mary ainsworth TSS evaluation

Question 1

reliability of study

Answer 1

highly standardised procedure - replicable and objective

Question 2

application of study

Answer 2

increasing number of children attending day care as mothers return to work

Question 3

validity of the study

Answer 3

lab based experiment - unnatural environment therefore lacks ecological validity as the situation is unfamiliar to the child (the child could be responding to the situation they’re placed in rather than the absence of mother)

Question 4

ethics of the study

Answer 4

procedure caused unnecessary distress to the children (e.g. separated twice from their mothers). Therefore, the participants are not protected from harm. Also the implications of the research … bad parenting?

Question 5

generalisability of the study

Answer 5

the SSP has been used in different cultures finding different proportions of securely attached children. Therefore, the study may be culture beyond and perhaps not generalisable to other cultures with different expectations in raising children.