Development of attachment

Question 1

What are the 4 stages of attachment in Schaffer and Emerson's study on Glaswegian working class infants?
(visit ever 4 weeks for 12-18 months LONGITUDINAL STUDY)

Answer 1

Stage 1: indiscriminate attachment
Stage 2: the beginnings of attachment
Stage 3: discriminate attachment
Stage 4: multiple attachments

Question 2

What is the first stage of attachment in Schaffer and Emerson’s study?

Answer 2

Stage 1:
0-2 months - indiscriminate attachment

• infants respond to ALL objects, animate or inanimate
• social stimulus becomes more important (e.g a smiling face)
• reciprocity & interactional synchrony noted

Question 3

What is the second stage of attachment in Schaffer and Emerson’s study?

Answer 3

Stage 2:
2-7 months - the beginnings of attachment

• increasingly sociable
• they prefer human company to inanimate objects
• distinguish between familiar and unfamiliar people but no anxiety with unfamiliar (no stranger anxiety)
• can be comforted by anyone

Question 4

What is the third stage of attachment in Schaffer and Emerson’s study?

Answer 4

Stage 3:
7-9 months - discriminate attachment

• preferences between people (like and dislike)
• primary attachment’s developed (often the mother)
• stranger anxiety develops
• separation anxiety
• quality of interactions are important for the development of attachments

Question 5

What is the fourth stage of attachment in Schaffer and Emerson’s study?

Answer 5

Stage 4:
10 months + - multiple attachments

• secondary attachments developed - after 1 month of developing primary attachment (in the discriminate attachment stage), 29% of infants have a secondary attachment (usually the dad)
• 6 months later, 78% had a secondary attachment

Question 6

What are primary attachment figures?

Answer 6

• 65% attach to the mother as the soul attachment (primary attachment)
• 30% don’t form primary attachments
• 3% attach to the dad as the primary

However - 27% of fathers are a joint-caregiver with the mother (two primary attachments)

Question 7

Evaluate the positives of Schaffer and Emerson’s 4 stages of attachment

Answer 7

• longitudinal - shows progression
• repeated in different cultures, reliable & no cultural bias
• gave good insight into processes of attachment
• high ecological validity - babies are observed in their own homes

Question 8

Evaluate the negatives of Schaffer and Emerson’s 4 stages of attachment

Answer 8

• Lamb 1997 - time spent with children was minimal
• behaviourist approach - doesn’t consider biology (biology encourages nurturing in women & men are ‘rougher’ - Geiger 1996)
• primary attachment figure is subjective (all babies studied used a mother attachment based on nuclear families)
• self report - social desirability AKA ‘my baby is so well behaved!!!!!’
• not generalisable - all from Glasgow, all working class, small sample
• 1960 lacks temporal validly - e.g relationships & family structures etc could change attachments nowadays