ATTACHMENT scahfferes stages of attachment essay plan Flashcards
AO1:What did schaffer and emmerson do in 1964 ?
Conducted an observational study in Glasgow, Scotland of 60 infants (ranging from 5-23 weeks) from working-class families
AO1:What is the first stage and what does it involve?
-Asocial stage (0-2 months)
-Infants produce the similar response to inanimate objects and humans
-Can show a preference for familiar people + social stimuli (facial expressions ect)
-Bonds start to form through interactional synchrony and reciprocity
AO1:What is the second stage and what does it involvce
-Indiscriminate stage (2-7 months)
-They are more social and prefer human company over non-human company
- They begin to distinguish between familiar and unfamiliar company
-Do not show stranger or separation anxiety yet
-Will accept comfort from any person
AO1: What is the third stage of attachment and what does it involve?
-Specific stage (7-12 months)
-They distinctly protest when the primary caregiver parts from them (separation anxiety)
-The intensity of signals is more important than the quantity of them
-Formation of a specific attachment to a specific caregiver, this person becomes the primary attachment figuire
What is the 4th stage of attachment and what does it involve?
-Multiple stages (12+ months)
-They start to form secondary attachments with siblings, relatives and friends (people they spend time with)
-Separation anxiety can occur when they are away from their secondary attachments
AO1: what happens between 25 and 32 and 40 weeks?
-Around 50% of babies showed signs of separation anxiety towards a particular adult (specific attachment)
-This attachment tended to be to the caregiver who was the most interactive and sensitive to the infant’s signals and facial expressions (reciprocity)
-By the age of 40 weeks 80% of babies had a specific attachment and 30% had multiple attachments
AO3: Give an evaluation point (limitation)- sample
-limitation=very limited sample
The sample was 60 babies from the same class (working class) and city (Glasgow)
-Scotland has an individualistic culture
-findings may not apply to other socioeconomic and cultural groups
- may not be generalizable beyond the immediate demographic as not all children will behave like this
-Not representive
-Biased sample
AO3: Give an evaluation point (Strength)
-Strenth=longitudnal study
-Can compare how children have developed at different points in the study
-Can study the children over a long period of time
-Can gather more data and check if it is consistent or not
AO3:Give an evaluation point (limitation)- outdated
-Limintation=outdated
-Different types of families have arisen since 1964
-Gay marriages/relationships have also become more common
-The changing role of women- have their own careers so are not at home as much
-the primary caregiver role may be divided between parents and even grandparents
-there are more ‘blended’ families; many children these days have wider, extended families to attach to
-Research is inaccurate as family dynamics have changed
-Lacks temporal valdity
AO3:Give an Evaluation point (Limitation)
-Data may be unreliable
-Was based on the mothers self-reporting (observation) so they could be providing inaccurate information , unlikely they are objective
-Some mothers may be more or less sensitive to their child’s distress at separation and so report findings differently and with less accuracy from other families
-Some mothers may have under-reported what they perceived to be the less positive aspects of their child’s experience
-Observation of their children behaviour is subjective
What was the procedure for their study?
-Mothers visited every 4 weeks for the first year of the babies life and then again at 18 months
-mothers were asked questions regarding their infant’s reactions to separation in seven everyday situations (eg. mother leaving the room, baby being alone with another adult)
-Mothers were asked to record their responses on a four-point scale indicating the intensity of their baby’s protests (eg. whimpering,crying,holding arms out to mother as she left the room)
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What was the scale indicating the intensity of the babies protest measuring?
-Separation anxiety
-A marker for stranger anxiety
Define separation anxiety
-Distress shown by an infant when they are separated from their caregiver
Define stranger anxiety
-Distress shown by an infant when approached, picked up or left with a stranger or unfamiliar person
