Describing secure and insecure
attachment
Brunner & Messinger
Review: Attachment defined
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What is the difference between being attached and
being securely attached?
What is the evidence (review Harlow) that
attachment is a primary motivational system?
How does the attachment system work and what
is its evolutionary function?
What is the difference between attachment
behaviors, the attachment system, and the
attachment bond?
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Describing secure and insecure
attachment
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How is security of attachment assessed in the
Strange Situation?
Describe secure attachment and avoidant, anxious,
and disorganized attachment?
Use descriptions to inform paper
Watch other types of interaction to understand
how attachment security relates to play interaction
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Empirical project tie-in
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Attachment system
Stress activates the attachment system &
reveals the child’s strategy
 Security is an equilibrium
 Avoidance is deactivation/shutting down
 Resistance is over-activation/acting up
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Measuring attachment security
A construct (secure attachment)
Is different than its measurement or
operationalization
 Attachment security can be measured with a
Q-sort (an intricate rating system)
 Prototypically measured with the Strange
Situation (12 – 36 months at least)
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Cross-cultural assessment
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2,000 Ainsworth strange situation classifications
obtained in 8 different countries.
Intracultural variation was nearly 1.5 times the
cross-cultural variation.
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Some samples from one country resembled those in
other countries more than they did each other.
Cross-cultural differences
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Avoidant classifications emerge relatively more
prevalent in Western European countries
resistant classifications relatively more frequent in
Israel and Japan.
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Strange Situation protocol
8 episodes, 3 min. each
1: mother given instructions outside room
 2: mother & child in room
 3: stranger enters
 4: 1st separation (stranger present)
 5: 1st reunion
 6: 2nd separation (baby alone)
 7: stranger reunion
 8: 2nd reunion
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Reunion coding scales
Proximity seeking
 Contact maintenance
 Avoidance
 Resistance
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 1(low)
-7 (high)
 Disorganization
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1 to 9
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Overall strategy
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A – Avoidant
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B – Secure
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Seek and be comforted by caregiver
C – Resistant
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Avoid caregiver
Seek caregiving without surcease
D – Disorganized
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Lack a coherent strategy
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Videos
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Proximity seeking
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The intensity and persistence of the baby’s
efforts to gain (or regain) contact or
proximity to mother.
High score: very active effort and initiative
Low score: weak or no effort; may interact over
a distance
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Proximity seeking behaviors
Immediate (vs. Delayed) approach to mom
 Purposeful and effective approach
 Going all the way to mother and making
contact
 Reaching for pick up
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Contact Maintenance
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Degree of activity and persistence in baby’s
efforts to maintain contact with mother once
contact has been gained.
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High score: active & persistent effort
– Low score: little to no effort
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Contact Maintenance Behaviors
Resisting release, clambering up after being
put down
 Protesting release by crying
 Clinging on attempted release
 Remaining in contact after being put down
i.E. Holding on to mother’s knee
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Avoidance
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Intensity, persistence, duration and promptness of the
baby’s avoidance of proximity and interaction, even
across a distance.
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High score: marked, persistence avoid. Behaviors
– Low score: little to no behaviors observed
Avoidance coding is stopped at point of contact
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Physiology
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Higher heart rate for avoidant infants
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Avoidance Behaviors
Delay in responding to mom’s entrance
 Ignoring mom’s entrance; No greeting
given
 Busying self with toys at point of reunion
 Gaze aversion when mom bids
 Trying to go past mom out the door
 Orienting body away from mom
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Resistance
Intensity and frequency or duration of resistant
behavior evoked by the person who comes into
contact with or proximity to the baby, or who
attempts to initiate interaction or play; ambivalence
about contact.
High score: intense & persistent resistance
Low score: little or no resistance observed
resistance is tied to contact with mom
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Resistance Behaviors
Angry mood, pouting, petulance, distress,
cranky fussing, temper tantrum
 Squirming when held
 Rejection of toys when mom offers
 Not easily calmed
 Crying after being calmed
 Crying in response to increased proximity
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Disorganization
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Inexplicable behavior
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No goal/strategy
Behavior suggests infant fears caregiver
 Disorganized behavior should occur with
caregiver and is given more weight if it
occurs early in reunion
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Coding disorganization
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“Behavior indicative of conflict, fear, and
confusion in relation to their attachment figure . . .
