The strange situation is an experimental method for measuring attachment that:

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.

Evaluation of Strange Situation

Strengths

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.

Weaknesses

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.

Ainsworth’s Strange Situation (1970) develops an experimental paradigm to measure attachment.  Ainsworth used structured observational research to assess & measure the quality of attachment.

The situation includes the mother leaving the child, for a short while to play with available toys in the presence of a stranger & after separation alone and the reunion when the mother returns to the child.

• Stage 1 – Mother and child enter the playroom
• Stage 2 – The child is encouraged to explore
• Stage 3 – The 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 – The Reunion – Mother returns and interacts with child

Children were observed through a one-way mirror.

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.

Findings

• 70% Secure
• 15% Avoidant insecure
• 15% Resistant insecure

Therefore most children appeared to be securely attached. The results highlight the importance of early attachment and the mother’s role.

A parent and child relationship is essential, but how important? And how can we establish how important it is? And this is where Ainsworth's Strange Situation comes in. The procedure dates back to the 1970s, yet it is still commonly used to categorise attachment theories. This says a lot about the procedure.

• Let's start by exploring the aim of Ainsworth's strange situation.
• Then let's review the method and the identified Ainsworth attachment styles.
• Moving on, let's delve into the Ainsworth strange situation findings.
• Finally, we will discuss the Ainsworth strange situation evaluation points.

Aim of Ainsworth Strange Situation

In the late 1950s, Bowlby proposed his work on the attachment theory. He suggested that the infant-caregiver attachment is crucial for development and later relationships and behaviours.

Mary Ainsworth (1970) created the strange situation procedure to categorise the different types and characteristics of infant-caregiver attachments.

It's important to note that the research originated long ago; back then, the primary caregiver was automatically assumed to be the mother. So, Ainsworth's Strange situation procedure is based on mother-child interactions.

Ainsworth created the 'strange situation' concept to identify how children react when separated from their parents/caregivers and when a stranger is present.

Since then, the strange situation procedure has been applied and used in many research procedures. The strange situation is still used to date and is well-established as a great method to identify and categorise infant-parents to attachment styles.

Ainsworth's Strange Situation: Method

The strange situation study observed infants and mothers from 100 middle-class American families. The infants in the study were between 12 and 18 months old.

The procedure used a standardised, controlled observation in a lab.

A standardised experiment is when the exact procedure for each participant, the controlled aspect concerns the researcher's ability to control external factors that may influence the study's validity. And observation is when a researcher observes the participant's behaviour.

The children's behaviour was recorded using a controlled, covert observation (participants were unaware they were being observed) to measure their attachment type. This experiment comprised eight consecutive sections, each lasting approximately three minutes.

The Ainsworth's strange situation procedure is as follows:

1. The parent and child enter an unfamiliar playroom with the experimenter.
2. The child is encouraged to explore and play by their parent; the parent and child are alone.
3. A stranger enters and attempts to interact with the child.
4. The parent leaves the room, leaving the stranger and their child.
5. The parent returns, and the stranger leaves.
6. The parent leaves the child completely alone in the playroom.
7. The stranger returns.
8. The parent returns, and the stranger leaves.

Although it may not seem like it, the study does have an experimental nature. The independent variable in the research is the caregiver leaving and returning and a stranger entering and leaving. The dependent variable is the infant's behaviour, measured using four attachment behaviours (described next).

Ainsworth's Strange Situation study: Measures

Ainsworth defined five behaviours that she measured to determine the children's attachment types.

Proximity seeking is concerned with how close the infant stays to its caregiver.

Secure base behaviour involves the child feeling safe enough to explore their environment but returning to their caregiver often, using them as a safe 'base'.

Display anxious behaviours such as crying or avoidance when the stranger approaches.

Display anxious behaviours such as crying, protesting or seeking their caregiver when separated.

The child's response to their caregiver when reunited with them.

Ainsworth Strange Situation Attachment Styles

The strange situation allowed Ainsworth to identify and categorise children into one of three attachment styles.

The first Ainsworth strange situation attachment style is Type A insecure-avoidant.

The Type A attachment style is characterised by fragile infant-caregiver relationships, and the infants are highly independent. They show little to no proximity-seeking or safe base behaviour, and strangers and separation rarely distress them. As a result, they tend to show little or no reaction to their caregiver's leaving or return.

