Strange situation and types of attachment past paper improvements

Question 1

Give three behaviours that researchers have measured in order to classify attachment type when using the Strange Situation. (3)

Answer 1

Reunion behaviour, separation anxiety, willingness to explore, stranger anxiety

Question 2

Apart from ethical issues, explain one limitation of the Strange Situation as a measure of attachment type. (3)

Answer 2

May be culture-bound (developed in US)
Takahashi (1990) noted test doesn’t really work in Japan as Japanese mothers rarely separated from child and so v high levels of separation anxiety and lots appearing insecure-resistant

Question 3

Discuss research into cultural variations in attachment. (12)

Answer 3

Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg (1988) looked at proportion of secure, insecure-avoidant and insecure-resistant attachments across range of countries and differences within the same countries to get idea of variations within a culture
Procedure: 32 studies (8 diff countries: 15 in USA, 1990 children) using Strange Situation to investigate proportion of infants w/ diff attachment types.  Data was meta-analysed, results combined and weighted for sample size
Findings: Secure most common classification, proportion varied from 75% in UK to 50% in China. Insecure-resistant least common, varied from 3% in UK to around 30% in Israel. Insecure-avoiant most common in Germany, least in Japan. Variations within same country were 150% greater than between countries e.g. in US one study found 46% secure while another found 90%
AO3:
Strange Situation designed by American (Ainsworth) based on British theory (Bowlby's)
Imposed etic (trying to apply theory/technique designed for one culture to another culture)
E.g. Lack of separation anxiety + pleasure on reunion indicate insecure attachment in SS, in Germany this could be seen more as independence than avoidance and not sign of insecurity within that culture (Grossmann and Grossmann 1990)

Question 4

Identify two infant behaviours that are characteristic of an insecure-resistant attachment type. (2)

Answer 4

High stranger anxiety

High separation anxiety

Question 5

In van Ijzendoorn’s cross-cultural investigations of attachment, which one of the following countries was found to have the highest percentage of anxious-avoidant children? (1)

Answer 5

Germany