The Strange Situation (Ainsworth 1970)

Question	Answer
The study investigates:	- the infant's reaction to separation from the caregiver (attachment figure)
- The infant's reaction to reunion with the caregiver - The infant's reaction to a stranger	- The infant's willingness to expore the environment with the caregiver present, compared to with stranger present.
The study lasted about 20 minutes and used...	56 white, middle class 18-20month old infants
On this side will be what happened in each 3 minute episode.	On this side, the assessed behaviour.
1. Parent and infant play	n/a
2. Parent sits, infant plays	Use of parent as secure base
3. Stranger enters and talks to parent	Stranger anxiety
4. Parent leaves, infant plays, stranger offers comfort if needed	separation anxiety
5. Parent returns, greets	reunion behaviour
6. Parent leaves infant alone	Separation anxiety
7. Stranger enters and offers comfort	Stranger anxiety
8. Parent returns, greets infant and offers comfort	reunion behaviour
Ainsworth used the situation to monitor ...	Separation anxiety and introduction of the stranger to monitor the stranger anxiety.
She also examined...	the baby's behaviour towards the caregiver (always the mother in this study)...
to assess whether or not the baby...	used her as a safe base to exlpore the room.

Resource summary

	Created by soozi fullstop about 11 years ago