Stranger situation test

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A child who shows exploratory behavior through play

The Strange Situation Test (FST) or Strange Situation test mentioned (English: "Strange Situation Test") is, by one of Mary Ainsworth developed developmental psychological experiment that a relationship between child and mother on criteria John Bowlby for test a secure bond.

Mary Ainsworth managed to make Bowlby's attachment model observable in a standardized situation. She drew on earlier experimental research work by students of the Gestalt theorist Kurt Lewin , namely F. Wiehe in Berlin in the late 1920s ("The behavior of the child in strange fields") and Jean M. Arsenian in the USA in 1943 ("Young children in an insecure situation "). In a modification of F. Wiehe's "strange fields" and Jean M. Arsenian's "insecure situation", Ainsworth devised her experimental test situation of the "strange situation". In this situation, children aged 12 to 18 months find the typical conditions that, according to Bowlby's theory, activate both attachment and exploratory behavior, in an almost natural situation. This allows differences in the binding and exploration behavior to be observed.

Experimental setup

The test is conducted in a room with the floor divided into black and white squares to facilitate distance measurements. The observers can see and hear the test subjects, but not the other way around.

Test subjects: small children (male / female) between 12 and 18 months

Helpers: mothers (except for 2 women all housewives) and strangers (assistant)

Test procedure

  1. The mother puts her toddler down by the toy (up to 30 seconds).
  2. The mother sits down on a chair and reads a magazine (30 seconds).
  3. After 2 minutes at the latest, there is a knock signal, whereupon your child should be encouraged to play if it is not yet playing.
  4. The strange woman enters the room, sits down on a chair and is silent for 1 minute.
  5. This is followed by a conversation between her and the mother (1 min.).
  6. The strange woman is busy with the child (3 min.).
  7. The mother leaves the room and leaves her handbag behind (at this point it is observed how the child reacts to the stranger and whether a separation protest occurs).
  8. If the child is crying, the strange woman deals with him, otherwise she remains seated on the chair.
  9. The mother speaks at the door.
  10. Then she comes in, picks up her child and greets them.
  11. The mother places her child next to the toy and tries to encourage it to play.
  12. The strange woman leaves the room.
  13. After 3 minutes the mother leaves the room, but leaves the handbag behind.
  14. The child is alone for 3 minutes.
  15. The strange woman speaks in front of the door.
  16. The strange woman enters the room and adapts her behavior to that of the toddler (e.g. comforting or playing along).
  17. The mother opens the door, stops for a moment and picks up her child.
  18. The strange woman leaves the room.

The process is recorded with a video camera and then assessed. The object of investigation is primarily the child's reaction in the moments of separation and reunification in order to determine the individual differences in coping with separation stress.

Results

In the strange situation test, the fundamental statements of the attachment theory could be confirmed. In the studies, which were carried out in various forms of society, four basic attachment qualities of the children were revealed. First, the children could be divided into securely attached and insecure attached children. Later, further distinctions between the insecurely bound became apparent.

  • Securely bound children
  • Children bound with insecurity and avoidance ("avoidant")
  • Children with insecurity and ambivalence ("ambivalent")
  • Children with disorganized behavior

The disorganized attachment was introduced after the fact that some children could not be reliably assigned.

See also: Kinds of attachment of the child

Causes of Different Bonding

The interaction behavior between the child and the attachment figure (usually the mother) is crucial for the development of a secure attachment. This means that the attachment person must be sensitive to the child's signals, interpret them appropriately, and respond appropriately and promptly in order to establish a secure bond. If these requirements are not met by the attachment figure, the likelihood of developing an insecure (ambivalent, avoidant or disorganized) attachment pattern in the child increases.

Follow-up examinations

Klaus Grossmann & Karin Grossmann (1980, University of Bielefeld)

  • Test subjects: 46 children (in the case of children aged 12 months, the FST was carried out with the mother, in the case of children aged 18 months it was performed with the father.)
  • Question: Can the child establish a secure bond (B bond) with two people?
  • Result:
  1. Children can bond with 2 people
  2. The time spent with the child is not essential to the quality of attachment
  3. The mother is not always preferred to the father

Main / Cassidy (1988/1985)

In this experiment, gambling behavior and strategies for resolving conflicts with peers were examined. In addition, a family photo and fictional separation situations were discussed with the children.

  • Test subjects: 5 to 6-year-old kindergarten children who were previously tested with mother and father at the age of 12 and 18 months.
  • Question: Does the attachment behavior remain consistent and unchanged until the age of three and beyond?
  • Result:
  1. While securely attached children showed safe play behavior and only called on the help of the educator if they failed, insecurely attached children played only little and had a tense relationship with other children.
  2. Securely attached children speak openly - also critically - about the situation and the people, while insecure attached children show active ignoring behavior.
  3. When the children were asked to express their thoughts on a fictitious separation (parents are traveling), children with a secure attachment showed grief, but also made constructive suggestions for bridging the separation. On the other hand, children who were insecurely bound showed great pain in separation, since the loss of their parents was understood here as final or irreversible, or showed no interest.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Wiehe's work was never published. A detailed summary can be found in: Kurt Lewin: A Dynamic Theory of Personality. McGraw-Hill, New York 1935, pp. 261ff.
  2. ↑ Jean M. Arsenian: Young children in an insecure situation. In: Journal of Abnormal Social Psychology. 38, 1943, pp. 225-249, doi : 10.1037 / h0062815 . See on this and on the previous work by F. Wiehe: G. Stemberger: Jean M. Arsenian (1914–2007). Kurt Lewin and the beginnings of attachment research. In: Phenomenal - Journal for Gestalt Theoretical Psychotherapy. 1–2 / 2012, pp. 89–91.
  3. ↑ a b R. Oerter, L. Montada (Ed.): Developmental Psychology. A textbook. 4th edition. PVU, Weinheim 1998, ISBN 3-621-27411-1 , pp. 239-240.
  4. ↑ M. Dornes: The early childhood. Developmental Psychology of the First Years of Life. Frankfurt am Main, Fischer 1997, ISBN 3-596-13548-6 .