Читать книгу The Handy Psychology Answer Book - Lisa J. Cohen - Страница 158

A securely attached child (B baby in Ainsworth’s system) showed interest in the toys when the mother was in the room. Some babies showed mild to moderate distress in the separation episodes. Most importantly, in the reunion episodes, the child directly sought out contact with the mother. If the child was distressed after the separation, contact with the mother was effective in soothing the child. This pattern of behavior is seen to reflect the child’s felt security in the mother’s availability and responsiveness to the child’s attachment needs.

What is the “strange situation” and what does it show?

The strange situation is a twenty-minute procedure in which infants of twelve to eighteen months and their mothers are introduced to a room full of toys attached to an observation room by a one-way mirror. A sequence of separations and reunions follow. There are eight episodes to the strange situation, the first lasting only thirty seconds and the rest up to three minutes. The baby’s reactions during the two separation and reunion episodes are carefully observed through the oneway mirror. Based mainly on these behaviors, the baby is classified as either securely attached or into one of three insecurely attached categories.