The second Ainsworth strange situation attachment style is Type B, the secure attachment style.

These children have healthy bonds with their caregiver, which is close and based on trust. Securely attached children showed moderate stranger and separation anxiety levels but quickly soothed at reunion with the caregiver.

Type B children also showed prominent safe base behaviour and regular proximity seeking.

And the final attachment style is Type C, the insecure ambivalent attachment style.

These children have an ambivalent relationship with their caregivers, and there is a lack of trust in their relationship. These children tend to show high proximity seeking and explore their environment less.

Insecure-resistant attached children also show severe stranger and separation anxiety, and they are tough to comfort at reunions, sometimes even rejecting their caregiver.

Ainsworth Strange Situation Findings

The Ainsworth strange situation findings are as follows:

Ainsworth found that attachment styles dictate how the individual interacts with others (i.e. the stranger).

Conclusion to Ainsworth's Strange Situation

From the Ainsworth strange situation findings, it can be concluded that type B, the secure attachment style is the most prominent.

The caregiver sensitivity hypothesis was theorised from the results.

The caregiver sensitivity hypothesis suggests that the style and quality of attachment styles are based on mothers' (primary caregivers) behaviour.

Mary Ainsworth concluded that children could have one of three distinct attachment types with their primary caregiver. The strange situation findings challenge the notion that attachment was something a child either had or didn't have, as theorised by Ainsworth's colleague John Bowlby.

Bowlby argued that attachments are initially monotropic and have evolutionary purposes. He argued that infants attachments to their primary caregiver to ensure survival. E.g. if a child is hungry, the primary caregiver will automatically know how to respond due to their attachment.

Ainsworth Strange Situation Evaluation

Let's explore the Ainsworth strange situation evaluation, covering both its strengths and weaknesses.

Ainsworth's Strange Situation: Strengths

In the strange situation study, Ainsworth's strange situation later showed children with secure attachments are more likely to have stronger and more trusting relationships in the future, which the love quiz study by Hazan and Shaver (1987) supports.

Furthermore, multiple relatively recent studies, such as in Kokkinos (2007), supports Ainsworth's conclusion that insecure attachments can cause negative outcomes in a child's life.

The study found bullying and victimisation were related to attachment style. Securely attached children reported less bullying and victimisation than those reported as avoidant or ambivalently attached.

The collective research shows Ainsworth's strange situation has high temporal validity.

Temporal validity refers to how well we can apply conclusions from a study to other periods than when it was conducted, i.e. it remains relevant over time.

The strange situation study involved multiple observers recording the children's behaviours. The researchers' observations were often very similar, meaning that the results have strong inter-rater reliability.

Bick et al. (2012) conducted a strange situation experiment and found that researchers agreed on attachment types around 94% of the time. And this is likely due to the standardised nature of the procedure.

The strange situation is beneficial to society as we can use the test to:

• Help therapists working with very young children determine their attachment type to understand their current behaviours.
• Suggest ways caregivers can promote a healthier, more secure attachment, which will benefit the child later in life.

Ainsworth's Strange Situation: Weaknesses

A weakness of this study is that its results may be culture-bound. Its findings are only applicable to the culture in which it was conducted, so they are not truly generalisable. Cultural differences in child-rearing practices and common early-childhood experiences mean that children from different cultures can respond to strange situations differently for reasons other than their attachment type.

For instance, consider a society that focuses on independence compared to a society that focuses on the community and family. Some cultures emphasise developing independence earlier, so their children may resonate more with the avoidant type attachment style, which may be actively encouraged and not necessarily an 'unhealthy' attachment style, as Ainsworth suggests (Grossman et al., 1985).

Ainsworth's Strange Situation study can be considered ethnocentric as only American children were used as participants. Thus, the findings may not be generalisable to other cultures or countries.

Main and Solomon (1986) suggested that some children fall outside Ainsworth's attachment categories. They proposed a fourth attachment type, disorganised attachment, assigned to children with a mix of avoidant and resistant behaviours.

What is the purpose of the strange situation as an experimental procedure quizlet?

What are researchers trying to determine when using the experimental method called the strange situation?

Which of the following behaviors is typical of securely attached infants in the strange situation?

What is one of the main criticisms of the strange situation?