ATTACHMENT ( STRANGE SITUATION ) Flashcards
Outline the procedure and findings of Ainsworth’s Strange Situation
AIM : The aim of the experiment was to see how infants behave under conditions of stress and novelty ( something new or unusual )
PROCEDURE : The experiment happened in a 9 x 9 foot space marked off by 16 to help record the infant’s behaviour . The procedure consisited of 8 episodes each about 3 minutes duration . The key feature of the experiment is that the caregiver or stranger alternately stay with the infant or leave . This helped to observe the infant’s response to separation anxiety , reunion behaviour , stranger anxiety and exploration of the environment by the infant. Data was colllected by a group of observers using a video recorder or one way mirror using behavioural categories eg. proximity and contact-seeking behaviour or contact and interaction resisting .
FINDINGS : Ainsworth combined data from 106 infants observed. They noted similarities and differences , for example similarly from episode 2 onwards exploratory behaviour reduced and crying increased. In terms of differences Ainsworth found three main patterns of behaviour which added up to three qualitatively different types of attachment. These are secure a, insecure-avoidant and insecure - resistant attachment .
Outline secure attachment behaviour ( TYPE B )
refers to infants who have harmonious and cooperative interactions with their caregiver. They are not likely to cry when caregiver leaves the room or show distress when left with a stranger . Infant uses caregiver as a secure base , seeks bodily contact when anxious and are comfortable with social interaction and intimacy
Outline insecure avoidant behaviour ( TYPE A )
Infants tend to avoid social interaction and intimacy with others. These children show little response to separation and do not seek proximity of their caregiver on reunion . Such children are happy to explore with or without the presence of their caregiver also characterised as having high anxiety .
Outline insecure-resistant behaviour ( TYPE C )
This infant seeks and resists intimacy and social interaction . Respond to separation from their care-giver with immediate and intense distress , and behave similarly towards strangers . On reunion , these children display conflicting desires for and against contact , they may angrily resist being picked up while also trying other means to maintain proximity
EVALUATE the strange situation ( 3 PEELS)
STRENGTH ( Observations had high validity )
POINT : Different observers watching the same children generally agree on an attachment style.
EVIDENCE/EXPLANATION : Inter-observer reliability was high as the measurements are confirmed as meaningful if there is agreement amongst observers. Inter-observer reliability is determined by comparing the ratings made by a panel of experienced judges . Ainsworth found almost perfect agreement when rating exploratory behavior - they found .94 agreement out of 1.00
LINK : This points to a strength of the Strange Situation , namely that the observations can be accepted as being reliable
LIMITATION ( Other attachment types )
POINT : Subsequent research has found that Ainsworth et al ‘s analysis overlooked a fourth type of attachment.
EVIDENCE/EXPLANATION : Main and Solomon analysed over 200 strange situation videotapes and proposed the insecure-disorganised type D , characterised by a lack of consistent patterns of social behaviour. Some infants don’t have a consistent type of attachment and lack a strategy for dealing with stress of separation eg. they show very strong attachment behaviour which is suddenly followed by avoidance or looking fearful towards caregiver. Ijzendoorn further supported thois when he carried out a meta- analysis .
LINK : This suggests that Ainsworth’s original conclusions were oversimplified and do not account for all attachment behaviours.
LIMITATION ( low internal validity )
POINT : One criticism of the Strange situation was was weather it does actually measure the attachment type of a child , or whether it merely measures the quality of one particular relationship .
EVIDENCE/EXPLANATION : Main and Weston fund that children behaved differently depending on which parent they are with . This suggests that the classification of an attachment type may not be valid because what we are measuring is one relationship rather than the infant’s personal characteristic. However according to Bowlby’s monotropic theory , the attachment type is largely related to the one special relationship . Main reassed children at age 9 and found that attachment type was chiefly influenced by the mother.
LINK : This supports Bowbly’s concept of monotropy and internal validity of the strange situation .
Outline the Procedure and Findings of Van ijzendoorn’s research into cultural variations .
PROCEDURE : V.I conducted a meta analysis examining over 2000 strange situation classifications in eight countries. They were interested to see whether there would be evidence that inter-cultural differences did exist between different countries/cultures.
FINDINGS : They found that diferrences were small. Secure attachment was the most common in every country . Insecure-avoidant was the next most common in every countries except Israel and Japan ( collectivist ) . This meta analysis showed a global pattern across cultures seemed to be similiar as the US , with secure attachment being the most common supporting the idea that it is the best for healthy social and emotional development . Supports that attachment is innate and a biological process.
EVALUATE the research into cultural variations
LIMITATIONS
POINT : Similarities may be due to global culture . According to Bowlby’s theory of attachment the reason for univeral similarities is how attachments form is because it is innate and unmodified by culture.
EVIDENCE/EXPLANATION : The meta analysis concluded that at least some cultural similarities might be explained by effects of mass media , which spread ideas about parenting , so as a result children all over the world have similar influences.
LINK : This means that cultural similarities may not be due to innate biological influences but are because of our increasingly global culture
POINT : An issue with the conclusions is that they were actually not comparing cultures but countries.
EVIDENCE/EXPLANATION : Foe example they compared Japan to US , however in every country they are subcultures each which have different childcare practices . One study in Tokyo found similar distributions of attachment type to Western studies however a more rural sample found an over representation of insecure-resistant individuals .
LINK : This suggets that when using the term ‘cultural variations’ might have not been the approriate term especially when assessing whether an individual sample is representative of a particular culture
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