations in culture
     • Japanses babies are hardly ever separated from mothers

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