Sequential or simultaneous display of
contradictory behavior patterns; undirected,
misdirected, incomplete, and interrupted
movements and expressions; stereotypes,
asymmetrical movements, mistimed movements,
and anomalous postures; freezing, stilling, and
slowed movements and expressions; and direct
indexes of apprehension, disorganization, or
disorientation.” (Belsky et al., 1996)
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Disorganized behavior
Sequential/simultaneous displays of
contradictory behaviors
 Incomplete and stereotypic movements
 Freezing/stilling/slowing
 Indices of apprehension
 A 9-point Disorganization scale where
scores of 5+ indicate disorganization.
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Physiology
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Disorganized infant have higher stress
reactions (salivary cortisol) than other
infants
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in the Strange Situation– two studies
Reasonably stable categorization
R=.34 over x 25 months
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Meta-analysis: Van Ijzendoorn, Schuengel, & Bakermans-Kranenburg
(1999)
Higher heart rate for avoidant infants
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Overall strategy
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A – Avoidant
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B – Secure
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Seek and be comforted by caregiver
C – Resistant
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Avoid caregiver
Seek caregiving without surcease
D – Disorganized
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Lack a coherent strategy
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Typical A Behaviors
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moderate to high avoidance in reunions
low contact maintenance and proximity seeking in
reunions
show less overt distress in separations
ignore mother at point of reunion
less positive interactions with mother
gaze aversion to mother and stranger
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A subclassifications
A1: conspicuous avoidance throughout, no
signaling to mom, appear neutral or
uninterested.
 A2: mixed response, some tendency to greet
and approach mixed with marked tendency
to move away, will signal to mom.
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Typical B Behaviors
More positive towards mother throughout
 Moderate to high levels of proximity
seeking; Moderate contact maintenance
 Usually distressed in separations, but able to
be calmed and return to baseline levels of
play
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B subclassifications I
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B1: neutral behavior; may see some
avoidance, little distress in separation.
B1 child “just is.”
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B2: mix of some avoidance & resistance,
less need for contact than a B3. Moderate
distress in separations.
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B subclassifications II
B3: mom functions as a secure base;
balance between exploration & contact,
easily calmed by mom, function
independently by end of reunion.
 B4: mix of some resistance, preoccupation
with contact, “short tether,” unable to settle
without mom present, quality of play
returns.
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Typical C Behaviors
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less positive interactions with mother
HIGHLY distressed in separations!
preoccupied with mother throughout
seek mother at point of reunion
high contact maintenance and proximity seeking
in both reunions
not easily calmed; may not return to baseline level
of play
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C subclassifications
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C1: conspicuous resistance throughout; mix
of seeking and resisting contact, angry
quality.
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C2: passive quality to behavior, limited
exploration throughout, seem sad, depressed.
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Disorganized classification
No coherent strategy
 Evolved from unclassifiable (A/C) babies
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Both avoidant and resistant qualities
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Newer classification
or fearful behavior or unusual timing/sequence
of behavior
A, B, C vs. D
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MacArthur Preschool Attachment System
(Cassidy & Marvin, 1992) per Seifer et al. in press, Child Development
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‘Secure used caregiver as base for exploration,
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‘Anxious-Avoidant maintained affective neutrality
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refrained from personal content/intimacy in speech, maintained
physical distance or avoided proximity/gaze, difficulty
expressing emotion freely, not smooth emotional transitions.’
Anxious-Ambivalent - hostility, conflict, & anger,
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special quality to the relationship, minimal avoidant behavior,
did not exhibit anxiety/conflict in close contact with caregiver.
difficult and protracted separations, unsuccessful attempts
controlling behavior of caregiver
Disorganized classification - take several forms
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successful control of caregiver behavior (punitive or rolereversed caregiving), atypical forms of insecure behavior, or
unusual/contradictory patterns of behavior as described for 18month-olds.
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Review Syllabus
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