Attachment - Schaffer & Emerson’s Stages Of Attachment Flashcards
What was Schaffer & Emerson’s aim of their study?
To investigate the formation of early attachments, which age they developed, their emotional intensity & to whom they were directed
What was the method of Schaffer & Emerson’s study?
Involved 60 babies (31 male, 29 female) from Glasgow & that came from working- class families. The babies & their mothers were visited at home every month for the first year & then again at 18 months. The researchers asked the mother questions about the kind of protest the babies showed in 7 daily situations e.g. an adult leaving the room (seperation anxiety). It was designed to measure the infant’s attachment & stranger anxiety
What were the findings of Schaffer & Emerson’s study?
Between 25 & 32 weeks of age (6/7 months) about 50% of babies showed signs of separation anxiety towards a particular adult (usually the mother). Attachment tended to by the caregiver who was the most interactive & sensitive to infant signals & facial expressions (wasnt necessarily with whom the baby spent the most time with). By the age of 40 weeks 80 of the babies formed a specific attachment & 30% had formed multiple
What is the first stage of attachment & how old is the infant?
The asocial stage (first few weeks)
What happens in the asocial stage?
The baby’s behaviour towards non-human objects & humans is similiar
Babies show some preference for familiar adults - they find it easier to calm them
Babies are happier in the presence of humans
What is stage 2 of attachment & how old is the infant?
The indiscriminate stage (2-7 months)
What happens in the indiscriminate stage?
Babies display more observable social behaviour
They show a preference for humans over inanimate objects & recognise & prefer familiar adults
Babies usually accept cuddles & comfort from any adult - don’t usually display stranger/separation anxiety
Their attachment behaviour is not any different towards any 1 person
What is stage 3 of attachment & how old is the infant?
Specific attachment (around 7 months)
What happens in the specific attachment stage?
The majority of babies start to display anxiety towards strangers & become anxious when seperated from 1 particular adult (usually the mother 65% of cases)
The adult is termed the primary caregiver - not necessarily the adult that spends the most time with them but who is more interactive & responds to the babies ‘signals’ with the most skill.
What is stage 4 of attachment and how old is the infant?
The multiple attachments stage (1year +)
What happens in the multiple attachments stage?
The baby tends to extend their attachment behaviour to multiple attachments with other adults who they regularly spend time with (secondary attachments)
29% of babies formed secondary attachments within a month of forming a specific attachment
1 year the majority of babies had formed multiple attachments
What are the strengths of Schaffer & Emerson’s study?
Good external validity - carried out in the families own homes so the participants behaviour was unlikely to be affected by the presence of others
Longitudinal study - the same children were followed up & observed regularly so there’s better internal validity because they dont have participant variables
What is a limitation of the Schaffer & Emerson study?
Limited sample characteristics - all the families were from the same district & social class although there is a large volume of data - dont generalise well to other social/historical contexts
What are some limitations on the stages of attachment?
Problems studying the asocial stage - babies have poor coordination skills & are pretty much immobile so its difficult to make judgements based on observations of their behaviour
Conflicting evidence on multiple attachments - it isnt entirely clear when babies form multiple attachments
Measuring multiple attachments - observations doesn’t leave us a way to distinguish secondary attachment figures & playmates
Schaffer & Emerson used limited behavioural measures of attachment - used stranger & seperation anxiety to define attachment although critics believe these are too crude as measures
