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The Strange Situation

FINDINGS

Mary Ainsworth [1978]

The AIM of this research was to see how infants [9-18 months] behaved under mild stress and anxiety. Stress was created by using the presence of a

stranger and separation from the care giver. This allowed researchers to test for STRANGER ANXIETY and SEPARATION ANXIETY. The novel

situation was created not only by the strange environment within which the infant was placed, but also by the encouragement of exploration. This

enabled the SECURE BASE to be tested.

BEHAVIOURS SECURE ATTACHMENT

[TYPE B]

INSECURE AVOIDANT

[TYPE A]

INSECURE RESISTANT

[TYPE C]

Willingness to explore High High LowStranger anxiety High Low High

Separation anxiety Some easy to soothe Indifferent Distressed

Reunion Behaviour Enthusiastic Avoidant Seeking/Rejecting

% of infants 66% 22% 12%

Characteristics - Positive interaction with c/giver

- Not likely to cry if c/giver leaves- Seeks/comfortable with socialcontact

- Secure base- Function independently

- Anxious type of attachment

- Little response if c/giver leaves- Avoids social contact with others- Does not seek proximity of c/giver

upon return- Happy to explore with or without the

c/givers presence- High levels of anxiousness- No tendency to cling or resist being put

down- Angry because attachment needs are

not being met

- Ambivalent [Positive/negative feelings

towards the same person]- Seek and reject intimacy- Seek and reject social interaction- Immediate distress upon separation- Upon reunion there are conflicting

desires for/against contact- Angry, resistant yet trying to maintain

contact

Maternal Sensitivity

Hypothesis

[The individualdifferences inattachment are duemainly to the sensitivityof the mother

Caregivers:

- Were very sensitive to the needsof the infant- Responded to the infant in an

emotionally expressive way[gave them lots of cuddles andspent time talking to them]

Caregivers:

- Uninterested in the infant- Self centred and rigid in theirbehaviour, not varying it according tothe childs needs

Caregivers:

- Interested in the infant butmisunderstood their behaviour- Varied in the way they treated their

infant and so the infant couldnt relyon the caregivers emotional support

7/28/2019 The Strange Situation

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The Strange Situation

FINDINGS

Mary Ainsworth [1978]

De Woff and van Ijzendoorn [1997] carried out a Meta analysis across many cultures and found a positive [but fairly weak] correlation between maternal

sensitivity and security of infant attachment. They found that as well as sensitivity, the amount of interaction between caregiver and baby and the

expression of positive emotion by the caregiver were important.

EVALUATION:

o A weakness of Ainsworths research demonstrated by the fourth attachment type which was introduced by Main and Solomon [1986], this being

THE INSECURE DISORGANISED attachment. They found that a small number of infants displayed disorganised attachment, in which the

infants showed no consistent pattern of behaviour and fitted none of the three main attachments. However, Main and Solomon accepted the

validity of the three types identified by Ainsworth

o Further to this Ainsworth and Bell [1970] put infants into 3 categories. This oversimplifies matters because infants within any given category

differ from each other in their attachment behaviour. For example, two infants may be classified as showing avoidant attachment, but one might

display much more avoidant behaviour than the other

o

Additionally the research method used by Ainsworth, controlled observation, may be subject to observer bias. This is a weakness of this methodbecause interpretations of the behaviour being viewed may be subjective. Additionally the behaviour of the subjects being observed may be

affected because they know they are being observed. This lowers the ecological validity of this research as it does not reflect the usual everyday

behaviour between infants and caregivers

o However, the research method used has however been useful and it gives a great deal of information in a relatively short space of time about

babies attachments and it does provide a good measure of attachment that differentiates between different attachment types. Further to this

the methodology is quite easy to replicate and this led to a rapid increase in the amount of research carried out into variations in attachment

both within and between cultures.

o A final weakness of the Strange Situation is that it was developed in the USA and so may be culturally biased, therefore the findings cannot be

generalised. Behaviour that is regarded as healthy in the USA may not be regarded as healthy elsewhere in the world. However, the research

that comes from these studies clearly shows that secure attachment is the preferred type in terms of healthy social and emotional development.