Attachment: Schaffer and Emerson's stages of attachment

Question 1

Stages of attachment

Answer 1

Asocial stage (first few weeks)
Indiscriminate attachment (2-7 months)
Specific attachment (from 7 months)
Multiple attachments (around 8 months)

Question 2

Asocial stage

Answer 2

Starting to recognise and form bonds, behaviour towards people and objects is similar, babies might show some preference to adults who calm them

Question 3

Indiscriminate attachment

Answer 3

Babies start to prefer people over objects and recognise and prefer familiar adults but they accept comfort from any adult

Question 4

Specific attachment

Answer 4

Babies start showing anxiety towards strangers and become anxious when separated from a particular adult (65% the mother)

Question 5

Multiple attachments

Answer 5

Baby starts to form multiple attachments (29% of children have secondary attachments within a month of forming a primary attachment)
At one year, most infants have multiple attachments

Question 6

Schaffer and Emerson

Answer 6

Interviewed families of 60 babies from working class families in Glasgow. Families were visited once a month for 18 months and were interviewed about the kind of protest their baby showed in 7 everyday separations
Found that between 25 and 32 weeks, 50% of babies showed signs of specific attachment towards a particular adult, and by 40 weeks, 80% of babies had a specific attachment and 30% displayed multiple attachments
Concluded that most babies show signs of specific attachment at 32 weeks, and at 40 weeks most have formed specific attachments

Question 7

Strengths of Schaffer and Emerson’s research

Answer 7

Good external validity as it was carried out in own homes
Longitudinal design - the same children were followed up and observed
Practical application - research can be used to help parents raise their children

Question 8

Weaknesses of Schaffer and Emerson’s research

Answer 8

Limited sample characteristics as all families were working class and from Glasgow
Problem studying asocial stage as the babies are too young to be able to make judgements based on behaviour
Conflicting evidence on multiple attachments - some research indicates most babies form attachment to a single carer before they can develop multiple attachments