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Ainsworth's Strange Situation: Types of Attachment (Evaluation (Other…
Ainsworth's Strange Situation: Types of Attachment
Key terms
Insecure-avoidant - a type of attachment which describes those children who tend to avoid social interaction and intimacy with others.
Insecure-resistant - a type of attachment which describes those infants who both seek and reject intimacy and social interaction i.e.resist.
Secure attachment - this is a strong and contented attachment of an infant to his or her caregiver, which develops as a result of sensitive responding by the caregiver to the infant' needs. Securely attached infants are comfortable with social interaction and intimacy. Secure attachment is related to healthy subsequent cognitive and emotional development.
Strange situation - a controlled observation designed to test attachment security.
Key study:The Strange Situation
procedure
9x9 foot space often marked off into 16 squares to help in recording the infant's movements
observation of the infant's response to:
separation from caregiver (separation and anxiety)
reunion with the caregiver (reunion behaviour)
response to a stranger (stranger anxiety)
the novel environment, which aims to encourage exploration and thus tests the secure base concept
They may record what the infant is doing every 15 secs. using the following behavioural categories
1) proximity and attention seeking behaviours
2) contact-maintaining behaviours
3) proximity and interaction-avoiding behaviours
4) contact and interaction-resisting behaviours
5) search behaviours
findings
Secure attachment
Willingness to explore - high
Stranger anxiety - moderate
separation anxiety - some easy to soothe
Behaviour at reunion with caregiver- enthusiastic
Percentage of infants in this category - 66%
Insecure avoidant
Willingness to explore - high
Stranger anxiety - low
Separation anxiety - indifferent
Behaviour at reunion with caregiver - avoids contact
Percentage of infants in this category - 22%
Insecure-resistant
Willingness to explore - low
Stranger anxiety - high
Separation anxiety - distressed
Behaviour at reunion with caregiver - seeks and rejects
Percentage of infants in this category
Evaluation
Other types of attachment
Observations had high reliability
Real-world application
Low internal validity