Ainsworth’s work on attachment including types of attachment and care giver sensitivity.
Strange situation procedure.
Attachment is an emotional tie or bond between two people, usually a mother and a child. The relationship is reciprocal (shared), which means it is a two-way relationship. The attachment topic examines the formation of attachments, animal studies of attachment, the cross-cultural differences in attachment, and the influence of early attachment on later adult relationships.
Secure attachment is a type of attachment when the child feels their needs are met by the caregiver. Securely attached children become distressed when the caregiver leaves and calms down when the caregiver returns. They are content with strangers if the main caregiver is present. A type of attachment based on Mary Ainsworth's Strange Situation Classification.
Insecure-resistant (also known as Type C) is an attachment pattern identified by Ainsworth using the Strange Situation. This attachment type is not willing to explore and seeks greater proximity to the caregiver than the other attachment types. They show both separation anxiety and stranger anxiety and they do seek contact when reunited with the mother, but then reject her. This is sometimes known as ambivalent attachment. 13% of children show this pattern.
Insecure-avoidant (also known as Type A) is an attachment pattern identified by Ainsworth using the Strange Situation. This attachment type is willing to explore but does not seek proximity to the caregiver. They show low separation anxiety and stranger anxiety and they do not make contact when reunited with the mother. 21% of children show this attachment pattern.
Ainsworth’s Strange Situation (1970) used structured observational research to assess & measure the quality of attachment.
It has 8 pre-determined stages, including the mother leaving the child, for a short while, to play with available toys in the presence of a stranger & alone and the mother returning to the child.
Stage 1 – Mother and child enter the playroom
Stage 2 – The child is encouraged to explore
Stage 3 – Stranger enters and attempts to interact
Stage 4 – Mothers leaves while the stranger is present
Stage 5 – Mother enters and the stranger leaves
Stage 6 – Mothers leaves
Stage 7 – Stranger returns
Stage 8 – Mother returns and interacts with child
Ainsworth & Bell (1970) used 4 criteria (separation/ stranger anxiety, reunion behaviour & willingness to explore the room) to classify 100 middle class American infants into 1 of 3 categories. Children were observed through a one-way mirror and were classed as one of the 3 attachment types below based on their responses to the 8 stages:
Findings
70% Secure
15% Avoidant insecure
15% Resistant insecure
Therefore most US children appeared to be securely attached. The results highlight the role of the mother’s behaviour in determining the quality of attachment.
This led to the conceptualisation of the Caregiver Sensitivity Hypothesis, which suggests that a mother’s behaviour towards their infant predicts their attachment type.
Replicable/ high inter-observer reliability
As the research is highly operationalised, observers have a clear view of how a securely attached infant should behave, due to the 4 specific criteria that Ainsworth used. For this reason, the research should have high inter-observer reliability & it is also replicable so its reliability can be checked.
Reliability of classifications
Waters (1978) assessed 50 infants at 12 and at 18 months of age using the SS procedure. Waters found clear evidence for stable individual differences using Ainsworth’s behavior category data. The greatest consistency was seen in reunion behaviours after brief separations. 48 of the 50 infants observed were independently rated as being classified in the same category at 18 months.
Low Population Validity
A major methodological criticism of Ainsworth’s research is that the sample was restricted to 100 middle class Americans & their infants, so it is unlikely that findings would be representative of the wider population.
Categories are not always applicable
A further classification group (disorganised) was subsequently identified by Main & Cassidy (1988), which would suggest that infants do not all fit into the three categories introduced by Ainsworth.
Procedure is culturally biased
The SS was designed by an American according to observations of US children. Consequently, the criteria used to classify infants are based on US values, relating to child-parent behaviour. It could be argued that this is Eurocentric, so observations of non-Americans will judged according to American standards. E.g. Japanese infants were judged as being resistant due to high levels of distress that were observed but this reflects their lack of experience during the “infant alone” part of the research, rather than an resistant attachment type.
Identify the type of attachment demonstrated by Amelia and Hannah. (2) January 2017
Describe the reunion behaviour you would expect Hannah to show on the primary care giver’s return. (2) January 2017
Give one conclusion that could be made from this investigation. (1) October 2017
Ainsworth suggested the ‘caregiver sensitivity’ hypothesis as an explanation for different attachment types. Define what is meant by ‘caregiver sensitivity’. (1) October 2017
Describe the research methodology used by Samad and Amna in their investigation. (2) October 2017