Types of Attachment AO3

• Good perspective validity

  +One strength of the SS is that it’s outcomes predict a number of aspects of the baby's later development. Research shows that babies who have a type B attachment style tend to have better outcomes in life. In childhood this includes doing well in school and being less involved in bullying (McCormick & Kokkirmos). They also tend to go on to have better mental health in adulthood. The babies assessed as having insecure-resistant attachments tended to have the worst outcomes. This suggests the SS measures something real and meaningful in a baby's development.
• +-The SS clearly measures something important for later development ; not all psychologists believe the ‘something‘ is attachment. Kagan suggested that genetically - influenced anxiety levels could account for variations in attachment behaviour in the SS and later development. Therefore, the SS may not actually measure attachment.
• The test may be culture bound 1/2

  -One limitation of the SS; it may not be a valid measure of attachment in different cultural contexts. The SS was developed in Britain & the USA- may be culture bound; only valid for use in certain (western) cultures. One reason for this is babies tend to have different experiences in different countries and these experiences may affect their responses to the SS.
• The test may be culture bound 2/2

  -In one Japanese study, (Takahashi) babies displayed very high levels of separation anxiety; a disproportionate number were classified as insecure - resistant. Takahashi suggests that this anxiety response was not due to high rates of attachment insecurity but to the usual nature of the experience in Japan where mother-baby separation is very rare. This means that its very difficult to know what the SS is measuring when used outside Western Europe or the USA.
• Good reliability 1/2

  +One strength of the SS ; good inter-rater reliability (agreement between different observers). Bick tested inter-rater reliability for the SS for a team of trained observers and found agreement on attachment type in 94% of cases. The high level of reliability may be because the procedure takes place under controlled conditions & because behaviours (proximity seeking and stranger anxiety) involve large movements so are easy to observe.
• Good reliability 2/2

  +Anxious babies cry and crawl away from strangers. This means we can be confident that attachment type as assessed by the SS doesn't depend on subjective judgements.