Attachment Research Flashcards
What is the aim of Mary Ainsworth’s Strange Situation?
To investigate the security of an infant’s attachment to their primary caregiver
What was the methods of Ainsworth’s Strange Situation ?
- participants = 12-18 month olds and mums
- 106 participants were observed
- controlled observation through one way mirror
What were the 7 stages of Ainsworth’s Strange Situation?
1)child encouraged to explore- tests exploration and secure base
2)stranger enters and interacts w/ child- tests stranger anxiety
3)caregiver leaves- tests separation/stranger anxiety
4)caregiver returns and stranger leaves- tests reunion behaviour
5)caregiver leaves child alone- tests separation anxiety
6)stranger returns- tests stranger anxiety
7)caregiver returns and reunites w/ child- tests reunion behaviour
What were the findings of Ainsworth’s Strange Situation?
Different types of attachments:
- 66% secure attachment
- 22% insecure avoidant
- 12% insecure resistant
What are the conclusions of Ainsworth’s strange situation?
Sensitive responsiveness is crucial factor determining the quality of attachment between infant and primary caregiver
Describe Secure attachment
- explore happily but regularly go back to PCG
- moderate stranger/separation anxiety
- accept comfort from caregiver in reunion stage
- roughly 60-75% of British toddlers
Describe Insecure-avoidant attachments
- explore freely but do not seek proximity or show secure base behaviour
- little/no separation/stranger anxiety
- little effort making contact when CG returns
- don’t require comfort at reunion stage
- 20-25% of British toddlers
Describe insecure-resistant attachments
- seek greater proximity so explore less
- huge stranger/separation anxiety
- resist comfort when reunited with carer
- around 3% of British toddlers
What are some overall A03 of Ainsworth’s Strange Situation
-✅ support for validity
-✅good reliability
-❌may be culture bound
Describe validity support as an A03 of the strange situation
- predictive of later development
- secure attachment = successfull relationships
- insecure resistant = worst outcomes
- increases validity as it explain subsequent outcomes
Describe good reliability as an A03 point of the Strange Situation
- SS shows good inter-rater reliability
- Bick et al. found agreement on attachment types between strange situation observers
- shows that the attachment style identified is not dependent on who observes them
Describe culture bound as an A03 of the Strange Situation
- does not have same meaning in countries outside of west
- different childhoods respond differently
- caregivers from different cultures respond differently
- Takahashi noted test doesn’t work in Japan as mothers are rarely separation from babies, so separation anxiety is high
describe the Aim and method of Van Ijzendoorn and kroonenberg’s study regarding cultural variations in attachment
- AIM- to investigate cross-cultural variations in attachment
- METHOD :
-conducted meta-analysis of 32 studies from 8 countries that used SS
-over 1,990 infants included
describe the results of Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s study regarding cultural variations in attachment
- secure attachment style is most common
- individualistic cultures show high levels of insecure-avoidant
- collectivist shows high levels of insecure resistant
describe the conclusion of Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s study regarding cultural variations in attachment
- global trend reflects the US norm of secure attachment being the most common
- adds weight to argument that secure attachment is the optimal attachment for healthy development
describe Tronick et al’s cultural similarities research regarding cultural variations
- Efe tribe live in extended family groups where infants are loooes after by different women
- however infants sleep with their own mother at night
- children still showed preference for primary attachment figure at 6m
- supports Ijzendoorn and Kroonenburg’s finding that secure attachment is most common globally
describe Grossman and Grossman’s cultural difference research regarding cultural variation
- in german culture child rearing practices favour independence from a young age whereby kids don’t seek interpersonal contact w/ parents
- as a result german children appear to be insecurely attached as they don’t seek proximity or joy upon reunion
what are some overall A03 points of cultural variations in attachment
- issue of imposed etic❌
- meta analysis is ethically sound ✅
- may be differences in attachment within one culture
- only looked at limited sample of studies ❌
describe an A03 of cultural variations in attachment regarding imposed etic
- test for one culture being used for another is referred to as imposed etic
- SS was designed by an American (ainsworth) and based on British theory (bowlby) therefore not a valid tool to accurately measure non-western societies
- difficult to generalise + comparisons between countries have little meaning
describe an A03 of cultural variations in attachment regarding the use of meta analysis being ethically sound
- no new data collection involved in study so no children put through potentially traumatic ‘strange situation’ procedure
- not compromised by ethical issues
describe an A03 of cultural variations in attachment regarding difference not only being across countries
- not everyone in a culture will have the same practices
- different subcultures have different rearing techniques
- EG–> UK middle class has different child-rearing techniques to working class, and upper classes trad. hire a nanny
- questions validity as there are variations within cultures
describe an A03 of cultural variations in attachment regarding a limited sample
- despite large number of studies, over half of studies that Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg looked at were in US
- only 5 were carried out in collectivist cultures
- not representative
what was the aim of Lorenz’s study
to examine the phenomenon of imprinting in non-human animals
describe the method of Lorenz’s study
- divided greylag goose eggs into 2 batches - one hatched by mother and one hatched by Lorenz
- put upside down box on them –> lifted it to see their behaviour
