the strange situation Mary Ainsworth

Question 1

what was the aim of Ainsworth (1978) study

Answer 1

observe key attachment behaviours as a means of assessing the quality of a Childs attachment to caregiver

Question 2

what is reunion behaviour

Answer 2

behaviour observed with caregiver after separation for a short period of time from caregiver

Question 3

what is proximity seeking

Answer 3

an infant with good attachment will stay fairly close to caregiver

Question 4

what is secure base behaviour?

Answer 4

good attachment enables the child to feel confident to explore using the caregiver as a secure base

Question 5

describe the strange situation procedure (1969)

Answer 5

1. parent and infant play
2. parent sits as infant plays - secure base
3. stranger then enters room - stranger anxiety
4. parent then leaves room
5. parent returns and greets infant whilst stranger leaves - reunion behaviour
6. parent leaves infant now alone - separation anxiety
7. stranger re-enters room offering comfort - stranger anxiety
8. parent returns - reunion behaviour

Question 6

what are the three types of attachment identified from the strange situation results

Answer 6

secure type B (66%)
insecure avoidant type A (22%)
insecure resistant type C (12%)

Question 7

describe secure base of secure type B

Answer 7

happily explores but regularly goes back to caregiver

Question 8

describe stranger and separation anxiety of secure type B

Answer 8

shows both moderate levels of separation and stranger anxiety and become distressed. seek close contact from caregiver when separated

Question 9

describe reunion behaviour of secure type B

Answer 9

requires and accepts comfort from caregiver

Question 10

describe secure base of insecure avoidant type A

Answer 10

explore freely but don’t seek proximity or show secure base behaviour

Question 11

describe stranger and separation anxiety of insecure avoidant type A

Answer 11

little or no reaction when separated from caregiver and when stranger enters

Question 12

describe reunion behaviour of insecure avoidant type A

Answer 12

makes little effort to make contact when caregiver returns doesn’t require comfort

Question 13

describe secure base of insecure avoidant type C

Answer 13

seek greater proximity than others so explore less. they both seek and resist intimacy and social interactions

Question 14

describe stranger and separation anxiety of insecure avoidant type C

Answer 14

high levels of distress when separated from caregiver and when stranger enters

Question 15

describe reunion behaviour of insecure avoidant type C

Answer 15

resist comfort when reunited with caregiver may display conflicting desires for and against comfort

Question 16

how does the strange situation study have good reliability (evaluation strength)

Answer 16

shows very good inter-rater reliability as different observers watching the same child generally agree on what attachment to class them as. this may be because of the controlled conditions the study is done under and the behavioural categories are easy to observe.

Question 17

how does the strange situation study raise ethical questions? (evaluation weakness)

Answer 17

the study has been labelled as unethical as it deliberately stresses infants to see their reaction, however this can be seen as justifiable as the stress caused is no greater than everyday life.

Question 18

evaluate how the strange situation study may be culture bound (evaluation weakness)

Answer 18

there is some doubt about whether the strange situation is a culture bound test i.e it doesn’t have the same meaning in counties outside the west. this is because cultural differences in childhood experiences are likely to mean that a Child responds differently to the strange situation

Question 19

what is meta-analysis

Answer 19

process in which the data from a large number of studies which have involved the same research methods are combined

Question 20

what is a strength of meta analysis

Answer 20

allows us to view data with much more confidence and can generalise across much larger populations increasing validity

Question 21

what is a weakness of meta analysis

Answer 21

research designs are not always the same making the studies not truly comparable

Question 22

describe the van ijzendoorn and kroonenberg study (1988)

Answer 22

carried out meta analysis to look at the proportions of types of attachment across many countries
they where interested to see whether there would be differences between different countries (inter-cultural)
and also differences within cultures (intra-cultural)

Question 23

what where the findings of ijzendoorn and kroomenberg (1988) study

Answer 23

after the meta analysis they found an average of 65% secure type B
21% insecure avoidant type A
14% insecure resistant type C

Question 24

what is a strength of ijzendoorn and kroomenberg study (1988) ethics

Answer 24

the use of meta analysis is ethically sound as because there is no new data collected and its all secondary data no new infants need to go through the potentially dramatic experience of the strange situation

Question 25

how may the ijzendoorn and kroomenberg study (1988) may not be truly representative

Answer 25

in some countries ijzendoorn only looked at a small number of studies e.g one in china but 18 in America meaning the results for these countries may not be representative and may not generalise to the country at large.

