ATTACHMENT- Stages of attachment development Flashcards
Who showed how the common pattern in development of infants’ attachment could be divided into several distinct stages?
Schaffer 1996
What did Schaffer decide in 1996?
That there was a common pattern in development of infants’ attachment and it could be divided into several distinct stages
Explain the stages devised by Schaffer
PRE-ATTACHMENT PHASE-> from 6 weeks of age, infants become attracted to other humans and they prefer them to objects and events. This preference is demonstrated by them smiling at others
INDISCRIMINATE ATTACHMENT -> familiar and unfamiliar people being to be discriminated between, smiling at more known people though they will still allow strangers to handle and look after them
DISCRIMINATE ATTACHMENT-> specific attachments being in develop by infants, staying close to particular people and becoming distressed when they are separated from them. They avoid unfamiliar people and protest if strangers try to handle them
MULTIPLE ATTACHMENT STAGE-> emotional ties are formed with other major caregiver, such as grandparents, and non-caregivers, like other children. The fear of strangers weakens, but attachment to the mother figure remains the strongest
What did John Bowlby believe about the importance of different attachment figures?
He believed that children had one prime attachment and that although children had attachments to other people, these were of minor importance compared to their main attachment bond
What did Rutter propose in 1995?
A model of multiple attachments that saw all attachments as of equal importance, with these attachments combining together to help form a child’s internal working model
Why did Schaffer and Emerson carry out research in 1964?
Because they realised that attachments weren’t formed at birth, and were interested in documenting the process of how attachments are formed
What was Schaffer and Emersons aim?
To assess whether or not there was a pattern of attachment formation that was common to all infants
To identify and describe the distinct stages by which attachments form
Explain Schaffer and Emersons study
They carried out a longitudinal study on 60 newborn babies and their mothers who were from a working-class area of Glasgow
For the first year of the babies life, they were monitored every month in their own home. They were then monitored again at 18 months
Interviews and observations were carried out with the mother, with questions being asked about whom infants smiled at, whom they responded to and who caused them stress etc.
They then measured attachment in 2 ways;
- SEPARATION PROTEST- this was done through everyday situations e.g leaving them alone in a room, leaving in a pram outside shop etc
- STRANGER ANXIETY- this was done by the researcher visiting each home and approaching the infant to see if they became distressed (if they became distressed it would indicate that the baby can recognise familiar people and feels anxious with the ones who are unfamiliar)
What did Schaffer and Emerson find ?
Operation protest was shown by infants when they parted from their attachment figures between the age of 6-8 months with stranger anxiety being shown one month later
Infants who were strongly attached, had mothers who responded to their needs quickly and gave opportunities for interaction
Infants who were weakly attached, had mothers who responded less quickly and gave them fewer opportunities for interaction
Multiple attachments were formed by most infants
At 18 months, 87% had at least 2 attachments, with 31% having five or more attachments
The attachments that the infants had with different people were of a similar nature, with the infants behaving in the same way to different attachment figures
39% of infants’ prime attachment was not the main carer
What were the conclusions of Schaffer and Emersons experiment ?
There is a pattern of attachment formation common to all infants, which suggests the process is biologically controlled
People who display sensitive responsiveness, recognising and responding appropriately to an infant’s needs, rather than those spending the most time with the child, have attachments made with more easily
Multiple attachments are the norm and of similar quality, which opposes Bowlby’s idea that attachments are a hierarchy of one prime and other minor ones -. Schaffer says that there is no research to say that mothering can’t be shared by several people
Evaluate Schaffer and Emersons research
OBSERVER BIAS INVOLVED- this is because data was collected by direct observation or from the mothers’
IT HAS MUNDANE REALISM- it is carried out in everyday conditions meaning that the conclusion drawn about the formation of attachments can be seen as having high validity
There were large individual differences in when attachments formed, casting doubt on the process of attachment formation being exclusively biological in nature ( so you cannot day it is purely biological in nature because there were some individual differences)
Explain Carpenters research in 1975
He presented infants with familiar and unfamiliar voices and faces.
Sometimes the faces and voice would match but sometimes not
He found that two-week old babies looked at a face longest when it was the mother’s accompanied by her voice and were distressed by the sight of her face accompanied by a different voice
Suggesting that babies can recognise and are attracted to their mothers from an early age, contradicting Schaffer and Emerson’s belief that initially babies were attracted to any person interacting with them
Evaluate Multiple Attachment
It can be argued that children with multiple attachments are at an advantage, as they are more able to form and conduct social relationships, as they have the experience to do so and if a child loses an attachment figure, it has several others that it can turn to.
