Attachment L2 Flashcards
What did Schaffer & Emerson want to study?
Attachment and how an attachment develops
Who did they use for this study (A01)?
They used 60 working class babies from Glasgow the majority of which were born into working class families
How did they gather the information (A01)?
They used a mixture of observations and interviews. They also asked the mother to keep a diary of the infants behaviour
What situations were studied (A01)?
7 everyday situations such as:
Left alone in a room
Left with other people
Left in their pram outside the shops
The mother was asked to describe the intensity of any protest.
What attachment behaviours were studied (A01)?
- Separation protest - distress shown from a infant when separated from care giver
- Stranger anxiety - distress shown by an infant when approached by an infant when approached or picked up by an unfamiliar
What did they find (A01)?
65% of babies had mother as first specific primary attachment.
30% were jointly attached to mother and one other.
3% were attached to father
27% were attached to father and mother
What stages of attachment did they propose (A01)?
Stage 1 - Pre Attachment (0-3 mths): From 6 weeks babies become attached to humans rather than objects
Stage 2 - Indiscriminate Attachments (3-7 mths): Babies begin to discriminate between familiar and unfamiliar people
Stage 3 - Discriminate Attachments (7 mths onwards): Develop attachment to primary attachment figure, show separation protest and stranger anxiety if separated
Stage 4 - Multiple attachments (9 mths onwards): Begin to form secondary attachments with ppl such as father and grandparents.
What is a strength of this study (A03)?
No ethical issues - Consent was obtained from parents therefore ethically sound.
What is a weakness of this study (A03)?
Biased sample - Sample only included working class babies and therefore might not apply to other social groups. Also only done in Glasgow thus lacks cultural validity.
What is a weakness of this study (A03 - Mothers)?
As the data was collected by the mothers, it could be unreliable as some mothers might have been less sensitive to their infants protests and not reported them. Also could have shown bias.
