Attachment L2

Question 1

What is the first stage of attachment according to Shaffer et al. (1964)?

Answer 1

Pre-attachment (0-3 months) - First stage

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

Question 2

Indiscriminate attachment

Answer 2

4-7 months - Second Stage

Infants begin to discriminate between familiar and unfamiliar people
Allows strangers to handle them

Question 3

Discriminate Attachment

Answer 3

7+ Months - Third Stage

Separation protest and stranger anxiety
Infants develop a specific attachment to their primary attachment figure
Time spent was not as important as the quality of time spent with the primary attachment figure

Question 4

What is the conclusion regarding the primary attachment figure?

Answer 4

Quality of the relationship matters most

Shaffer et al. (1964) concluded that the primary attachment figure is not always the person who spends the most time with the child.

Question 5

Multiple Attachments

Answer 5

7+ months and Final stage

Infants develop strong emotional ties with other caregivers
This includes secondary attachments to figures like fathers, grandparents, and siblings, while maintaining the strongest attachment to the primary figure.

Question 6

Shaffer et al.’s findings? AO3

Answer 6

• Some mothers may have been less sensitive to their infant’s protests and therefore less likely to report them.
• Stage theories are inflexible and do not consider individual differences
• The infants were only from working class. This doesn’t represent the attachments that other infants would form
• Conducted in the 1960s. Parental roles have changed significantly since then, affecting the relevance of the findings.
  -Infants were all from individualist cultures. Infants from collectivist cultures may form attachments differently