Schaffer's stages of attachment

Question 1

How many babies were involved in Schaffer and Emerson’s study?

Answer 1

60 - 31 male and 29 female

Question 2

How often were the mothers and babies visited during Schaffer and Emerson’s study?

Answer 2

Every month for the first year and again at 18 months

Question 3

What was assessed during Schaffer and Emerson’s study?

Answer 3

• The kinds of protests shown in 7 everyday separations
• Stranger anxiety

Question 4

Between _ and _ weeks old, about _% of babies showed separation anxiety towards an adult

Answer 4

Between 25 and 32 weeks, about 50% of babies showed separation anxiety towards an adult

Question 5

By _ weeks, _% of babies has a specific attachment

Answer 5

By 40 weeks, 80% of babies had a specific attachment

Question 6

What are the 4 stages in Schaffer’s stages of attachment?

Answer 6

• Asocial
• Indiscriminate
• Specific attachment
• Multiple attachments

Question 7

During what age does the asocial stage occur?

Answer 7

0-8 weeks

Question 8

During what ages does the indiscriminate stage occur?

Answer 8

2-7 months

Question 9

During what ages does the specific attachment stage occur?

Answer 9

7-12 months

Question 10

During what ages does the multiple attachments stage occur?

Answer 10

1 year onwards

Question 11

Name 3 characteristics of a baby during the asocial stage?

Answer 11

• Recognises specific faces
• Happier in the presence of humans than when alone
• Behaviour between humans and non human objects are quite similar

Question 12

Name 3 characteristics of a baby during the indiscriminate stage?

Answer 12

• Recognise and prefer familiar people
• Smile more at familiar faces than unfamiliar faces
• Accept comfort from any adult

Question 13

Name 3 characteristics of a baby during the specific attachment stage?

Answer 13

• Shower stranger and separation anxiety
• Primary attachment to one individual
• Use familiar adults as a secure base

Question 14

One strength of Schaffer and Emerson’s research is that it has good external validity. - Explain this point

Answer 14

• Most observations were made by parents during normal activities and reported to researchers.
• Alternative would have been to have the researchers record observations.
• This may have distracted the babies or made them anxious.
• Highly likely that the participants behaved naturally during the observations.

Question 15

One limitation of Schaffer and Emerson’s stages is the validity of the measures they used to assess attachment in the asocial stage. - Explain this point.

Answer 15

• Young babies have poor coordination and display emotions sometimes in a hard to observe way.
• Made it difficult for the mother’s to observe and report back to the researchers.
• This means that babies might seem social but due to flawed methods, they appear asocial.

Question 16

A strength of Schaffer and Emerson’s stages is that they have practical application in day care. - Explain this point.

Answer 16

• In the asocial and indiscriminate stages, day care is straightforward as babies can be cared for by skilled adults.
• The research tells us that starting day care with an unfamiliar adult can cause problems during the specific attachment stage.