Attachment - Schaffer's stages of attachment

Question 1

What did Schaffer and Emerson (1964) study?

Answer 1

The attachment behaviour of babies

Question 2

What did Schaffer and Emerson’s findings lead them to?

Answer 2

Develop an account of how attachment behaviour changes as a baby gets older

Question 3

What is the first stage of the stages of attachment?

Answer 3

Asocial stage

Question 4

What is the asocial stage?

Answer 4

When a baby’s behaviour towards humans and inanimate objects within the first few weeks of life is similar

Question 5

What did Schaffer and Emerson not believe?

Answer 5

That stage one is entirely asocial as even at this stage babies show signs that they prefer to be with other people

Question 6

What happens at an aocial stage?

Answer 6

The baby is forming bonds with certain people and these form the basis for later attachments

Question 7

What is the second stage of the stages of attachment?

Answer 7

Indiscriminate stage

Question 8

What is the indiscriminate stage?

Answer 8

When babies from 2 to 7 months start to display more obvious and observabe social behaviours

Question 9

What happens at the indiscriminate stage?

Answer 9

Babies usually accept cuddles from anybody and don’t show seperation anxiety or stranger anxiety

Question 10

What is the third stage of the stages of attachment?

Answer 10

Specific attachment

Question 11

What is the specific attachment?

Answer 11

From around 7 months the majority of babies start to display signs of attachment towards one particular person

Question 12

What are the signs attached to specific attachment?

Answer 12

Stranger and seperation anxiety

Question 13

What is formed at specific attachment?

Answer 13

Primary attachment figure

Question 14

What is the primary attachment figure?

Answer 14

A person that offers the most interaction and responds to the baby’s signals with the best skill

Question 15

What is the fourth stage of the stages of attachment?

Answer 15

Multiple attachments

Question 16

What happens in multiple attachments?

Answer 16

When babies extend behaviour of stranger and seperation anxiety to multiple attachments with people they know - known as secondary attachments

Question 17

What did Schaffer and Emerson observe?

Answer 17

29% of children formed secondary attachments within a month of forming a primary attachment

Question 18

What is one strength of Schaffer’s stages of attachment?

Answer 18

Good external validity

Question 19

What is the evaluation of Schaffer’s stages of attachment having good external validity?

Answer 19

P: Good external validity
E: Made by parents during ordinary activities
E: Researches record observations - distract babies
L: natural behaviour

Question 20

What is one limitation of Schaffer’s stages of attachment?

Answer 20

Poor evidence for the asocial stage

Question 21

What is the evaluation of Schaffer’s stages of attachment having poor evidence for the asocial stage?

Answer 21

P: Validity of the measures
E: Babies display anxiety in hard-to-observe ways
E: Difficult to report back to researchers on signs of anxiety
L: Babies could be social but because of flawed methods, they appear asocial

Question 22

What is another strength of Schaffer’s stages of attachment?

Answer 22

Real world application

Question 23

What is the evaluation of Schaffer’s stages of attachment having real world application?

Answer 23

P: Practical application in day care
E: Daycare is straightforward for the asocial and indiscriminate stage
E: Starting day care may be problematic during the specific attachment stage
L: Parent’s use of daycare can be planned