Questions and Answers
What procedure did Mary Ainsworth develop to investigate attachment styles in infants?
Strange Situation
Which of the following is NOT one of the attachment styles identified by Ainsworth?
What percentage of infants were found to have secure attachment according to Ainsworth?
70%
Insecure-avoidant infants show distress when their mother leaves.
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What behavior characterizes insecure-resistant infants upon reunion with their mother?
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What does Ainsworth scoring primarily assess?
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Infants with insecure-avoidant attachment are very ________ of their attachment figure.
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Which behavior indicates separation anxiety in securely attached infants?
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Study Notes
Mary Ainsworth's Strange Situation
- Investigated attachment security in one- to two-year-olds using the Strange Situation paradigm.
- Developed an experimental procedure to observe attachment behaviors and styles between mothers and infants.
- Conducted with infants aged 12 to 18 months, comprising 100 middle-class American families.
- Structured with eight episodes, each lasting about three minutes, including mother-infant interactions and separations.
Ainsworth Scoring
- Classifications based on four main interaction behaviors during reunion episodes:
- Proximity and contact-seeking
- Contact-maintaining
- Avoidance of proximity and contact
- Resistance to contact and comforting
- Observations scored on a 1 to 7 scale during 15-second intervals.
- Additional behaviors such as exploratory and search behaviors, along with affect displays, are also recorded.
Ainsworth's Findings (Attachment Styles)
- Identified three primary attachment styles:
- Secure (type B)
- Insecure avoidant (type A)
- Insecure ambivalent/resistant (type C)
- Later research identified a fourth style: disorganized (Main & Solomon, 1990).
- Attachment styles stem from early mother-infant interactions.
Secure Attachment Characteristics
- Separation Anxiety: Distressed when the mother leaves.
- Stranger Anxiety: Avoids stranger when alone; friendly when mother is present.
- Reunion Behavior: Shows happiness upon mother's return.
- Explores the environment using mother as a safe base.
- Represents approximately 70% of infants.
Insecure-Resistant Attachment Characteristics
- Separation Anxiety: Intense distress when mother leaves.
- Stranger Anxiety: Avoids and shows fear of the stranger.
- Reunion Behavior: Approaches mother but resists contact, may push away.
- Cries more and explores less compared to secure attachment.
- Represents about 15% of infants.
Insecure-Avoidant Attachment Characteristics
- Separation Anxiety: Shows no distress when mother leaves.
- Stranger Anxiety: Comfortable with strangers, plays normally in their presence.
- Reunion Behavior: Displays little interest upon mother's return.
- Equally comforted by mother and stranger.
- Comprises around 15% of infants.
Insecure Avoidant Attachment Style
- Children do not seek attachment figure during exploration and remain independent emotionally and physically.
- Tend not to seek contact when distressed, indicating insensitive or rejecting caregivers.
- Caregivers may withdraw support during difficulties or be emotionally unavailable.
Insecure Ambivalent/Resistant Attachment Style
- Exhibits ambivalent behaviors, showing clinginess but rejecting interaction with attachment figure.
- Lacks security from the attachment figure, struggles to explore surroundings.
- Displays difficulty moving away from attachment figure when distressed.
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Description
This quiz explores Mary Ainsworth's Strange Situation, an experimental procedure observing attachment behaviors in infants aged 12 to 18 months. It covers attachment security, scoring methods, and the identification of primary attachment styles. Test your knowledge on the intricacies of mother-infant interactions and Ainsworth's key findings.
