Abstract Attachment is an imperative part of a child’s survival and is the foundation for all future relationships.  There are many factors that affect the attachment style of each infant, however, this paper will focus on the “clear-cut” attachment time period and how the absence of a caregiver affects an infant’s desire to explore their environment in an unfamiliar situation with a stranger.  Children with a secure attachment style were comfortable in their novel environment and displayed several explorative behaviors while their mothers were present.  However, with the departure of their safety base, infants display far less exploratory behaviors and are likely to increase in attachment prior to reuniting, especially in the event of multiple departures.  A healthy, secure attachment style is the best foundation for a child’s development and is mostly characterized by the quality of care and parenting styles.  Children with early, stable, loving caregivers are likely to develop secure attachment styles, characterized with a trust in self and environment. Strange Situation Review Paper Attachment serves several imperative functions for babies and children, human and non-human alike.

Not only is attachment seen as a biological necessity for survival, it is also a foundation for a child’s personality development, temperament, and future relationships (Berk, 2018).  Ainsworth & Bell define attachment as “an affectional tie that one person or animal forms between himself and another specific one – a tie that binds them together in space and endures over time” (1970, p.50) and their goal for this study was the illustrate the ever-changing relationship between the ethological-evolutionary attachment style and children’s desire to explore.  This ethological-evolutionary attachment style consists of an attachment in which a child desires to stay close to the object of attachment (in this case, the child’s mother) and will display attachment behaviors, such as following, clinging to, calling out to, or crying for their mother (Ainsworth & Bell, 1970).  The ethological-evolutionary attachment style comprises many natural, instinctual reflexes that babies display from birth in order to survive, however, this paper will focus on the purpose of attachment in terms of the internal working model, the basis of personality which serves as the foundation for all future relationships (Berk, 2018, p. 197). The study conducted by Ainsworth & Bell (1970) provided substantial evidence for their views on attachment, specifically, the delicate relationship between attachment styles and their effect on a child’s reactions in strange situations or with unfamiliar people.

Consisting of 56 middle class, Caucasian infants ranging from ages 49-51 weeks, each trial was divided into 8 episodes designed to produce natural responses to a novel yet normal, everyday life experience of meeting a stranger in a new place.  Each stranger interacted with the child slowly and each episode became increasingly more “disturbing” as the study progressed, but not so disturbing as to distress the child or arouse fear.  Each episode was meticulously constructed and in summary consisted of the mother taking the child into the observation room, putting the child down to engage in 3 minutes of solo play, unless otherwise engaged with by the child.  At this point, an unfamiliar person entered the room and sat quietly for 1 minute, followed by conversing with the mother for 1 minute and making initial contact with the child with a reinforcing object (a toy).  Then, the mother exited the room without notifying the child, and the stranger did not interact with them unless the infant was inactive or distressed by the mother’s absence.  Next, after a max of 3 minutes, the mother re-entered the room but stopped at the doorway in order to observe the infant’s natural response to the mother’s return.  The stranger then left, along with the mother after the infant was once again engaged in play.  At this point, the mother exited with a verbal prompt of “b