attachment - types of attachment

Question 1

who developed the strange situation?

Answer 1

mary ainsworth 1969

Question 2

aim of strange situation

Answer 2

to observe key behaviours as a means of assessing the quality of a child’s attachment to a caregiver.

Question 3

explain the strange situation experiment

Answer 3

-controlled observation
-room with controlled conditions e.g., lab
-two-way mirror
-5 behaviours judged
-procedure has 7 3-minute episodes
child explores room with caregiver in the room - a stranger comes in and interacts - caregiver leavs child with stranger - caregiver returns - and leaves repeated

Question 4

findings of strange situation

Answer 4

identified three attachment types
secure attachment - 60%-75%
insecure - avoidant attachment - 20%-25%
insecure resistant attachment - 3%

Question 5

what is secure attachment?

Answer 5

happy to explore but return to their mother as a secure base
moderate distress when they leave and moderate stranger anxiety. they require and accept comfort in reunion.

Question 6

what percentage of UK infants are securely attached?

Answer 6

60-75%

Question 7

what is insecure avoidant?

Answer 7

explore freely but do not seek mother or show secure base. little reaction when they leave and when they return. little stranger anxiety. Their behaviour is indiscriminate and do not require comfort at reunion stage.

Question 8

what percentage of UK infants are insecure avoidant?

Answer 8

20-25%

Question 9

what is insecure resistant?

Answer 9

seek proximity and explore less. Extreme stranger and seperation anxiety but they resist comfort when reunited as they left in the first place.

Question 10

what percentage of UK infants are insecure resistant?

Answer 10

around 3%

Question 11

Evaluate the strange situation

Answer 11

• culture bound Takahashi noted in Japan it didn’t work as mothers are rarely separated from their child. western culture = individualistic problem of imposed etic - judging different culture from the view of your own cannot be generalised
• only concluded three attachment styles but Solomon argues there are 4. the fourth being disorganised attachment. this would mean Ainsworth failed to account to all behaviour shown in the strange situation. lacks validity not a true reflection of behaviour. highlights inconsistency within observers decreases reliability
• predictive value and potential practical applications. smith found that those who are insecure resistant suffer later in life e.g., bullying. This means there’s a high degree of external validity because it can predict future outcomes. which could mean we can help those who are IR before its too late = useful
• high degree of reliability - Bick found that when psychologist observed the behaviour 94% of the time they agreed on the attachment type they classified the child with. - consistent - inter rate reliability
• controlled
• lack ecological validity

Question 12

what were the 5 behaviours judged in the strange situation?

Answer 12

proximity
secure base
stranger anxiety
separation anxiety
reunion behaviour

Question 13

who conducted the study in cultural variations of attachment ?

Answer 13

izjendoor and Kroonenberg 1988

Question 14

what did izjendoor and Kroonenberg do in 1988?

Answer 14

located 32 studies if attachment which included the strange situations assessment of quality of attachment. These studies were conducted in 8 countries, 15 in the USA. overall 1,900 children. The data was meta-analysed meaning the results were combined and weighted for sample size.

Question 15

what did izjendoor and Kroonenberg find?

Answer 15

• in all countries secure was the most common
• insecure avoidant was most common in Germany and least common in Japan.
• insecure resistant was most common in Israel (30%) and least in Britain
• findings within countries were the most fascinating as variations within the same country were more apparent.

Question 16

evaluate research into cultural variations of attachment

Answer 16

Large sample - nearly 2000 size sample in many different countries - increase internal validity as it reduces the impact of anomalous results by bad methodology or different P.P
still unrepresentative of culture - difference between countries not culture - within countries there are many different culture - they found that there was the most differences between countries and this is because there can be several cultures in one country therfore we

Question 17

evaluate research into cultural variations of attachment

Answer 17

Large sample - nearly 2000 size sample in many different countries - increase internal validity as it reduces the impact of anomalous results by bad methodology or different P.P
still unrepresentative of culture - difference between countries not culture - within countries there are many different culture - they found that there was the most differences between countries and this is because there can be several cultures in one country therefore, the comparisons between countries may have little meaning
- method of assesment is biased - strange situation = american based on british theory. Can this theory be applied to other cultures. this is imposed etic.
- meta-analysis - hard to control all the experiments may have been conucted different in different places therefore all the findings would be different

Question 18

what was the most common attachment in cross cultural variations?

Answer 18

secure attachment
75% - Britian
50% china

Question 19

where was insecure resistant the most common and what was the percentage?

Answer 19

israel - 30%

Question 20

where was insecure avoidant the most common ?

Answer 20

Germany

Question 21

what countries were in cross cultural variations?

Answer 21

Netherlands, Sweden, Britain, US, china, Israel, japan and Germany