OCR A-Level Psychology H567
Research Methods and Techniques
Planning and Conducting Research
Data Recording, Analysis and Presentation
Report Writing and Scientific Communication
Practical Activities and the Nature of Science
Mathematical Requirements for Research Methods
Studying and Evaluating the Core Studies: The Common Framework
Core Studies: Social Area
Core Studies: Cognitive Area
Core Studies: Developmental Area
Core Studies: Biological Area
Core Studies: Individual Differences Area
Areas and Perspectives in Psychology
Debates in Psychology
Practical Applications of Psychology
Issues in Mental Health
Child PsychologyApplied option
Criminal PsychologyApplied option
Environmental PsychologyApplied option
Sport and Exercise PsychologyApplied option
Methodological Issues and Debates Running Through Applied Psychology
Child Psychology
Ainsworth and Bell (1970) the Strange Situation: insecure types, conclusions and evaluation
- 3 things to know
- Component 03
Overview
Recall questions on how insecure-avoidant and insecure-resistant infants behave in the Strange Situation, Ainsworth's conclusion about maternal sensitivity, the procedure's strengths, validity, ethnocentrism and ethics, and the later disorganised attachment type.
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
What did Ainsworth conclude was the source of these differences?
Give one strength of the procedure.
Questions from this subtopic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
How does an insecure-avoidant infant behave?
Model answer
They show little distress when the mother leaves, ignore or turn away from her when she returns, and treat the stranger much as they treat the mother.
- 2
How does an insecure-resistant infant behave?
Model answer
They explore very little, become intensely distressed at separation, and on reunion both seek contact and angrily resist it, so they are very hard to comfort.
- 3
What did Ainsworth conclude was the source of these differences?
Model answer
Differences in how sensitively and consistently the mother had responded to the infant's signals in the months before, observed during home visits.
- 4
Give one strength of the procedure.
Model answer
The eight episodes are standardised and the behaviours are operationalised into rating scales, so the procedure can be replicated exactly and two independent observers allow inter-rater reliability to be checked.
- 5
Give one weakness of the Strange Situation relating to validity.
Model answer
The playroom was unfamiliar and the mothers knew they were being watched, so behaviour may not reflect ordinary life, and the classification may describe one particular relationship rather than a quality of the child.
- 6
Why is the study criticised as ethnocentric?
Model answer
The sample was entirely white, middle-class and American, yet later cross-cultural work found more avoidant classifications in Germany and more resistant ones in Japan, so applying these categories worldwide imposes one culture's idea of a good attachment.
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