Evaluation of Ainsworth

The study The original study only measured the attachment type of the infant to one of its caregivers It might be that the infant had an insecure attachment to that caregiver, but a secure attachment to the other care giver who was not at the study It would therefore be inappropriate to define the infant as having insecure attachments

The Study Internal validity: supporters argue that the controlled conditions of the study allow for conclusions to be made about the attachment type, as all other variables that may influence the infants’ behaviour are controlled. The standardised procedures allow for comparisons made between participants, which allowed for exact categorisation of behaviour

The Study The original study was conducted on middle class families from the united states, so it is very difficult to generalise these findings to other populations. There may be other attachment types encouraged by other cultures

The theory Kagan argues against the caregiver sensitivity hypothesis, and claims that it is the temperament of the infant that leads to their attachment type, not the responsiveness of the caregiver There may be other types of attachments, for example Main and Solomon found evidence for a 4 th type – disorganised attachment type.

The theory Socially sensitive research: Pressure put on parents (mothers) to be responsive to infants, this may influence decisions about working etc. Also makes people feel like bad parents and blames caregiver when other factors may be blamed.