Attachment: Schaffer & Emerson's study of attachment

Question 1

Summarise the study! (why, when, what, where)

Answer 1

• 1964
• To study formation of early attachments
• Glasgow
• 60 babies (31M:29F) from working-class families
• Mother & baby observed in their homes for a year, then one final visit at 18 months
• Attachment quality measured by mothers keeping diary of separation behaviour

Question 2

What were the findings??

Answer 2

• 50% of babies at 25-32 weeks showed separation anxiety towards a particular adult
• Reciprocity determined who they had an attachment to
• 80% of babies at 40 weeks had a specific attachment & 30% had multiple attachments

Question 3

What are the 4 stages of attachment (According to Schaffer and Emerson)??

Answer 3

• Social stage (0-6 weeks)
• Indiscriminate attachments (6 weeks- 6 months)
• Specific (7+ months)
• Multiple (10/11+ months)

Question 4

What happens during the asocial stage??

Answer 4

• Babies have similar responses to objects as they do people
• Preferences for: faces/eyes, familiar people & social stimuli
• Bonds start to form through reciprocity & interactional synchrony

Question 5

What happens during the indiscriminate attachments stage??

Answer 5

• Preference for human company
• Able to distinguish people but comforted indiscriminately
• No separation anxiety
• Unlikely to show stranger anxiety

Question 6

What happens during the ‘specific’ stage??

Answer 6

• Preference for one caregiver
• Display separation & stranger anxiety
• Baby looks for security from particular people

Question 7

What happens during the ‘multiple’ stage??

Answer 7

• Attachment behaviours shown towards several different people
• Sensitive responsiveness (form attachments to people how respond to their signals more, not who’s more present)

Question 8

Discuss the validity of the study! (AO3)
(Remember there’s a counterpoint for this)

Answer 8

High external validity
- Done in ordinary life
- No observer present to distract baby or create anxiety
- Likely babies acted naturally
Counterpoint:
Social-desirability bias -> Mothers kept diaries which are subjective. Even if babies acted naturally, behaviour may not have been recorded accurately

Question 9

Discuss the evaluation point ‘Cultural Differences’! (AO3)

Answer 9

Unclear when infants form multiple attachments because it was done in a collectivist culture where this is the norm.

Question 10

Discuss the evaluation point ‘Distress doesn’t mean attachment’! (AO3)

Answer 10

Just because a baby gets distressed when someone leaves the room, doesn’t mean they’re attached or that the individual is a ‘true’ attachment figure.
Bowlby (1969): Children gets distressed when playmate leaves the room