A- Stages of Attachments

Question 1

What is attachment?

Answer 1

Attachment is an emotional bond between two people. It is a two way process which endures over time.

Question 2

Who decided that there were four stages in the development of attachment?

Answer 2

Shaffer and Emerson

Question 3

Describe Shaffer and Emerson’s study.

Answer 3

• Shaffer and Emerson (1964) investigated the development of attachment in infants using a longitudinal study where they studied 60 babies from Glasgow for the first 18 months of life.
• Children were all studied in their own homes and visited monthly for approximately one year.
• Interactions with their carers were analysed to establish if and when infants started to display separation anxiety.
• Results revealed that attachments were most likely to form with carers who were sensitive to the baby’s signals, rather than the person they spent the most time with.

Question 4

What are the four stages of attachment development devised by Shaffer and Emerson?

Answer 4

1) Pre-attachment
2) Indiscriminate attachment
3) Discriminate attachment
4) Multiple attachments

Question 5

When does pre-attachment occur?

Answer 5

0-3 months

Question 6

Describe what occurs in the pre-attachment stage.

Answer 6

• From six weeks of age infants become
  attracted to other humans, preferring them to objects and events.
• This preference is demonstrated by their smiling at people’s faces.

Question 7

When does indiscriminate attachment occur?

Answer 7

3-7 months

Question 8

Describe what occurs in the indiscriminate attachment stage.

Answer 8

• Infants begin to discriminate
  between familiar and unfamiliar people, smiling more at people they know.
• They will still allow strangers to handle them.

Question 9

When does discriminate attachment occur?

Answer 9

7-8 months

Question 10

Describe what occurs in the discriminate attachment stage.

Answer 10

• Infants develop a specific
  attachment to their primary attachment figure staying close to that person.
• They show SEPERATION PROTEST (the distress an infant shows when their primary attachment figure leaves them) and display STRANGER ANXIETY (the distress an infant shows when approached by someone they do not know).

Question 11

When does multiple attachments occur?

Answer 11

9 months onwards

Question 12

Describe what occurs in a multiple attachment stage.

Answer 12

• Very soon after developing
  their first attachment infants develop strong emotional ties with other
  major caregivers, such as grandparents, and non-caregivers, such as
  siblings.
• These are called secondary attachments.
• The fear of strangers
  weakens but their attachment to their primary attachment figure
  remains the strongest.
• By 18 months, 75% of babies had formed an attachment with their father.

Question 13

Give advantages of the development of attachments (Schaffer&Emerson’s study)

Answer 13

1) GOOD EXTERNAL VALIDITY
- Schaffer and Emerson’s study was carried out in the families’ own home and most of the observations were done by the parents during ordinary activities and reported to the researchers later.
- Thus the pps would have behaved naturally and not sure demand characteristics.
- This means the findings of the study were applicable to everyday life with mundane realism.

2) LONGITUDINAL DESIGN
- This is good as the same babies and their mothers were followed-up and observed regularly over a longer period of time.
- Longitudinal designs have better internal validity because there were would be less confounding variables such as individual differences between the pps because the same pps were observed throughout the whole study.

Question 14

Give disadvantages of the development of attachments (Schaffer&Emerson’s study)

Answer 14

1) METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES
- As observations and self report measures were used, both would be prone to bias.
- For example, with self report methods mothers could have shown social desirability bias- they may have answered the questions in a way to show that they had a good relationship with their infants.
- Equally, when the mothers were observing their own infants behaviour, they may have shown bias in interpreting their baby’s behaviour.

2) BIASED SAMPLE
- The sample was from a working-class population which meant that it may not apply to middle class people.
- Also, the sample was from the 1960s: parental care of children has changed considerably since.
- More women go out to work now and so many children are cared for outside the home, or fathers stay at home and become the main carer.
- Research shows that the number of fathers who choose to stay at home and care has quadrupled over the past 25 years.
- If Schaffer and Emerson conducted their study in today’s society, findings may be different.

Question 15

What is the role of the father?

Answer 15

• Shaffer and Emerson (1964) found that fathers were far less likely to be the primary attachment figure than mothers.
• This may be because they spend less time with their infants. It is also possible that most men are not as psychologically equipped to form an intense attachment because they lack the emotional sensitivity that women have.
• This could be due to biological or social factors. The female hormone oestrogen underlies caring behaviour so women are more orientated to interpersonal goals than men.
• Fathers have a role to play as important secondary attachment figures.
• Studies consistently shows that men are more playful, physically active and generally better at providing challenging situations for their children than mothers are