Stages of attachment; evaluation

Created by: JazzEastman
Created on: 19-02-20 09:53


	Stages of attachment; evaluation
	Advantages good external validity study was carried out in families' own homes and most of observation was done by parents during ordinary activities and reported to researchers later behaviour of babies was unaffected by observers - natural behaviour Longitudinal design observed regularly - quicker alternative would have been to observe different children at each age; cross-sectional design longitudinal designs have better internal validity - do not have confounding variable of individual differents between participants	Disadvantages limited sample characteristics all the families involved were from the same district and social class 50 years ago - we cannot generalise to other social and historical contexts problem studying the asocial stage babies that are young have poor co-ordination and are immobile so difficult to make judgements about them based on observations of their behaviour conflicting evidence on multiple attachments some research indicates not all babies form attatchments to a single main carer before they become capable of developing multiple attachments (bowlby) psychologists who work in cultural contexts where multiple caregivers are the norm, believe babies form multiple attachments from the outset such cultures are collectivist because families work together jointly in everything measuring multiple attachment
	Evaluation Schaffer and Emerson's study has good external valdity because it was done inside the participants own home, meaning the babies behaviour was unlikely to be unaffected because they weren't being observed. It was also a strength that they did their study longitudinally rather than cross-sectional design because it meant they didn't have confounding variable of individual differences between participants. However, their limited sample of 60 babies meant they could not generalise the results to other historical and social contexts because the study was limited to 1 city, district and social class over 50 years ago.There are problems studying the asocial stage in that babies are young and immobile so it's difficult to make judgements on the observed behaviour. There is also conflicting evidence on multiple attatchments, some research suggests not all babies form attachments to a single main carer before they become capable of developing multiple, and also some cultures are collectivist in that babies form multiple attachments from the outset.

Stages of attachment; evaluation

Advantages

good external validity
study was carried out in families' own homes and most of observation was done by parents during ordinary activities and reported to researchers later
behaviour of babies was unaffected by observers - natural behaviour
Longitudinal design
observed regularly - quicker alternative would have been to observe different children at each age; cross-sectional design
longitudinal designs have better internal validity - do not have confounding variable of individual differents between participants

Disadvantages

limited sample characteristics
all the families involved were from the same district and social class 50 years ago - we cannot generalise to other social and historical contexts
problem studying the asocial stage
babies that are young have poor co-ordination and are immobile so difficult to make judgements about them based on observations of their behaviour
conflicting evidence on multiple attachments
some research indicates not all babies form attatchments to a single main carer before they become capable of developing multiple attachments (bowlby)
psychologists who work in cultural contexts where multiple caregivers are the norm, believe babies form multiple attachments from the outset
such cultures are collectivist because families work together jointly in everything
measuring multiple attachment

Evaluation

Schaffer and Emerson's study has good external valdity because it was done inside the participants own home, meaning the babies behaviour was unlikely to be unaffected because they weren't being observed. It was also a strength that they did their study longitudinally rather than cross-sectional design because it meant they didn't have confounding variable of individual differences between participants. However, their limited sample of 60 babies meant they could not generalise the results to other historical and social contexts because the study was limited to 1 city, district and social class over 50 years ago.There are problems studying the asocial stage in that babies are young and immobile so it's difficult to make judgements on the observed behaviour. There is also conflicting evidence on multiple attatchments, some research suggests not all babies form attachments to a single main carer before they become capable of developing multiple, and also some cultures are collectivist in that babies form multiple attachments from the outset.

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Stages of attachment; evaluation