Takahashi

• What did Takahashi do?

  • redid Ainsworth's strange situation in Japan
  • questioned whether the strange situation is a valid procedure for other cultures than American
• What did Takahashi find?

  • that 68% of infants classified as securely attached
  • no infants were classified as insecure-avoidant
  • 32% of infants classified as insecure-resistant
  • Japanese infants were much more disturbed when left alone than in Ainsworth's study, for 90% of the participants the infant alone step was stopped
• Why were the Japanese infants much more disturbed when left alone?

  • differences in child rearing - infants aren't left alone really (e.g sleep with parents until 2+)
• What did Takahashi conclude?

  • that there ARE cross cultural variations in the way infants respond to separation and in the insecure-avoidant infants
  • the strange situation doesn't have the same meaning for Japanese infants as it does for American infants (invalid assessment)
• Why might there have been no insecure-avoidant infants?

  • because Japanese infants are taught that this behaviour is impolite