ATTACHMENT AO3

Question 1

2 strengths of Schaffer’s stages of attachment and research into it

Answer 1

1) Good external validity: in babies’ natural environment, observed by their own mothers ∴ babies do not behave differently due to a stranger
2) Practical application: parents know babies can be comforted by any adult in stage 1-2, but not later ∴ allows them to plan use of daycare

Question 2

2 limitation of Schaffer’s stages of attachment and research into it

Answer 2

1) Low internal validity for asocial stage: very young babies have poor coordination and communication, and therefore not able to demonstrate preference for one adult, for example
2) Ethnocentric study: all 50 babies and mothers are working-class from Glasgow, culture may effect results e.g. working class mothers, not fathers, almost always care for child

Question 3

2 limitations of learning theory of attachment

Answer 3

1) Contradicted by animal studies: Harlow’s monkeys displayed preference for a soft, comforting “mother” over a food-providing “mother”
2) Schaffer + Emerson contradicts, as showed babies tend to form main attachment to mother regardless of who feeds them

Question 4

Strength of learning theory of attachment

Answer 4

Dollard and Miller supports: showed babies fed around 2000 times in their first year, provides ample opportunity for conditioning to take place

Question 5

2 strengths of Bowlby’s monotropic theory of attachment

Answer 5

1) Brazelton still face study supports social releasers: when caregivers stop responding to babies, they use social releasers to attempt to elicit a response
2) Bailey supports internal working model: showed 99 mothers with poor attachment to their own mothers in turn were poorly attached to their own children

Question 6

Limitation of Bowlby’s monotropic theory of attachment

Answer 6

Evidence contradicting monotropy (to one main figure): Schaffer and Emerson found some babies formed multiple attachments first, and also that first attachment sometimes not any different to later attachments

Question 7

2 strengths of Ainsworth’s Strange Situation

Answer 7

1) Good predictive validity: many studies (e.g. Kerns predicts insecure attachment leads to later friendship issues) show attachment type leads to certain characteristics
2) Inter-rater reliability: found to be in agreement on attachment type in 94% of cases

Question 8

Limitation of Ainsworth’s Strange Situation

Answer 8

Test may be culture-bound: Characteristics defining attachment or lack thereof (e.g. distress on separation) may be viewed as something else in other cultures (e.g. as independence in Germany)