AO3

• Methodological strength – high external validity – observations conducted in children’s own home
• • Methodological weakness - Unreliable data- could suffer from social desirability bias as mothers gave reports. If less sensitive to infant’s cries, mothers would be unlikely to report it = suggests that data may be unreliable and might not represent mother-infant relationships
• • Methodological weakness - Biased sample – working class Glaswegian population from the 1960s. Only studied mothers and their infants, the role of the father is 4x bigger than it was = may lack population and historical validity, and likely to have different findings if repeated
• Weakness – is there too much importance placed on the primary attachment figure - Bowlby says no, infants form one special attachment (monotropic relationship). Rutter argues all figures are equivalent and are integrated to produce an overall attachment type = Schaffer have undervalued the important of secondary attachments
• Cultural variations – Sagi found that infants raised in family based arrangements (individualistic cultures) were x2 as close to mothers, compared to collective cultures (Kibbutz children cared for by community) = attachments are culturally specific, Schaffers stage theory may only apply to individualistic cultures,