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Stranger Situation. - Coggle Diagram
Stranger Situation.
Evaluation.
Other types?
- Research by Main and Solomon found that Ainsworth et al over looked a forth type of attachment.
- After analysing over 200 infants they proposed TYPE D: Insecure - disorganised.
- It suggested that some types of infants don't have a consistent type of attachment. These infants lack coherent strategy for dealing with stress.
- Van Uzendooren et al 1999 supported this claim in a re creation of Ainsworth's study.
- 62% secure.
- 15% insecure avoidant.
- 9% insecure resistant.
- 15% insecure disorganised.
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Observers = bien
- The observers had a high reliability rate as there was good inter-observer reliability. Johana brick et al 2012 found that they agreed with each other 94% of the time. This means Strange Situation does not depend on subjective judgements.
Culture bound!
- Attachment was not measured in different cultures instead, it was only measured in Britain and USA.
- Babies have different experiences in different cultures therefore, we are forced to generalize individualistic societies onto the rest of the world.
Keiko Takahasi 1986.
- In his Japanese study he found a high levels of separation anxiety so lots, of babies were classes as Type C.
- He believed this was not caused by high rates of attachment insecurity but instead the unusual nature of the experience in japan where mother baby separation is very rare
Maternal...?
- Ainsworth believed that secure attachment was linked to maternal sensitivity.
- Raval et al 2009 however found rather low correlations.
- Slade et al 2005 found a greater role of maternal reflective functioning. This is the ability to understand what someone else is thinking and feeling. He said that rather than sensitivity it was maternal reflectiveness that the central mechanism for establishing attachments.
Produce.
- The Strange Situation is a controlled observation produced designed to measure attachment that a baby displays towards its caregiver.
- It took place in a research room with highly controlled conditions. It is a novel environment.
- In the room, there was a two-way mirror and cameras so the psychologists could easily observe the baby's behaviour.
The produce consists of eight episodes, each designed to highlight a certain behaviour. These behaviours were used to judge attachment.
They included:
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Step by step...
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Mother leaves the room, and the infant is left alone with the stranger.
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Mother and stranger both leave the room, and the infant is left alone.
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Findings.
They noted similarities and differences between all of the 100 middle-class babies. They identified three main types of attachment.
Secure attachment:
- These infants were harmonious and cooperative.
- They showed proximity seeking and secure base behaviour as they were happy to explore but regularly when back to their caregiver. This is because the caregiver is the secure base. This enables the infant to be independent.
- Showed moderate separation and Stanger anxiety. They are not likely to cry when the caregiver leaves but do show distress with a stranger.
- Seek bodily comfort when anxious and during the reunion stage.
- The mothers reacted sensitively to the infants.
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What is it?
Ainsworth & Bell (1970) investigated individual differences in the attachment styles of 100 middle-class American infants.
They were interested in the frequency of children that showed each of a range of attachment behaviours. The attachment behaviours studied were comfort-seeking, exploration using the mother as a safe base, separation distress, and stranger anxiety. The researchers used a controlled observation technique known as the strange situation.