Types of attachment (strange situation and cultural variations) Flashcards
(28 cards)
what is the strange situation designed to measure?
the quality of a child’s attachment to its caregiver
what was the sample in the strange situation?
children aged 9-18 months
what was the procedure of Ainsworth’s Strange Situation?
observation in a controlled environment- set in an unfamiliar room
series of 3 minute episodes; mother and baby, stranger enters, mother leaves, mother returns etc
recording of child’s response done by 5 behavioural categories
each category rated on scale of 0-7
what are the 5 behavioural categories in the strange situation?
- proximity seeking to caregiver
- using parent as secure base
- accepting comfort from stranger
- separation anxiety
- response to being reunited
what were the percentages of the three types of attachment found in Ainsworth’s strange situation?
secure attachment 66%
insecure-avoidant 22%
insecure-resistant 12%
how did a secure attachment infant behave in the strange situation?
some separation anxiety
high willingness to explore (used parent as secure base)
moderate stranger anxiety
enthusiastic reunion
how did an insecure-avoidant infant behave in the strange situation?
low separation anxiety/ no reaction
high willingness to explore (but don’t use parent as secure base)
low stranger anxiety
no effort to make contact on reunion/ indifferent
how did an insecure-resistant child behave in the strange situation?
very high separation anxiety
low willingness to explore (don’t use parent as secure base)
high stranger anxiety
seeks and rejects comfort on reunion
why does Ainsworth’s strange situation have good reliability?
good inter-observer reliability (observers agree on which attachment type a child is)
SS is done under controlled conditions and has clear behavioural categories which are easy to observe
this control over extraneous variables and good behavioural categories means the study can be replicated under same conditions
how does the strange situation have good valdiity?
it is good at predicting outcomes for children which suggests it is an accurate measure of attachment
for example, securely attached children are more likely to have secure romantic relationships and do better at school
increased validity as we know we can use findings of strange situation to predict outcomes in later life
how might strange situation be culture-bound?
the SS was designed for children in the US
it may not have the same meaning when used in other cultures outside USA
cultural differences in bringing up children mean children respond differently to SS and so may appear insecure but might actually be secure
for example, children in Japan rarely separate from mum in first year so may appear insecure resistant but are actually secure and just anxious due to situation.
how might a child’s temperament affect their behaviour in SS? how is this a limitation?
some children are shy and may just appear resistant but might be secure
so SS may not accurately be measuring attachment type, but rather temperament
COUNTER this with point about how SS is good at predicting outcomes due to high validity
what is the 4th attachment type? how is this a limitation?
disorganised attachment
this is a mixture of insecure resistant and insecure avoidant
this challenged Ainsworth’s original categories
describe the procedure of Van Ijzendoorn’s study?
meta-analysis of 32 studies in 8 countries- all used strange situation to measure attachment types
what was the most common attachment worldwide VI?
secure
which country has the highest secure? which had lowest?
Britain at 75%
China at 50%
which countries had the highest amounts of insecure resistant?
Israel 30%
Japan 26%
which country had highest amounts of insecure avoidant?
Germany 33%
how much greater are variations within a country compared to between countries?
1.5X
why is secure attachment the most worldwide?
secure attachment is biological
why does Germany have highest levels of insecure-avoidant?
german children are generally raised to be independent and so may appear to be avoidant but may actually be securely attached
Why does Japan have higher levels of insecure-resistant?
children in Japan are rarely separated from their mothers in the first year so may appear very resistant in SS but may actually be securely attached
why does the UK have highest secure attachments?
children in the UK are raised in a similar way to USA where they are used to being regularly separated from their caregiver so the SS is not too distressing for them
how is sample size a strength of cultural variations?
large sample in the meta analysis- 32 studies, 8 countries and 2000 babies
so sample is representative of attachment types worldwide and reduces chances of anomalies affecting results