Question 26

what is deprivation?
(bowlby theory of maternal deprivation)

Answer 26

to be deprived is to lose something in context to child development deprivation refers to the loss of emotional care that is normally provided by primary caregiver

Question 27

what did bowlby think the long term consequences of deprivation where

Answer 27

emotional maladjustment or even mental health issues like depression

Question 28

describe bowlby’s study on effects of prolonged separation on emotional development (1944)

Answer 28

selected opportunity sample of 88 children attending guidance clinic

split into two groups
group 1; 44 teens in theft group who had stole - 14 of which where affection less (psychopaths) lack responsibility

group 2; 44 teens who had emotional problems both groups where matched for age and IQ
the kids and their parents where then interviewed

Question 29

what where the findings of bowlbys study on effects of separation (1944)

Answer 29

in the thief group 12 pps had experienced prolonged separation of 6 months plus from their mother in first two years of life

Question 30

describe the real world application of the maternal deprivation theory bowlby (evaluation strength)

Answer 30

the study had an enormous positive impact on child bearing and also how children where looked after in hospitals as children where separated from family when in hospitals and visitors where forbidden or discouraged. this study led to huge social change

Question 31

disadvantage of bowlbys 44 thieves study (1944)

Answer 31

bowlby assumed that psychical separation on its own could lead to deprivation others argue it is the psychological separation that must be considered too. so even if a mother is psychically present she needs to be psychologically present for child

Question 32

describe rutter and barke study on roman orphans

Answer 32

compared romanian orphans who had previously lived in institutions and suffered from the effects of it to British children who where adopted before the age of 2

they then tested regularly for psychical, social and cognitive development

Question 33

describe the findings of rutter and barke study on roman orphans

Answer 33

at time of adoption the roman children where behind the British in all 3 aspects and cognitively classed as mentally retarded, psychically they where smaller

by age 4 the Romanians who had been adopted by 6 months had caught up to the British but those adopted after 6 months showed disinhibited attachment and had difficulty with peer relations

Question 34

what is disinhibited attachment

Answer 34

the child doesn’t seem to prefer their parents over other people even strangers. the child seeks comfort from virtually anyone

Question 35

evaluate rutter and burke study (2010) 3 points

Answer 35

privation alone cannot explain negative outcomes as 1/5 of Romanians formed attachments

cannot be certain children didn’t form attachment

researchers unsure of effects in later life

Question 35

what are the effects of institutionalisation

Answer 35

intellectual under functioning - cognitive development is affected by emotional deprivation

disinhibited attachment - a form of insecure attachment where children don’t discriminate between who they choose as attachment figures like strangers

children from institutions are usually psychically smaller

Question 36

what is attachment disorder

Answer 36

no preferred attachment figure
inability to interact and relate to others before age of 5
experience of severe neglect

Question 37

what are the two types of attachment disorder

Answer 37

inhibited
disinhibited

Question 38

what is inhibited attachment disorder

Answer 38

shy, withdrawn unable to cope with social situations

Question 39

what is disinhibited attachment disorder

Answer 39

over friendly and attention seeking

Question 40

evaluate individual differences of the effects of institutionalisation

Answer 40

may be untrue that all children who experience institutionalisation are unable to recover as research shows some children aren’t as strongly affected as others. rutter suggested some children may receive special treatment for smiling more e.g

Question 41

evaluate how the study of Romanian orphans led to improving the effects of institutionalisation

Answer 41

the study enhanced our understanding of effects on institutionalisation. this led to improvement in the way the children are cared for. now the number of caregivers per child has increased so the child will get more attention and they play a centre role for them this helps avoid disinhibited attachment

Question 42

how is bowlby’s concept of the internal working model similar to schema

Answer 42

an infant learns about a relationship from experience. the infant learns what relationships are and how partners in a relationship behave towards each other.

Question 43

describe Hazan and shaver (1987) study - the love quiz

Answer 43

wanted to see if there was a correlation between the infants attachment type and their future approach to romantic relationships

did a love experience questionnaire which assessed the individuals beliefs about romantic love. they posted the questionnaire in newspaper and analysed the first 620 replies sent in

Question 44

describe the findings of hazen and shaver (1987) study - love quiz

Answer 44

56% of secure attached
25% insecure avoidant
19% insecure resistant

they found a high correlation between infant attachment types and the adult romantic love styles

securely attached where most likely to have good and long lasting romantic relationships

the avoidant respondents tended to reveal jealousy and fear intimacy

Question 45

what behaviours are influenced by the internal working model

Answer 45

childhood friendships - connection between early attachment and social skills

poor parenting

romantic relationships - hazan study demonstrated link between early attachment type and later relationships

mental health - disinhibited attachment leads to inability to interact and relate to others that is evident before 5 yrs old

Question 46

evaluate research on behaviours influenced by IWM as overly deterministic

Answer 46

hazan and shaver (1987) study suggests that early experiences have a fixed effect on later relationships and are practically doomed to experience emotionally unsatisfactory relationships

Question 47

evaluate how retrospective data may harm research on behaviours influenced by IWM

Answer 47

when adults are asked questions about their early lives in order to asses infant attachment their recollections may be distorted due to our memories changing over time. pps may also show social desirability