Mary Ainsworth

Mary Ainsworth

1. She designed an assessment technique called the 'Stranger Situation Classification' (SSC) in order to investigate how attachments might vary between children.

2. It was conducted by observing the behaviour of the infant in a series of 8 episodes lasting approximately 3 minutes each.

3. The 8 stages are: (1) Parent and baby enter the room, (2) Parent and baby are alone, (3) Stranger joins parent and infant, (4) Parent leaves stranger and baby alone, (5) Parent returns and stranger leaves, (6) Parent leaves and baby is alone, (7) Stranger returns and (8) Parent returns and stranger leaves.

4. From this experiment, Ainsworth identified 3 main attachment styles, secure (type B), insecure avoidant (type A) and insecure ambivalent/resistant (type C)

5. Type B: Secure Attachment

   • A child who is securely attached to their parent will explore freely while they are present, they will engage with strangers, the child will be visibly upset when their parent departs, and happy to see them return. However the child will not engage with the stranger if their parent is not in the room.