Attachment - strange situation

Question 1

what are the 3 types of attachments?

Answer 1

• secure attachment
• insecure avoidant
• insecure resistant

Question 2

what Is meant by a secure attachment?

Answer 2

• like to be physically close and use caregiver as a secure base
• show some distress when separated
• show pleasure when reunited with them
• can develop good later relationships

Question 3

what is meant by a insecure avoidant attachment?

Answer 3

• happy with/without caregiver
• little distress when caregiver goes
• usually develops due to caregiver ignoring infant

Question 4

what is meant by a insecure resistant attachment?

Answer 4

• show extreme distress when away from caregiver
• when reunited they show a anger towards caregiver
• develops because caregiver is inconsistent

Question 5

who investigated into the different types of attachment?

Answer 5

Ainsworth - strange situation

Question 6

what was the procedures of Ainsworth research?

Answer 6

100 middle class American mothers took babies in controlled observations - observations were when stranger entered the room, mother left child alone with stranger, mother returned

Question 7

what were the findings of Ainsworth research?

Answer 7

70% - secure attachment type B
20% - insecure - avoidant type A
10% - insecure - resistant type C

Question 8

what is a strength of Ainsworths FINDINGD AND CONCLUSIONS?

Answer 8

high inter-observer reliability - ratings made by all observers were very similar - conclusions are accepted as being consistent

Question 9

what is a criticism of Ainsworths FINDINGD AND CONCLUSIONS?

Answer 9

later studies using the strange situation found a 4th type of attachment - insecure disorganised - reduces the confidence we have in Ainsworth original findings

Question 10

what is a practical application of Ainsworths FINDINGD AND CONCLUSIONS?

Answer 10

interventions for insecure attachments can help parents understand their child needs - helps child have better life

Question 11

what is a weakness of using the strange situation? 1

Answer 11

demand characteristics - overt study so mothers may have done things to show they are a good mother e.g. giving baby cues to make it more anxious - not accurate results

Question 12

what is a weakness of using the strange situation? 2

Answer 12

culturally biased - only applies to middle class American mothers not even fathers

Question 13

what is a strength of using the strange situation?

Answer 13

led to further reach into attachments - has been used in numerous studies around the world - helps psychologists develop further understanding

Question 14

who researched cultural variations into attachment?

Answer 14

Van Ljzendoorn

Question 15

what was Van Ljzendoorn procedures in his study?

Answer 15

conducted a meta-analysis of 32 studies of attachment in 8 different countries

Question 16

what were the findings of Van Ljzendoorns study?

Answer 16

highest secure - Great Britain 
lowest secure - China 
highest avoidant - west Germany 
lowest avoidant - Japan
highest resistant - Japan

Question 17

what conclusions can be made from Van Ljzendoorn’s study?

Answer 17

secure attachments are the norm in all countries supports the idea attachment is a innate process as suggested by Bowlby

Question 18

what is a strength of research into cultural variations?

Answer 18

meta analysis of 2000 babies - results very representative - not affected by anomalies

Question 19

what is a weakness into the research of cultural variations? 1

Answer 19

did not really investigate cultural differences - out of 32 studies 18 were in America - therefore not testing different cultures they are testing different countries but only 8! - not representative

Question 20

what is a weakness into the research of cultural variations? 2

Answer 20

strange situation is a culturally biased method - ethnocentric because its effectively saying other cultures like Japan are insensitive and poor carers