>> WHEN DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGISTS TALK ABOUT ATTACHMENT LARGELY THEY MEAN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN A YOUNG CHILD OR INFANT AND THE CAREGIVER, SO PRIMARILY THE PARENT.
>> Narrator: IN ATTACHMENT THEORY INFANTS ACTIVELY SEEK OUT LOVING RELATIONSHIPS, AND WHETHER OR NOT THEY FIND THEM CAN SHAPE THE REST OF THEIR LIVES.
>> SO IF I FEEL SECURE AND CONFIDENT THAT I'M LOVED AND CARED FOR, THAT SOMEONE WILL BE THERE TO TAKE CARE OF ME IN TIMES OF NEED, THEN I CAN STEP OUT IN THE WORLD WITH AN INNER STRENGTH THAT A CHILD WITHOUT THAT SECURITY CANNOT.
>> Narrator: JOHN BOWLBY, THE FOUNDER OF ATTACHMENT THEORY CLAIMED THAT SECURE ATTACHMENT WAS VITAL FOR GOOD PSYCHOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT AND FOR STABILITY IN LATER LIFE. BUT IT WAS HIS COLLEAGUE, CANADIAN PSYCHOLOGIST MARY AINSWORTH, WHO GAVE BOWLBY'S THEORIES A GROUNDING IN EMPIRICAL RESEARCH.
>> SO WHAT MARY AINSWORTH DID WAS TO DEVISE A LABORATORY METHOD FOR DOCUMENTING INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN ATTACHMENT. AND THIS WAS CALLED THE STRANGE SITUATION. ?
>> THE STRANGE SITUATION ASSESSES HOW TYPICALLY ONE YEAR OLD INFANTS RESPOND TO SEPARATION FROM THE MOTHER AND THEN WHAT THEY DO WHEN SHE COMES BACK IN, SO HOW THEY RESPOND ON A REUNION WITH HER.
>> Narrator: THE STRANGE SITUATION CONSISTS OF 8 EPISODES. ALL OF WHICH ARE DISCREETLY OBSERVED AND FILMED BY THE PSYCHOLOGIST. MOTHER AND INFANT ARE INTRODUCED TO THE ROOM. THEN THE MOTHER WATCHES AS THE INFANT EXPLORES AND GETS USED TO THE ROOM. A FEMALE STRANGER COMES IN AND TALKS TO THE PARENT, AND THEN STARTS PLAYING WITH THE INFANT WHILE THE MOTHER QUIETLY LEAVES. THE INFANT IS LEFT ALONE WITH THE STRANGER WHO TRIES TO INTERACT WITH HER. THEN THE MOTHER RETURNS, COMFORTS THE INFANT, AND THE STRANGER LEAVES. THEN THE MOTHER GOES AGAIN LEAVING THE INFANT ALONE IN THE ROOM.
(child crying)
>> WHAT WE'RE BASICALLY DOING HERE IS PROGRESSIVELY INCREASING THE LEVEL OF STRESS THAT THE BABY'S EXPOSED TO. FIRST IT'S A STRANGE PLACE, THEN IT'S A STRANGE PERSON ON TOP OF THAT, THEN IT'S A SEPARATION FROM PARENT ON TOP OF THAT.
>> Narrator: THE STRANGER RETURNS AND AGAIN TRIES TO COMFORT AND INTERACT WITH THE INFANT.
(child crying) FINALLY THE MOTHER RETURNS AND THE STRANGER LEAVES. WHAT THE PSYCHOLOGISTS HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR HERE IS THE BABY'S REACTION TO THE SEPARATION AND MORE IMPORTANT THE BEHAVIOR ON REUNION WITH THE MOTHER.
>> WHEN WE LOOK AT BEHAVIOR OF CHILDREN IN STRANGE SITUATION WE SEE THAT THEY BEHAVE DIFFERENTLY.
>> Narrator: MARY AINSWORTH AND HER COLLEAGUES IDENTIFIED THREE TYPES OF ATTACHMENT. THE FIRST THEY CALL SECURE ATTACHMENT.
>> SOME CHILDREN WHO ARE VERY UPSET BY THE SEPARATIONS AND THE COMINGS AND GOINGS OF THE STRANGER AND THE MOTHER, WHEN MOTHER COMES BACK SCAMPER OVER TO HER AND SAY "PICK ME UP," SINK INTO HER, AND RELAX AND SETTLE DOWN. THAT'S A SIGNATURE OF A SECURELY ATTACHED CHILD.
