SCHAFFER'S STAGES OF ATTACHMENT Flashcards
1
Q
SCHAFFER & EMERSON (1964)
A
METHOD:
- 60 babies: 31 male, 29 female
- all from Glasgow and skilled WC families
- babies and mothers visited at home every month in the first year and again at 18 months
- researchers asked mothers questions about the kind of protest their babies showed in 7 everyday separations (measure of SEPARATION ANXIETY)
- also assessed STRANGER ANXIETY
2
Q
FINDINGS
A
- between 25-32 weeks: about 50% of the babies showed separation anxiety towards a particular adult, usually mother –> SPECIFIC ATTACHMENT
- attachment tended to be towards the caregiver who was the mot interactive and sensitive to infant signals and facial expressions (RECIPROCITY)
- by 40 weeks, 80% of the babies had a SPECIFIC attachment, almost 30% displayed MULTIPLE attachments.
3
Q
STAGE 1: ASOCIAL STAGE (FIRST FEW WEEKS)
A
- baby is recognising and forming bonds with its carers
- baby’s behaviour towards non-human objects and humans = similar
- babies show some preference for familiar adults as those individual find it easier to calm them
- babies happier when in presence of other humans
4
Q
STAGE 2: INDISCRIMINATE ATTACHMENT (2-7 MONTHS)
A
- babies display more observable social behaviour
- show preference for people rather than inanimate objects
- recognise and prefer FAMILIAR adults
- usually accept cuddles and comfort from any adult
- NO SEPARATION OR STRANGER ANXIETY
- indiscriminate as it is not different towards any one person
5
Q
STAGE 3: SPECIFIC ATTACHMENT (7 MONTHS)
A
- majority start to display stranger anxiety and separation anxiety from one adult (biological mother in 65% of cases)
- formed SPECIFIC ATTACHMENT TO PRIMARY ATTACHMENT FIGURE
- not necessarily the person the child spends most time with, but the one who offers the most interaction and responds to baby’s signals with most skill
6
Q
STAGE 4: MULTIPLE ATTACHMENTS
A
- shortly after specific attachment is formed, usually extend this attachment behaviour to other adult with whom they regularly spend time with –> SECONDARY ATTACHMENTS
- S&E = 29% of children had secondary attachments within 1 MONTH of forming a specific attachment
- by about 1 year, majority developed multiple
7
Q
AO3: GOOD EXTERNAL VALIDITY
A
- carried out in the families’ own homes and most of the observation was done by parents during ordinary activities and reported later
- behaviour = unlikely to be affected by presence of observers (NO DEMAND CHARACTERISTICS)
- ppts behaved naturally
HOWEVER –> data can be unreliable and it is a self-report technique, therefore cannot trust that the mothers are 100% telling the truth - LOW INTERNAL VALIDITY - also, not scientific or standardised methods, so there could be a range of extraneous variables that may have affected the results
8
Q
AO3: LIMITED SAMPLE CHARACTERISTICS
A
- sample size of 60 babies and carers = good considering the large amount of data gathered on each ppt.
HOWEVER, the fact that all the families were from Glasgow and the same social class at a time over 50 years ago = LIMITATION - child-rearing practices vary from one culture to another and from one historical period to another
- results do NOT generalise well to other social and historical contexts
- ETHNOCENTRIC AND LACKS TEMPORAL VALIDITY
9
Q
AO3: CONFLICTING EVIDENCE ON MULTIPLE ATTACHMENTS
A
- no doubt that children become capable of multiple attachments at some point - not entirely clear WHEN
- some research indicates that most form attachments to a single main carer before becoming capable to developing multiple
HOWEVER, some researchers, particularly ones who work in cultural contexts where multiple caregivers are the norm, believe babies form multiple attachments form the OUTSET - collectivist cultures believe that families work together jointly in everything, including child rearing
- therefore, Schaffer & Emerson and other studies conducted in Western, individualist cultures cannot generalise their findings across the world, to collectivist cultures - IMPOSED ETIC
