Ainsworth's Strange Situation

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Ainsworth's Strange Situation

Advantages

  • predictive validity- infants assessed as secure typically go on to have better outcomes in later life and those assessed as insecure typically go on to have less desirable outcomes
  • good reliability- Bick et al found 94% agreement on an infants attachment type between trained strange situation observers

Disadvantages

  • cultural validity- Takahashi found that it didnt work in japan as japanese mothers spend so little time separated from their children that separation anxiety was extremely high and mothers rushed to their children on reunion so infants behaviour was hard to assess ETHNOCENTRIC
  • other types of attachment- Main and Soloman analysed over 200 strange situation videotapes and identified insecure-disorganised which ainsworth overlooked.

Evaluation

good predictive validity but with no research support and strong inter-rater reliability// low cultural validity due to it being ethnocentric and Ainsworths identified types are questioned by the existence of the overlooked insecure-disorganised type D.

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