schaffer's stages of attachment Flashcards
schaffer and emerson (1964) - procedure
-longitudinal study of 60 Glasgow infants
- they were visited for every month for 12 months and at 18 months
- asked mothers questions on the kinds of protests babies showed in everyday situations (designed to measure attachment)
- assessed stranger anxiety
AO3 of study - good external validity/ecological validity (strength)
- observations have been made by parents in the natural environment which means that babies behaved naturally than if a researcher was present due to stranger anxiety
AO3 of study - objectivity of observers (weakness)
-mothers that observed may have been bias on what they noticed or reported due to social desirability bias which means that the behaviour was not accurately recorded
AO3 of study - generalisability (weakness)
- can’t generalise it to the whole population as not everyone is from working class and Glasgow in which is a specific cultural and historical context
- based on a large scale study with good design features
stage 1: asocial stage (0-6weeks)
- have similar response to humans and objects but have a preference for eyes
- forms bonds with certain people
- recognises people and forms bonds
- happier in the presence of people
stage 2: indicriminate attachment (2months-7months)
- show preference for being with humans
- recognise and prefer company of familiar people but they will accept comfort from anyone
- don’t usually show separation or stranger anxiety
- more socialable
stage 3: specific attachments (7months)
- display signs of attachment to a particular person
- show stranger & separation anxiety
- forms specific attachment with primary caregiver
primary caregiver person who offers the most interaction and responds to signals with the most skill in which it is 65% of times the mother
stage 4: multiple attachments (7months+)
- secondary attachments = others they regularly spend time with
- observed that these form a month post primary attachment
by 1 most babies have formed multiple attachments
AO3 - poor evidence for asocial stage
- validity of measures used to assess attachment in asocial stage may not be valid
- as young babies have very poor coordination and are immobile = if it feels anxiety they may have displayed it and is difficult to observe
- makes it difficult for mothers to report back to researchers
- means that babies may be social but appear to asocial
- Schaffer and Emerson’s research
AO3 - real-world application
- has practical application to daycare
- in asocial & indiscriminate stages daycare is simple as babies can be comforted by anyone
- Schafers and Emerson’s research tells us the daycare may be problematic during specific attachment stage
- means that parents us of daycare can be planned
AO3 - good external validity
- observations made by parents were during regular activities
- increases external validity as they may have acted differently if there were researchers there observing them ( no demand characteristics)
- behaviour is more likely to be natural
- mothers may be biased in what they will report back
may not notice or want to report signs of anxiety ( social desirability bias)
AO3 - generalisability
- based on a large-scale study that had good design features
- sample was of babies in the 60s in Glasgow which is very specific culturally & historically
- in other cultures, babies may form multiple attachments from early ages
- recently babies may be raised more independant and with a father figure more present than before
makes it difficult to generalise findings
