ATTACHMENTS - Development of Attachment Flashcards
Development of attachments AO1
- Schaffer and Emerson conducted a landmark study in 1964 on attachment and how an attachment develops and they came up with 4 specific stages of attachment.
- 60 babies (31 male 29 female) from Glasgow. Majority of the babies were born into skilled working class families
- Ranged from 5 to 23 weeks of age
- All babies and mothers were visited in their homes every 4 weeks for the 1st year and then again at 18 months
- A mixture of overt observations and interviews were conducted and mothers were also asked to keep a diary of her child’s behaviour
- At each visit, each mother reported their infant’s response to separation in 7 everyday situations which were:
- Left alone in a room
- Left with other people
- Left in their pram outside the house
- Left in their pram outside the shops
- Left in their cot at night
- Put down after being held by an adult
- Passed by while sitting on their cot or chair
- Mother was asked to describe the intensity of any protest by the infant which was then rated on a 4-point scale. Then the mother was asked to state who the protest was aimed at
- As a result, 2 specific attachment behaviours were measured:
- Separation protest – the distress shown by an infant when separated from their caregiver
- Stranger anxiety – distress shown by an infant when approached by someone unfamiliar
- FINDINGS:
- 65% of babies formed primary attachment with MOTHER
- 27% of babies jointly attached to MOTHER AND FATHER
- 30% of babies jointly attached to MOTHER AND ONE OTHER FIGURE
- 3% of babies attached to FATHER
- As soon as the first attachment happened, most babies formed multiple attachments
- Intensely attached infants had mothers who responded quickly and sensitively to their ‘signals’ and who offered their child the most interaction
- Poorly attached infants had mothers who failed to interact
- So the conclusion could be made that it was the quality of the relationship and not the quantity that mattered
STAGES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF ATTACHMENTS
1) Pre-attachment phase (birth-3 months) – 0-6 weeks, the baby behaves similarly to both human and inanimate objects. 6 weeks onwards, infants become attracted to other humans and less so to objects and events. Smiling at peoples faces and preference to familiar faces
2) Indiscriminate attachments (3-6 months) – babies much more social. Begin to recognise and prefer familiar adults and accept comfort and hugs from any adult. No separation protest or stranger anxiety. No preference to one adult.
3) Discriminate attachments (7-9 months) – infants show a different protest to being put down by a specific person aka they have separation anxiety. Joy is experienced at reunion with that person and are most comforted by them. This is the primary attachment figure. Stranger anxiety is also shown.
4) Multiple attachments (9 months onwards) – infant develops multiple attachments depending on how many consistent relationships they have. Attachments to anyone but the primary attachment figure can be to their parent, grand parents or siblings or anyone else; there are called secondary attachments. Separation anxiety is experienced in secondary attachments too. - Bowlby saw attachments as hierarchical – primary attachment was the top of the hierarchy and the secondary attachments were less important
- Rutter saw all attachments as of equal importance which all combine together to help form a child’s internal working model
Outline Schaffer and Emerson’s landmark study in 1964 on attachment and how an attachment develops.
- Schaffer and Emerson conducted a landmark study in 1964 on attachment and how an attachment develops and they came up with 4 specific stages of attachment.
- 60 babies (31 male 29 female) from Glasgow. Majority of the babies were born into skilled working class families
- Ranged from 5 to 23 weeks of age
- All babies and mothers were visited in their homes every 4 weeks for the 1st year and then again at 18 months
- A mixture of overt observations and interviews were conducted and mothers were also asked to keep a diary of her child’s behaviour
- At each visit, each mother reported their infant’s response to separation in 7 everyday situations which were:
- Left alone in a room
- Left with other people
- Left in their pram outside the house
- Left in their pram outside the shops
- Left in their cot at night
- Put down after being held by an adult
- Passed by while sitting on their cot or chair
- Mother was asked to describe the intensity of any protest by the infant which was then rated on a 4-point scale. Then the mother was asked to state who the protest was aimed at
- As a result, 2 specific attachment behaviours were measured:
- Separation protest – the distress shown by an infant when separated from their caregiver
- Stranger anxiety – distress shown by an infant when approached by someone unfamiliar
Schaffer and Emerson’s landmark study in 1964 on attachment FINDINGS
- 65% of babies formed primary attachment with MOTHER
- 27% of babies jointly attached to MOTHER AND FATHER
- 30% of babies jointly attached to MOTHER AND ONE OTHER FIGURE
- 3% of babies attached to FATHER
- As soon as the first attachment happened, most babies formed multiple attachments
- Intensely attached infants had mothers who responded quickly and sensitively to their ‘signals’ and who offered their child the most interaction
- Poorly attached infants had mothers who failed to interact
- So the conclusion could be made that it was the quality of the relationship and not the quantity that mattered
What are the stages in the development of attachments proposed by Schaffer and Emerson?
