Mary Ainsworth (1913-1999) conducted a series of experiments to determine if attachment was innate. The experiment was done with infants, because their reactions are easier to record and recognize than an adult. This experiment has come to be known as "The Strange Experiment". The procedure is as follows:
1. The mother and child play alone in a room.
2. A stranger joins the mother and child.
3. The mother leaves the stranger and child alone.
4. The mother returns and the stranger leaves.
5. The mother leaves the child alone in the room.
6. The stranger returns.
7. The mother returns and the stranger leaves.
Ainsworth recorded the child's behavior during the mother's absence and the mother's return. How the child acted upon the mother's return was crucial in determining what sort of relationship the child had with the mother.
Ainsworth identified four main types of attachments:
Secure, Ambivalent, Avoidant, and Disorganized. The chart records the behavior of the child during each step in the experiment. A child with a Disorganized Attachment does not follow the same behavioral pattern as the other children, so it was left from the chart.
In today's society, there are less stay-at-home parents, so more children are going to daycares at a younger age. Because of this, children learn to be less attached to their parents, because they interact with them for such a small part of their day. According to that information, Ainsworth would predict more children to have an avoidant attachment to their parents than the small few when she first conducted the Strange Situation. Children learn that they can't always count on their parents to protect them, due to the short interactions they have with them. They are used to saying goodbye to their parents at the start of the day, so clearly, they aren't strongly attached.
Sources:
http://www.simplypsychology.org/mary-ainsworth.html
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http://www.simplypsychology.org/mary-ainsworth.html