Evaluation Of The Strange Situation

Question 0

What is the strength if the strange situation?

Answer 0

It was in a controlled environment so there was high control over extraneous variables like distractions and loud noises

Question 1

What are the practical applications?

Answer 1

It was the first way of classifying attachment types so carers can advised on how to change the type of attachment

Question 2

Does the strange situation have ecological validity?

Answer 2

No because it was in controlled conditions and the baby’s behaviour might be different in natural settings like their home

Question 3

Can this classification system be used all over the world?

Answer 3

No because the technique uses procedures only appropriate for western cultures, because the way we rear children is different from culture to culture

Question 4

Does the study have population validity?

Answer 4

She only used 100 middle class American infants, therefore we only know how middle class American infants behave and we can’t generalise the findings

Question 5

Is what Kagan believed a weakness or strength to the study?

Answer 5

A weakness because he thought that Ainsworth overemphasised the role of mothering. He believed children are born with different temperaments which could affect how easy they find it to make attachments

Question 6

Is observer bias a weakness?

Answer 6

The observers scoring the child’s behaviour knew what behaviour would lead to a certain attachment types which could influence what they saw. The raters shouldn’t have known what different attachment types there were

Question 7

Which weaknesses are limitations of the strange situation?

Answer 7

Lack of ecological validity and the procedures are only appropriate in western cultures