Mary Ainsworth
Bowlby was interested in attachment, Ainsworth was more interested in individual differences - the different types of attachment an infant can form with their care giver.
Background: Ainsworth Uganda Study (1967)
- Ainsworth conducted a 2 year study observing 26 mothers and their infants
- Found that some mothers were sensitive to their infants needs
- Infants of these mothers had secure attachments - comfortable, harmonious, cooperative
- Could explore independently, using their caregiver as a secure base
Strange Situation Study
Aim
- Observed infants’ behaviour to assess the quality of infants’ attachment to their caregivers
- How infants (106 - aged 9 - 18 months) behave under conditions of mild stress (presence of stranger, separation from mother)
- Whether infants would explore independently - place them in a ‘new’ situation, see if they use caregiver as a ‘secure base’ from which they explore independently
- Using the findings, Ainsworth noticed 3 distinct patterns in the way infants behaved
Procedure
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Findings
- Secure (type B) - 66%
- Separation anxiety, stranger anxiety, reunion behaviour
- Insecure-avoidant (type A) - 22%
- No reunion behaviour
- Insecure-resistant (type C) - 12%
- No stranger anxiety
- Extreme separation anxiety
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Evaluation
Too simplistic
Type: Criticism
Study: Main and Solomon (1986)
- Analysed over 200 strange situation videotapes
- Suggested fourth type of attachment - insecure-disorganised (Type D)
- Composed of infants which do not conform to Ainsworth’s original attachment types
- Instead show a mixture of secure attachment followed by avoidant behaviour
- Suggests Ainsworth’s original conclusions were too simplistic and did not account for all attachment behaviours
Inter-observer reliability
Type: Strength
- Found almost perfect inter-observer reliability of 0.94
- High agreement among different observers in terms of exploratory behaviour
- High inter-observer reliability suggests the observations can be accepted as reliable
- Suggests that Strange Situation is a reliable method for examining attachment
Improving lives
Type: Strength
- Application to improving children’s lives
- The Circle of Security Project teaches caregivers to understand their infants’ signals of distress
- Found an increase in the number infants classified as securely attached (32% → 40%)
- Teaching caregivers to understand their infants can improve and change an infant’s attachment type
- Supports the research because of application of research with success
Low internal validity
Type: Criticism
Study: Main and Weston (1981)
- Found that children behaved differently in Strange Situation depending on which parent they were with
- Therefore, Strange Situation may be measuring an infant’s relationship with a particular parent
- Suggests that the Strange Situation may lack internal validity as the observation may be measuring individual relationships and not all relationships
Cultural bias
Type: Criticism
Study: Takahashi (1990)
- Found that Japanese mothers are rarely separated from infants in everyday life, meaning that infants show high levels of separation anxiety in Strange Situation
- Suggests the tests may not have the same meaning in countries outside the West
- Therefore, Strange Situation may incorrectly find that all Japanese children are insecurely attached because they are being judged by a Western measurement of attachment