development of attchment a03

• P = lacks population validity.

  • all came from Glasgow and mostly from working class families.
  • small sample size of 60 families reduces the strength of the conclusion we can draw from the study.
  • cannot be generalised, and so is a limited explanation of attachment development.

  L = Schaffer’s stages of attachment lack both population validity and temporal validity -

  parenting techniques have significantly changed since the 1950s, like the influence of bowlby on attachmnet

  so caution should be taken when generalising the findings.
• • may lack internal validity.
  • self report method -parent's daily diary.
  • Data innacuurate- parents busy- may not have included full details.
  • social desirability bias, skew reports so they appear to be closer to what they see as socially acceptable
  • i.e. may believe that its better if infant responds to them, so they would report that it happens sooner than it actually did, or
  • may intentionally not report negative experiences
  • demand characteristics try to tailor their report to fit or go against what they think is the aim/hypothesis of the study.
  • caution should be taken when placing confidence in the conclusions drawn from this study.
• ELABORATION FOR EXTERNAL VALIDITY- The study lacks historical validity. It was conducted in the 1960s when gender roles were different – Now, more men stay at home to look after their children, and more women go out to work, so the sample is biased. Cohen- number of stay at home dads quadreupled in last 25 years
• a weakness could suggest that there is too much importance placed on the primary attachment figure in these stages of devlopment.

  Results suggest they simply form one special attachment (known as monotropic relationship -a theory expanded by bowlby)

  However research into role of the father has discovered that secondary attachments are just as important for emotional devlopment and rutter argued all figures are equivalent, therefore these stages could be too simplified and not take into accoun tother attahcment figures which sre important in a childs development