The Strange Situation
- Created by: gabbyb98
- Created on: 15-03-15 16:13
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- The Strange Situation Ainsworth [1970]
- Aim:
To study the relationship between an infant and it's primary caregiver.
- Controlled, naturalistic observation.
- Procedure...
- 1. A mother and child enter a playroom. The child explores the environment
- 2. A second female adult - the stranger - enters the room, talks first to the mother then to the child.
- 3. the mother leaves the room while the stranger is talking to the child. The stranger interacts with the child. [C&S]
- 4.The mother returns and the stranger leaves
- 5.The mother leaves, and the child is alone.
- 6. The stranger returns and comforts the child. [C&S]
- 7. The mother returns.
- Conclusion: Each child reacted differently to both the stranger and their mother in different ways for each part of the study
- Evaluation
- Strengths
- Helps identify children at risk,
- The procedure can be easily repeated due to the standardised procedure
- Reliability - Results are consistent
- Has a standardised procedureThe study has been conducted many times, on lots of childrenStill used as a main assesment type.
- Main et al. Tested children at 1 1/2 (One and a Half) years and 6 (Six) years, and most of the results corresponded, and the childs original attachment type remained the same
- Limitaions
- Research may lack internal validity, as it is in a Lab. Experiment format - The child may be acting stressed due to the unusual environment.
- Puts child under (unneccesary stress.
- Child may not be acting naturally, due to a lack of internal validity because it is a lab. experiment.
- Extraneous variables: The researchers already knew what they were looking for during the repeated tests, and so perhaps recognised characteristics and sorted them wrongly
- Strengths
- Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenburg (1988)
- Conducted a meta-analysis of 32 studies from different cultures.
- Findings: Secure attachments were the most common. Insecure-avoidant attachments were more common in Wetern countries. Insecure-ambivalent attachments were more common in Eastern countries.
- Aim:
To study the relationship between an infant and it's primary caregiver.
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