Ainsworth developed an observational technique to establish the type of attachment an infant had with their mother. Attachment type was identified through the observation of the infants behaviour when put through series of events. Ainsworth observed the following behaviour: Stranger anxiety, Separation anxiety, Reunion behaviour and Willingness to explore the environment. Mary Ainsworth identified three key attachment types - Secure, Insecure Avoidant and Insecure Resistant.
Read through the study in more detail: Mary Ainsworth - The Strange Situation
Evaluation of the Strange Situation Reliability of the 'Strange Situation' was demonstrated by Main, Kaplan and Cassidy (1985): They tested babies at 18 months and then retested them at 6 years of age. They found that 100% of the secure babies were still classified as secure and 75% of the avoidant babies were still under the same classification. This is called test-retest reliability and checks for consistency over time. Ainsworth herself also tested inter-rater reliability (the extent to which different observers score a behaviour in a similar way). This was also found to be very high. Validity of the 'Strange Situation.' Some have argued that the strange situation only measures the relationship between the child and one other person (usually the mother) so rather than measuring attachment type it is simple measuring relationship. Main and Weston (1981) found that children behaved differently depending on which parent they were with. This suggests that attachment type is not consistent. The infant might be classified as insecure when assessed with the mother, but might be securely attached to the father. The Multiple Caregiver Paradox must be taken into account. Other issues with the strange situation The study aims to distress the infant. This is arguably unethical! The strange situation also seems to exaggerate behaviours. Children over-react when placed in the strange situation so do not behave as they would normally in the real world. Therefore the study lacks ecological validity. Finally Ainsworth is criticised for over-simplification in her belief that children can be categorised into only three groups. Other studies have suggested that there big individual differences between children within in attachment group. The test was devised by Ainsworth in the USA using American children. The test is therefore culturally biased. Desirable attachments in the USA may not be seen as desirable elsewhere. Nevertheless the test has been used worldwide and used to judge infants in other cultures. This is an example of imposed etic when we create a theory, test or construct in one culture (usually Western) and impose it on the rest of the world! Explaining the different attachment types Sensitive responsiveness Ainsworth herself believed that the kind of attachment the child develops is due entirely to the mother. Secure children have mothers who respond appropriately to the child’s needs by picking up on the signals. Insecure children on the other hand have mothers that are less responsive and the attachments they develop are coping strategies that enable them to deal with this lack of response. Temperament hypothesis. Perhaps the reason for a relationship between early attachment and later relationships has nothing to do with the type of attachment formed. Kagan (1984) believed it was all down to the temperament of the child. Those who are naturally good at forming relationships do so early in life and form close relationships with parents and this is true later in life as well; because of their pleasant temperament they are more popular with people in later life too. Thomas and Chess (1977) thought that children were born with a certain personality type and suggested three main categories; Easy: eat and sleep regularly and accept new experiences (under 50%) Difficult: eat and sleeping a problem, as is accepting anything new or different (10%) Slow to warm up: Take a while to get new to new experiences (15%) Easy babies go on to form secure attachments. Slow to warm up babies require a lot more encouragement so will only form secure attachments with patient mothers. Belsky and Rovine (1987) found that babies in the first few days of life have certain physiological characteristics that seemed to match later attachment styles. Calmer and less anxious children at this age were more likely to develop secure attachments a few months later. |
http://psychology4a.com/attach%206.htm
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