Ainsworth strange situation evaluation

Question 1

Name an evaluation point

Answer 1

Observations had high reliability
Measurements are meaningful if confirmed by observers, this is called interobserver reliability
This is observed by a panel of judges who compare the ratings
Ainsworth et al in 1978 found a .94 agreement rate 1.00 is perfect.

Question 2

Name a second evaluation point

Answer 2

Low internal validity
It could be argued that the strange situation measures the quality of a particular relationship
Main and Weston in 1981 - children behaved differently depending on the parent
One could argued that the classification system of attachment may not be valid as we are actually measuring the characteristics of an individual
Bowlby’s theory argues that attachment is largely related to the one specific relationship - monotropy
Main in 1999 used the adult attachment interview on 9 year olds and found that attachment is largely influenced by the mother.

Question 3

Name a third evaluation point

Answer 3

This study has real world applications
Interventionist strategies can be implemented. For example the circle security project Cooper et al in 2005 teaches caregivers to be better understanding towards their infants signals of distress and to increase their understanding of what its like to experience anxiety. The project showed a decrease in the number of caregivers classified as disorders from 60% to 15% and an increase in infants classed as securely attached from 32% to 40%

Question 4

Name an evaluation point

Answer 4

Other types of attachment
Martin and Solomon 1986 analysed over 200 strange situation videotapes and proposed the insecure-disorganised type D characterised by a lack of consistent patterns of social behaviours. In other words, some infants don’t have consistent attachment types and struggle dealing with stress. For example, they show very strong attachment behaviour which is suddenly by avoidance or looking fearful towards their caregiver. Van Ijzendoorn et al 1999 further supported this with a meta-analysis of nearly 80 studies in the US. They found 62% secure, 15% insecure-avoidant, 9% insecure resistant and 15%
This suggests that Ainsworth original conclusions were oversimplified and do not take account for all attachment types