Read the following source material and answer the question that follows:
Dr Samantha's Early-Years Research Project
Dr Samantha is a developmental psychologist who runs a weekly 'stay-and-play' support group at an early-years family hub. The parents and caregivers attending her group include a diverse mix of mothers, fathers, and grandparents.
Over several weeks, Samantha observed distinct variations in infant behaviour during play. An infant named Leo happily leaves his mother to explore the climbing toys, returning occasionally for reassurance, whereas another infant named Chloe cries intensely, clings to her father, and refuses to explore the room. Some other infants appear indifferent to their caregivers, playing independently and showing little emotional response when caregivers leave the room to grab a coffee.
To systematically investigate these patterns for her professional research project, Samantha plans to use Mary Ainsworth’s Strange Situation procedure in a controlled observation room next to the hub. She wants to assess how the infants react to their different primary caregivers (mothers, fathers, and grandparents) and how these caregivers interact with them.
Question: Assess the effectiveness of using the Strange Situation procedure as planned by Dr Samantha to investigate the attachment patterns of the infants and their caregivers.
You must make reference to the context in your answer.
Practise Edexcel A Level Psychology Content with exam-style questions for A Level Psychology. 1,059 questions covering Bowlby's work on attachment, Ainsworth and the Strange Situation, Research into deprivation, Research into privation, Research into day care, Cross-cultural research into attachment, Autism, Individual differences, and Developmental psychology, matched to the Edexcel A Level Psychology (9PS0) specification and written in Paper 1, Paper 2 and Paper 3 style. Every question includes a full worked solution and mark scheme, so you can see where marks are awarded rather than just whether you got the answer right.
