attachment- schaffer's stages of attachment

Question 1

strength- high external validity (4)

Answer 1

-naturalistic observation- studied in their own homes
-babies werent distracted- natural behaviour observed
-high ecological validity- can be generalised

-so stages of attachment developed from study also have high validity

Question 2

strength- real world application (5)

Answer 2

-practical application in daycares
-daycare is straightforward in asocial+indiscriminate stages- babies accept comfort from anyone
-starting daycare at specific attachment stage is a problem- presence of unfamiliar adult
-parents can use this to plan daycare

-so stages of attachment are beneficial to parents

Question 3

limitation- unrepresentative sample (4)

Answer 3

-lacks population validity so study is unrepresentative
-sample of 60 working class families in glasgow can be different to how attachments are formed in wealthier families/different countries
-cant generalise to other families as behaviour isnt comparable

-so stages of attachment are questioned as they are a product of the study

Question 4

limitation- social desirability bias (3)

Answer 4

-mothers want to appear good during self report- social desirability bias
-innacurate details->biased data-> lowers internal validity of findings

-so stages of attachment also have lower validity