The Strange Situation Experiment - Research Paper Example

? The Strange Situation Experiment The Strange Situation Experiment The research conducted by Ainsworth and Bell (1970), revealed that there are differences between people on the quality of attachment that they have to others. This study as presented in the author’s article came up with a credible and convincing attachment theory which explains the differences among individuals in attachment. Observational methodology was used by the researchers in the study of young children and infants in order to effectively investigate attachment within the development framework of young people (Ainsworth and Bell, 1970). During this study, Mary Ainsworth postulated a psychological technique of studying attachment, exploration and separation among individuals in order to define how it affects the developmental processes. The technique which was referred to as strange situation was effective in coming up with accurate information from the study for inference. This paper is a review of the article Attachment, exploration, and separation by Ainsworth and Bell (1970) with an aim of defining the scope of content, credibility, relevance, suitability, methodology and presentation. The procedure that the psychologists employed during the study is presented in the article with illustration of its effectiveness in obtaining accurate results for analysis. Ainsworth and Bell (1970) investigated one to two year old children in relation to the security they had for attachment. The experimental procedure which the psychologists devised was designed to enable them to accurately determine the behaviors of attachment which the young people exhibited which enabled them to define various types of attachments and how they came about (Ainsworth and Bell, 1970). The article gives a vivid description of the procedure and setting of the strange situation experiment. It is illustrated that the set up of the study was a small room in which one way glass was installed for the observation of the infants without being aware of the observers. The procedure of the experiment is presented as observation of the infants within three minute episodes which were achieved in a series of seven experiments. The authors present the procedure in a manner which illustrates that it was a thorough approach of conducting an experiment. The study is presented by the authors as the most effective psychological study approach in investigating separation anxiety among children when they were separated from their parents and caregivers. Additionally, the ability and willingness of the infants to explore was determined during the study in addition to the anxiety which the infants showed when they were exposed to strangers (Ainsworth and Bell, 1970). More importantly, the reunion behavior which was demonstrated by the infants was determined by the investigators. In this regard, it is evident that the research findings were wide in scope through the coverage of the various categories of infant behavior which relate to attachment, exploration, and separation. The investigators therefore were able to achieve credible findings by investigating all aspects and categories of infant behavior. For example, infants were observed to demonstrate uneasiness and anxiety when left alone with the caregivers. This situation arises due to the attachment that infants have for their parents (Imamoglu and Imamoglu, 2007). The approach of the investigation involved of determining the scores of the children within a scale of 1 to 7 so that the different behaviors that they exhibited in different situations would be analyzed with accuracy and certainty. The methodology which the psychologists devised during the study involved a sample from 100 American families within the middle class of the society. Through an observation method, the investigators were enabled to achieve adequate results for analysis and conclusion. The scope of the article is elaborate with the presentation of the findings of the strange situation investigation. The findings of the investigations revealed one secure and two insecure attachments among the infants. The three types of attachments which were revealed during strange situation experiment include resistant, avoidant (insecure) and secure attachment. In addition to these attachment types, later the disorganized attachment of young people was identified and its effects on the developmental processes explained (Friedman and Boyle, 2008).The authors of the article give a clear explanation of the various attachments which were identified during the experiment. Confidentiality of the infant to the attachment figure is described as a characteristic of a secure attachment. This confidentiality is explained in the light of the children’s assurance that the attachment figure can be trusted to meet their needs. It is further demonstrated that the sensitivity of the attachment to the signals of the infants and the consequent immediate response leads to the secure type of attachment which the infants of the strange situation experiment revealed. The article illustrates the differences between the secure and the insecure attachments by elaborating on the behavior of the avoidant children. Insecure attachment behaviors is described in relation to the characteristic behavior of infants which reveal their dependence on the attachment figure but during interaction they show rejection to the figure into whom they are attached. The methodology of the strange situation experiment sampled mothers as the attachment figures in order to evaluate the secure, insecure and avoidant behavior among the infants. The article reveals that the application of the most appropriate procedures, methodology and design, the strange situation experiment was able to proof the attachment theory which was postulated earlier by Bowlby (Ainsworth and Bell, 1970). This illustrates the significance of the psychological behavior in describing the developmental ages of human beings. In the light of the above review, it is thus conclusive that the strange situation psychological experiment can be classified as a reliable investigation into the child behavior and its implication to development. This is because the results which emanated from the study are consistent with theoretical frameworks and previous studies on the attachment of children to various figures, their exploration and behavior upon separation from the attachment figures. This is revealed by the fact that the methodological approach and finding of the strange situation experiment has been accepted and recognized through the world as the most appropriate approach in psychological measurement and determination of attachment (Imamoglu and Imamoglu, 2007). Nonetheless, the sampling technique during the strange situation experiment shows experimental bias. This is revealed by the fact that the investigation methodology sampled subjects from middle class families in America. References Ainsworth, M., and Bell, S. M. (1970). Attachment, Exploration, and Separation: Illustrated By the Behavior of One-Year-Olds in a Strange Situation. Child Development, 41(1), 49-67. Friedman, S. L., and Boyle, D. (2008). Attachment in US children experiencing nonmaternal care in the early 1990s. Attachment and Human Development, 10(3), 225-261 Imamoglu, E. O., and Imamoglu, S. (2007). Relationships between attachment security and self-construal orientations. The Journal of Psychology, 141(5), 539-58 Read More