>> AND EVENTUALLY, EVEN THOUGH IT MIGHT BE A FEW MINUTES LATER, THE CHILD WILL THEN GO BACK TO PLAY. SO THEY KIND OF HAVE THEIR BALANCE RESET BY CONTACT WITH THE MOTHER.
>> Narrator: AINSWORTH'S SECOND TYPE IS INSECURE AVOIDANT.
>> INSECURE AVOIDANT CHILDREN DON'T REALLY RESPOND VERY DIFFERENTLY TO EITHER SEPARATION OR REUNION. SO THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE OF THE STRANGE SITUATION, THEY'RE PRETTY MUCH AT A BASE LINE KIND OF BEHAVIOR. SO THE MOTHER LEAVES THEM AND THEY DON'T SEEM PARTICULARLY DISTRESSED OR ANXIOUS ABOUT THE SEPARATION. AND WHEN THE MOTHER COMES BACK IN THEY DON'T WANT OR SEEK CONTACT. IN EXTREME CASES, IF THE MOTHER INITIATES OR TRIES TO INITIATE CONTACT WITH THE CHILD THEY MIGHT AVERT GAZE OR TURN AWAY FROM THE MOTHER.
>> Narrator: THE THIRD TYPE IS INSECURE RESISTANT.
>> IF THEY DON'T EXPLORE THE ENVIRONMENT AND ON SEPARATION THEY GET VERY, VERY DISTRESSED.
>> WHEN THE BABY'S DISTRESSED WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE IS A BABY WHO SIMPLY CAN'T BRING HIMSELF TOGETHER TO APPROACH THE CAREGIVER, THE MOTHER, AND JUST SITS THERE AND CRIES. OR CAN APPROACH THE CAREGIVER, SAYS "PICK ME UP," BUT CAN'T FIND COMFORT AND SOLACE THERE.
>> Narrator: AINSWORTH FOUND THAT ABOUT 2/3RDS OF THE CHILDREN IN HER SAMPLES WERE SECURELY ATTACHED. BUT SINCE HER ORIGINAL FORMULATION, RESEARCHERS HAVE IDENTIFIED A FOURTH TYPE: INSECURE DISORGANIZED.
>> UNLIKE THE ORGANIZED PATTERNS OF ATTACHMENT, THESE INFANTS APPEAR TO HAVE NO CLEAR STRATEGY FOR HOW TO DEAL WITH SEPARATION AND REUNION. AND THIS TYPE OF ATTACHMENT HAS BEEN FOUND TO BE MORE COMMON IN CASES WHERE THE INFANT MIGHT HAVE BEEN ABUSED OR WHERE THE MOTHERS MIGHT HAVE HAD VARIOUS MENTAL ILL HEALTH PROBLEMS. BUT WE ALSO GET AROUND 15% OF INFANTS IN NORMAL MIDDLE CLASS SAMPLES BEING CLASSIFIED AS DISORGANIZED.
>> Narrator: PSYCHOLOGISTS ARE INTERESTED IN WHAT PRODUCES THESE DIFFERENT PATTERNS OF ATTACHMENT. AINSWORTH SUGGESTED THAT THEY RESULTED FROM DIFFERENT TYPES OF PARENTING. MOTHERS OF SECURELY ATTACHED CHILDREN TENDED TO BE MORE RESPONSIVE TO THEM, HOLDING THEM FOR LONGER, AND GENERALLY TAKING MORE PLEASURE IN BEING WITH THEM. PSYCHOLOGISTS HAVE ALSO DONE LONGITUDINAL STUDIES TO EXPLORE HOW DIFFERENT PATTERNS OF ATTACHMENT IN INFANTS MAY EFFECT EARLY CHILDHOOD, LATER CHILDHOOD, AND ADULTHOOD. AND MARY AINSWORTH'S METHODS HAVE UNDERPINNED A LOT OF THIS RESEARCH.
>> THE STRANGE SITUATION HAS BEEN CRITICIZED FOR BEING SPECIFIC TO WESTERN CULTURES AND CLASSIFICATION INTO TYPES IS, TO SOME EXTENT, DEPENDENT ON THE SUBJECTIVE JUDGMENT OF THE RESEARCHERS. HOWEVER, IT'S FINDINGS HAVE BEEN REPLICATED IN COUNTLESS LATER STUDIES AND IT'S A TESTIMONY TO MARY AINSWORTH'S GREAT ACHIEVEMENT THAT THE STRANGE SITUATION CONTINUES TO BE ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT RESEARCH TOOLS IN DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY. ? ?
Jar2006
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