The strange situation Flashcards
AO3: Why does this study have good predictive reliablity?
- Predicts a no. of aspects of infants later dev.
- Babies assessed as secure have better outcomes than others in later childhood and adulthood
- Better achievements in school and less involvement bullying, better mental health in adulthood
- Avoidant and resistant have worse outcomes
- Real and meaningful in babies dev.
AO3: What do some psychologists believe the SS measures rather than att.?
It measures something to do w/ dev. but some believe not att.
Kagan suggested that genetically-influenced anxiety levels could account for variations in att. beh. in the SS and later dev.
AO3: What support is there for the SS having good reliabilty?
Good inter-rater reliability.
Bick et al. tested inter-rater reliability for SS on team of trained observers and found agreement between att. type was 94%.
May be because procedure takes place under controlled conditions and beh.s involve large movements that are easy to observe.
Is not based on subjective judgement.
AO3: What issue is there w/ cultural bias?
Developed in Britain and US so may be culture-bound. Babies have diff. experiences in diff. cultures resulting in diff. att.
E.g. study by Takahashi in Japan found disproportionate no. were resistant, in Japan separation from the mother is v. unusual.
The att. types may not apply in other cultures.
AO3: What issue is there w/ the att. types?
Missed an att. type. Main and Solomon analysed over 200 SS videotapes and proposed insecure disorganised - some infants don’t have a consistent att. type. Supported by Van Ijzendoorn, found 15% of babies disorganised form meta-analysis of studies.
Suggests Ainsworth’s study not completely accurate as some infants may have ben disorganised.
In Ainsworth’s study what % of British babies were classed as secure?
60-75%
In the SS what % of British babies were classed as insecure avoidant?
20-25%
In the SS what % of British babies were classed insecure resistant?
3%
