ATTACHMENT: stages of attachment

Question 1

Schaffer and Emerson Glasgow study: methodology

Answer 1

Aim of the study:
to find the age at which attachments starts and how intense these were

- They studies 60 babies from a working class area of Glasgow, 
	○ observing every 4 weeks for the first year
	○ Then again in 18 months 
- As well as observations, interviews were conducted with the mothers
	○ , including questions about whom the infant smiled at 
	○ Responded to
	○ And who caused them distress

Variables:
- Strength of attachment was measured by
○ Separation anxiety: how distressed the child became when separated from the main caregiver
§ (which suggests an attachment has been formed)
○ Stranger anxiety: distress shown when the child was left alone with an unfamiliar person
(which suggests that the child can recognize familiar and unfamiliar people)

Question 2

Schaffer and Emerson Glasgow study: findings

Answer 2

• The first specific attachment was formed by 50% of infants between 25 and 32 weeks. Intensity peaked in the first month following the onset of the first attachment
  • Multiple attachments began soon after the first attachment had been formed
    By 18 months, 31% had 5

Question 3

Schaffer and Emerson Glasgow study: conclusion

Answer 3

• Human attachments develop in four stages :
  ○ Asocial
  ○ Indiscriminate
  ○ Attachment
  ○ Specific attachment
  ○ Multiple attachment

Question 4

stage 1: Asocial

Answer 4

• 0-8 weeks
• attention seeking behaviour
• not directed at anyone
• suggests attachments could be made with anyone

Question 5

Stage 2: indiscriminate attachment

Answer 5

• 2-7 months
• child constantly wants attention and is happy to receive it from anyone
• preferences are shown to familiar faces

Question 6

stage 3: specific attachments

Answer 6

-7-12 months
- child is primarily attached to the main caregiver
- weary of strangers
- separation causes distress

Question 7

stage 4: multiple attachments

Answer 7

• after a year
• primary attachment is established and child may go on to form many more attachments
• these attachments can vary in strength, and tend to for with other family members
• no limit

Question 8

evaluations

Answer 8

(1) POINT: A problem with Schaffer and Emerson’s theory of the stages of attachment is that the asocial stage is difficult to study.
* EXAMPLE/EVIDENCE: For example, young babies in this stage have poor co-ordination and are generally pretty much immobile. It is therefore very difficult to make any judgements about the infants based on observations of their behaviour (there isn’t much observable behaviour).
* EVALUATION: This is a weakness because the evidence obtained from the observations cannot be relied upon and therefore it is difficult to draw any firm conclusions.

(2) POINT: A further weakness is that there is conflicting evidence from different cultures on multiple attachments.
* EVIDENCE/EXAMPLE: For example, there is no doubt that children become capable of multiple attachments however; it is not clear at what age this happens. Some research seems to indicate that most babies form attachments to a single main carer before they become capable of developing multiple attachments. Other Psychologists, in particular those who work in those cultural context were multiple care givers are the norm, believe babies form multiple attachments from the outset.
*EVALUATION: This is a problem because the presence of cross-cultural differences in child-rearing means that it is difficult to produce a theory that is applicable to all cultures (collectivist and individualist), therefore Schaffer and Emerson’s theory can be criticised as being ethnocentric.

(3) POINT: Another weakness is that there are difficulties in how multiple attachments is assessed.
* EVIDENCE/EXAMPLE: For example, just because a baby gets distressed when an individual leaves the room it does not necessarily mean that the individual is a ‘true’ attachment figure. Bowlby (1969) pointed out that children have playmates as well as attachment figures and may get distressed when a playmate leaves.
* EVALUATION: This is a problem for Schaffer and Emerson’s stages because their observation does not leave us a way to distinguish between behaviour shown towards secondary attachment figures and shown towards playmates.

Methodological issues…
because Schaffer and Emerson’s experiment involved working with very young babies, this meant that the results were due to inference as we would never be sure if the behavior of the baby directly correlated with the variable we are changing.
* Also the involvement of it being a fully informed experiment as well as there being an interview, the mother and the baby, may be subject to demand characteristics, making the results of the research not be as reliable.
* Also the way that baby’s and mothers show distress are subject to individual differences, so may be hard to form an objective opinion