1) Pre-attachment phase (birth-3 months) – 0-6 weeks, the baby behaves similarly to both human and inanimate objects. 6 weeks onwards, infants become attracted to other humans and less so to objects and events. Smiling at peoples faces and preference to familiar faces
2) Indiscriminate attachments (3-6 months) – babies much more social. Begin to recognise and prefer familiar adults and accept comfort and hugs from any adult. No separation protest or stranger anxiety. No preference to one adult.
3) Discriminate attachments (7-9 months) – infants show a different protest to being put down by a specific person aka they have separation anxiety. Joy is experienced at reunion with that person and are most comforted by them. This is the primary attachment figure. Stranger anxiety is also shown.
4) Multiple attachments (9 months onwards) – infant develops multiple attachments depending on how many consistent relationships they have. Attachments to anyone but the primary attachment figure can be to their parent, grand parents or siblings or anyone else; there are called secondary attachments. Separation anxiety is experienced in secondary attachments too.
Outline different perspectives of multiple attachments and the importance of primary and secondary attachments.
- Bowlby saw attachments as hierarchical – primary attachment was the top of the hierarchy and the secondary attachments were less important
- Rutter saw all attachments as of equal importance which all combine together to help form a child’s internal working model
Who were the participants in Schaffer and Emerson’s study in 1964?
- 60 babies (31 male 29 female) from Glasgow. Majority of the babies were born into skilled working class families
- Ranged from 5 to 23 weeks of age
How often were partcipants visited in Schaffer and Emerson’s study in 1964?
every 4 weeks for the 1st year and then again at 18 months
How were results recorded in Schaffer and Emerson’s study in 1964?
- A mixture of overt observations and interviews were conducted and mothers were also asked to keep a diary of her child’s behaviour
What happened in every visit conducted in Schaffer and Emerson’s study in 1964?
- At each visit, each mother reported their infant’s response to separation in 7 everyday situations which were:
- Left alone in a room
- Left with other people
- Left in their pram outside the house
- Left in their pram outside the shops
- Left in their cot at night
- Put down after being held by an adult
- Passed by while sitting on their cot or chair
- Mother was asked to describe the intensity of any protest by the infant which was then rated on a 4-point scale. Then the mother was asked to state who the protest was aimed at
- As a result, 2 specific attachment behaviours were measured:
- Separation protest – the distress shown by an infant when separated from their caregiver
- Stranger anxiety – distress shown by an infant when approached by someone unfamiliar
What were the 7 different everyday situations that a mother reported their infant’s response to separation in in Schaffer and Emerson’s 1964 study?
- Left alone in a room
- Left with other people
- Left in their pram outside the house
- Left in their pram outside the shops
- Left in their cot at night
- Put down after being held by an adult
- Passed by while sitting on their cot or chair
Pre attachment phase development of attachments
(birth-3 months) – 0-6 weeks, the baby behaves similarly to both human and inanimate objects. 6 weeks onwards, infants become attracted to other humans and less so to objects and events. Smiling at peoples faces and preference to familiar faces
Indiscriminate attachments phase development of attachments
(3-6 months) – babies much more social. Begin to recognise and prefer familiar adults and accept comfort and hugs from any adult. No separation protest or stranger anxiety. No preference to one adult.
Discriminate attachments phase development of attachments
(7-9 months) – infants show a different protest to being put down by a specific person aka they have separation anxiety. Joy is experienced at reunion with that person and are most comforted by them. This is the primary attachment figure. Stranger anxiety is also shown.
Multiple attachments phase development of attachments
(9 months onwards) – infant develops multiple attachments depending on how many consistent relationships they have. Attachments to anyone but the primary attachment figure can be to their parent, grand parents or siblings or anyone else; there are called secondary attachments. Separation anxiety is experienced in secondary attachments too.
Development of attachments AO3
STRENGTHS
- Good external validity – Schaffer and Emerson’s study was carried out in the families’ own homes and most of the observation was done by the parents during ordinary activities and reported to the researchers later. Thus the participants would have behaved normally and not shown demand characteristics. Therefore, the findings of the study are applicable to everyday life. Study also shows mundane realism as it was conducted under real-life conditions meaning the conclusions drawn from that study have high validity
- No ethical issues – Consent was obtained from the parents so there were no real ethical issues involved in the Schaffer and Emerson study such as harm. So long as confidentiality was maintained, the study was ethically correct because as self-reports and observations were used, there was no deception involved
WEAKNESSES
- Methodological issues – because observations and self-report methods were used, both would be prone to bias as self-reporting mothers may show social desirability bias to show that they in fact had a good relationship with their infants. Bias could also have been shown when interpreting their own infant’s behaviour.
- Biased sample – the sample was obtained from a working-class population, which meant the findings maybe could not be applied to middle class families. The study was also done in the 60’s and parental care has changed considerably since then. If Schaffer and Emerson conducted their study in today’s society, their findings would surely have been different.
