schaffer's stages of attachment Flashcards
what are the 4 stages of attachment?
- asocial stage
- indiscriminate stage
- specific attachment
- multiple attachments
when does the 1st stage of attachment occur?
during the first few weeks of a baby’s life
what happens during the 1st stage of attachment?
- observable behaviour towards humans and inanimate objects is fairly similar
- schaffer and emerson did not believe that this was entirely asocial because even at this stage, babies show signs that they prefer to be with other people
- babies tend to show a preference for the company of familiar people and are more easily comforted by them
- babies form bonds with certain people and these form the basis of later attachments
when does the 2nd stage of attachment occur?
from 2 to 7 months
what happens during the 2nd stage of attachment?
- babies start to display more obvious and observable social behaviours
- show a clear preference for being with other humans rather than inanimate objects
- recognise and prefer the company of familiar people
- babies usually accept cuddles and comfort from any person
- no separation or stranger anxiety
when does the 3rd stage of attachment occur?
from around 7 months
what happens during the 3rd stage of attachment?
- babies start to display the classic signs of attachment towards one particular person (primary attachment figure)
- includes stranger anxiety (anxiety directed towards strangers), especially when their attachment figure is absent
- and separation anxiety (anxiety when separated from their attachment figure)
who is the primary attachment figure?
- the person with whom a specific attachment is formed
- this is the individual who offers the most interaction and responds to the baby’s ‘signals’ with the most skill, not necessarily the individual who spends the most time with them
- this is the baby’s mother in 65% of cases
when does the 4th stage of attachment occur?
shortly after babies start to show attachment behaviour (separation and stranger anxiety)
what happens during the 4th stage of attachment?
- attachment behaviour usually extends to multiple attachments with other people with whom they regularly spend time with
- these relationships are called secondary attachments
how quickly do children form secondary attachments?
- 29% of children formed secondary attachments within a month of forming a primary attachment
- by age one, the majority of babies had developed multiple attachments
who was involved in schaffer and emerson’s research (1964)?
- 31 boys and 29 girls
- all from glasgow
- majority from skilled working-class families
what was the procedure for schaffer and emerson’s research?
- researchers visited babies and their mothers in their own homes every month for the first year and again at 18 months
- the researchers asked the mothers questions about separation anxiety to measure the babies’ attachment
- they also assessed stranger anxiety
evaluation: good external validity
- most observations were made by parents during ordinary activities and reported to the researchers
- having researchers present to record observations might have distracted the babies or made them feel more anxious
- highly likely that the participants behaved naturally while being observed
evaluation: subjective observers
- mothers were unlikely to be objective observers
- might have been biased in terms of what they noticed and what they reported
> might not have noticed when their baby was showing signs of anxiety or may have misremembered it - even if babies behaved naturally their behaviour may not have been accurately recorded
