Attachment : Schaffer’s stages of attachment Flashcards
Who suggested that there are 4 stages of attachment?
Schaffer and Emerson studies the attachment behaviours of babies and how they change as they grow up
What is stage 1?
Stage 1: asocial stage (first few weeks)
- behaviour towards humans and objects is fairly similar
- still show signs they prefer to be around other people, especially familiar people, who they are more easily comforted by
What is stage 2:
Stage 2 : indiscriminate attachment (2-7 months)
- babies recognise + prefer being around familiar people but accept comfort from anyone
- don’t show separation/stranger anxiety yet
What is stage 3?
Stage 3: specific attachment (7 months+)
- babies start to show signs of attachment (separation + stranger anxiety) towards one particular person - primary attachment figure - the person who picks up the baby’s signals best (65% mother)
What is stage 4?
Stage 4: multiple attachments
- babies start to form more attachments with other people they spend lots of time with - secondary attachments
- most babies have developed multiple attachments by the age of 1 yr
What are Schaffer’s stages of attachment?
Asocial, indiscriminate, specific, multiple
What did Schaffer and Emerson base their theory on?
An observational study of the formation of early caregiver-infant interactions.
- study involved 60 babies and included the researchers visiting babies and mothers and asking mothers questions about their babies behaviours
What are the strengths of the theory?
✅ Good external validity
- most observations were made by parents during ordinary activities
This means that the babies were behaving naturally while being observed, unlike if it were the researchers observing the babies with may have distracted them and caused stranger anxiety
✅ It has practical application in daycare
- daycare is much easier in the first two stages as babies can be comforted by anyone
- however starting daycare with unfamiliar people during the specific attachment stage, when babies are beginning to experience separation and stranger anxiety, it is more problematic
This means there is real life evidence for Schaffer and Emerson’s theory
What are the limitations of the theory?
❌ The fact that the mother’s were the observers mean that they may have been biased in their observations with what they noticed and chose to report
This means that babies’ behaviour may not have been recorded completely accurately
❌ The evidence for the asocial stage lacks validity
- babies under 2 months have poor coordination and don’t yet know how to communicate things properly, so it may be difficult for mothers to observe signs of anxiety and attachment at this stage
