Attachment Studies Flashcards
Who studied the Stages of Attachment?
Schaffer and Emerson (1964)
Outline the study conducted by Schaffer and Emerson (1964).
They visited the 60 infants from Glasgow every month until they were 12 months old and then again when they were 18 months old. They asked the adults to record the behavior of the infants in certain situations. (Stranger + Separation anxiety and Secure Base behaviors.)
What did Schaffer and Emerson find?
They found 4 stages of attachment:
The Asocial Stage
The Indiscriminate Stage
The Specific Attachments Stage
The Multiple Attachments Stage
Briefly Sum 3 Evaluative points for Schaffer and Emission’s Study.
1) Good External Validity:
Because parents were observers, the researchers didn’t have to observe them, meaning the baby probably didn’t fell any unease.
2) Counterpoint:
The mother’s are also a weakness as they were likely bias towards presenting their babies in a good light.
3) Low Population Validity:
All 60 babies were mostly from Working - Class families and all from Glaswegian families . It is difficult to generalize these findings to other types of people.
What did Harlow aim to study?
He used monkeys to study attachment.
Outline Harlow’s Wire Mother Experiment.
He got a cloth and wire mother and set the baby monkey’s loose. The baby would go to the wire mother for the milk, but would then retreat to the cloth mother (secure base attachment). When presented with a scary machine, they would first go back to the cloth mother and then scream at it.
What does Harlow’s study show us?
It shows us that attachment is not necessarily always in pursuit of our needs for survival (i.e. - food) but can often be attained through comfort.
Give 3 evaluations of Harlow’s study.
The two “mothers” could impact the internal validity. As they both looked different, the monkey’s may have favoured one over the other.
As this was an animal study, we could always criticise the fact that human behaviour will always differ because we make conscious decisions.
Harlow’s work has had some real benefit, as it highlights the importance of emotional care in day-care and children’s hospitals.
