Schaffer's stages of attachment

Question 1

What is the first stage of attachment?

Answer 1

Stage 1: Asocial stage
- observable behaviour towards humans and inanimate objects is fairly similar

Question 2

What is the second stage of attachment?

Answer 2

Stage 2: Indiscriminate attachment
- from 2-7 months
- display more obvious social behaviours
- clear preference for being with humans rather than intimate objects
- recognise and prefer familiar company, however except cuddles and comfort from any person hence the term ‘indiscriminate’
- don’t show separation anxiety or stranger anxiety

Question 3

What is the third stage of attachment?

Answer 3

Stage 3: Specific attachment
- around 7 months
- display attachment to one particular person
- display separation anxiety from attachment figure and stranger anxiety, especially when attachment figure absent
- formed an attachment with primary attachment figure
- doesn’t necessarily spend the most time but responds to babies signals with the most skill and interaction
- this is the mother in 65% of cases

Question 4

What is the fourth stage of attachment?

Answer 4

Stage 4: Multiple attachments
- start to show attachment behaviour to more than just primary attachment figure (other people they regularly spend time with)
- Called secondary attachments
Schaffer and Emerson observed that 29% of children formed secondary attachments within a month of forming a primary (specific) attachment
- by the age of 1 year the majority of babies had developed multiple attachments

Question 5

What is the evaluation for Schaffer’s stages of attachment?

Answer 5

Good external validity:
- parents reported during ordinary activities
- if the researcher had recorded the observations, it may have distracted or made the babies feel anxious
This means that it is highly likely that the nannies behaved naturally while being observed

Counterpoint:
- mothers may be biased in what they noticed or reported (may not report anxiety - not noticed/misremembered)
This means that even if the babies behaved naturally their behaviour may have not been accurately recorded

Poor evidence for the Asocial stage:
- babies less than two months old felt anxiety in everyday situations which may have been hard to observe
- this made it difficult for mothers to observe and report back to researchers on signs of anxiety and attachment in this age group
This means that the babies may actually be quite social but, because of flawed methods, they appear to be asocial

Real world application:
- practical application in day care
- asocial and indiscriminate stages, day care is likely to be straightforward as babies dan be comforted by any ‘skilled’ adult
- however, S&E research tells us that day care may be problematic during the specific attachment stage (starting day care with an unfamiliar adult)
This means that parents use of day care can be planned using S&E’s stages

Generalisability:
- only looked at one culture (Glasgow)
- other culture (collectivist), multiple attachments from a very early age are more the norm
- However, the study was large-scale with some good design features

Question 6

What was Schaffer and Emersons research?

Answer 6

• 60 babies - 31 male, 29 female
• All from Glasgow
• Researchers visited baby and mother in their own home every month for the first year and again at 18 months
• researchers asked mothers questions about how babies reacted in 7 different everyday separations I.e adult leaving the room
• this was designed to measure the babies attachment
• researchers also assessed stranger anxiety

Question 7

What were Schaffer and Emersons findings?

Answer 7

From the results, S&E identified four distinct stages I the development of infant attachment behaviour which make up their stage theory