strange situation Flashcards
what methods did Ainsworth used for her experiment.
100 working class American infants were used. she used a control observation method which took place in a room with two-way mirror and the psychologist observed the behaviour of the infants. the behavioural categories were judged by the type of attachment the caregiver and the infant included.
1- safe base behaviour = how physically close the infant stay’s with the caregiver and how independently do they explore everything.
2- Separation anxiety = how the infant reacts when the caregiver leaves the room.
3- stranger anxiety = how the infant reacts in the presence of the the stranger.
4- Reunion behaviour = hoe the infants react when they are reunited with their caregiver.
there are 8 stage each lasted 3 minutes.
what were the finding’s of Ainsworth experiment
type B ( securely attached ) - 66%
type A ( insecure avoidant ) - 22%
type C ( insecure avoidant ) - 12%
how do the securely attached infant react.
they stay closely with their care giver then explore independently and then come back to the caregiver and repeat, they show moderate anxiety when a stranger enter and when the caregiver leaves they show some distress and when they are reunited with the caregiver they require comfort from the caregiver.
how do insecure avoidant infants react.
they move far away form the caregiver and they explore the the room/ toys independently, they show very low stranger anxiety, they show no distress when their caregiver leaves and then why are reunited with the acre-giver they avoid contact and ignore the comfort needed from the care-giver.
how do insecure resistance infants react.
they stay very close ( physically close ) with their caregiver and they don’t explore the room/ toys independently. they show extreme signs of distress when the caregiver leaves and show very high stinger anxiety. and when they are reunited with the care-giver they require a lot of comfort from them and aren’t easily comforted.
how is a limitation of strange situation is that it has cultural bias.
because it was developed in America this means infants may react differently due to cultural traditions and will behave differently depending on how they are raised. Takahashi found out japanese children’s showed very extreme distress when they were separated from their mother due to their tradition as in Japan children stay with their mother all the time. However, in Germany children’s are encouraged to be independent so it could be their secure attachment might be seen as insecure avoidant. this is a limitation because the strange situation may not be valid as it can only be generalise to American infants not to all the countries tries or cultures.
how is the limitation of strange situation is tats it has low ecological validity.
because the research was done in a very unfamiliar environment as it took place in a new environment not in the infant’s home so it could be that they may have reacted differently - they may have showed signs of distress due to being in a new environment not due to stranger or separation anxiety.
how is a limitation of strange anxiety is that its unethical.
because in the research the protection of participants was harmed as the infants were distressed due to being operated from their caregiver or due to stranger anxiety. this is a limitation because it goes against the current BPS guideline for conducting a research however, it would not lack validity.
how is the limitation for strange situation is that it only focus on the mother as primary attachment figure.
because many research’s as been done to show that the behaviour of the child depends on which parent they are with. this is a limitation because the strange situation method for assessing attachment as it only focus on the relationship with one individual rather then their personal characteristic. It could be that the child is securely attached with someone else such as their father.
