The Strange Situation | Mary Ainsworth, 1969 | Developmental Psychology

In 1969, American psychologist Mary Ainsworth gave developmental psychology a new procedure for studying attachment in infants. ----------------------------------------- Discover more on our website: ----------------------------------------- She called it the Strange Situation Classification, and it is widely referred to as simply the Strange Situation. As an adult you know when you’ve formed an attachment with someone; you know how it feels and you know how to express your feelings in words. However, when it comes to babies and young children they haven’t yet developed these skills and therefore researchers must turn to more subtle techniques. ----------------------------------------- REALLY USEFUL PSYCHOLOGY TEXTBOOK: (Psychology: The Science of Mind and Behaviour, 7th ed., Richard Gross) ----------------------------------------- Such as the Strange Situation, which measures the security of an attachment in 1 to 2 year olds; a twenty minute participatory observation, during which the researcher observes the infant’s behavioural responses to a series of scenarios. Ainsworth’s strange situation includes eight stages, each lasting roughly 3 minutes: Stage 1: Mother and Baby Stage 2: Mother, Baby and Stranger Stage 3: Stranger and Baby Stage 4: Mother returns Stage 5: Stranger leaves Stage 6: Mother leaves, leaving baby alone Stage 7: Stranger returns Stage 8: Mother returns and stranger leaves So what were the researchers measuring? When the mother was in the room with the baby, they scored the infant’s behaviour on four measures: Proximity and contact-seeking; Contact maintaining; Avoidance of proximity and contact; and resistance to contact and comforting. The baby’s exploratory behaviours were also recorded as they explored the environment. ----------------------------------------- ALSO WATCH THIS: (How People Learn: Pavlov’s Study of Conditioning) ----------------------------------------- Ainsworth reported that infants display one of three attachment types: Securely attached infants showed distress when separated from their mother, were avoidant of the stranger when alone but friendly in the presence of their mother, and were happy when the mother returned from outside the room. Seventy percent of children studied fell into this category. Fifteen percent of children demonstrated an ambivalent attachment with their mother. These children showed intense distress when the mother left the room, and demonstrated a significant fear of the stranger. When the mother returned to the room, ambivalent children approached the mother but rejected contact. Ainsworth reported that a final fifteen percent had an avoidant attachment style. Such infants show no interest when the mother leaves the room and play happily with the stranger. When the mother returns, avoidant children barely seem to notice. In 1990, Main and Solomon added that a very small percentage were inconstant in their behaviours and defined this attachment style as disorganised. Ainsworth’s caregiver sensitivity hypothesis suggests that differences in infants’ attachment styles are dependent on the mother’s behaviour towards the baby during a critical period of development. ----------------------------------------- Support Psychology Unlocked on Patreon: Sign up for our FREE Weekly eZine: Free Online Psychology Textbook: Follow us on Twitter: ----------------------------------------- Recommended Psychology Textbook: (Psychology: The Science of Mind and Behaviour, 7th ed., Richard Gross) ----------------------------------------- Written & Presented by Daniel Edward: Daniel Edward’s YouTube Channel: ----------------------------------------- Subscribe for more Psychology videos and get in touch in the comments if you have any video requests. As always, if you’ve got any comments or questions, please get in touch via the comments below and I’ll get back to you! ----------------------------------------- Music by JukeDeck