Schaffer and emerson

Question 1

How many babies involved in the study?

Answer 1

60

Question 2

Where were the babies from?

Answer 2

Glasgow, skilled working class families

Question 3

What was the procedure?

Answer 3

• babies and their mothers visited in their homes once a month for the first 12 months and then at 18 months
• the researcher asked the mother about the kind of protest the baby showed in 7 everyday separations e.g adult leaving the room

Question 4

What did the questions test?

Answer 4

• separation anxiety

- stranger anxiety

Question 5

What did Schaffer and Emerson find?

Answer 5

• between 25 weeks and 32 weeks of age about 50% of the babies showed separation anxiety towards a particular adult
• attachment tended to be the caregiver who was most interactive and sensitive to infant signals and facial expressions i.e reciprocity
• by the age of 40 weeks 80% of the babies had a specific attachment
• by the age of 40 30% had formed multiple attachments

Question 6

What is a strength of this study ?

Answer 6

• carried out longitudinally
• same children were followed up and observed regularly
• better internal validity as they do not have confounding variables of individual differences between participants

Question 7

What is a limitation of this study?

Answer 7

• limited sample characteristics
• all the families were from the same district and social class in the same city
• child-rearing practices vary from culture to culture
• issues with generalising