Schaffer’s Stages Of Attachment

Question 1

Who studied the attachment behaviours of babies?

Answer 1

Schaffer and Emerson

Question 2

What did Schaffer and Emerson’s findings about babies attachment lead them to developing?

Answer 2

An account of how attachment behaviours change as a baby gets older.

Question 3

How many stages of attachment did Schaffer and Emerson propose?

Answer 3

Four identifiable stages of attachment observed in all babies.

Question 4

What is stage 1?

Answer 4

Asocial stage

Question 5

Stage 1:
What is a baby’s observable behaviour similar towards?

Answer 5

Humans and inanimate objects/

Question 6

What do babies show in stage 1 that suggests the stage isn’t entirely asocial?

Answer 6

Babies show signs that they prefer to be with other people.

Question 7

Stage 1:
What do babies show a preference for?

Answer 7

The company of familiar people and are more easily comforted by them.

Question 8

In stage 1 what is the baby forming?

Answer 8

Bonds with certain people and these form the basis of later attachments.

Question 9

What is stage 2?

Answer 9

Indiscriminate attachment

Question 10

Stage 2:
What do babies start to show more of from months 2-7.

Answer 10

More obvious and more observable social behaviours.

Question 11

During stage 2 what do babies show a preference for?

Answer 11

Being with other humans rather than inanimate objects.

Question 12

During stage 2 who do babies prefer company of?

Answer 12

More familiar people however will accept affection and comfort from any person.

Question 13

What do babies in stage 2 not usually show?

Answer 13

Separation anxiety when caregivers leave their presence or stranger anxiety in the presence of an unfamiliar person.

Question 14

What is stage 3?

Answer 14

Specific attachment

Question 15

Stage 3:
What do the majority of babies start to show at around 7 months?

Answer 15

The classic signs of attachment towards a particular person which include stranger anxiety especially when their attachment figure isn’t there and separation anxiety when they are separated from their attachment figure.

Question 16

Stage 3:
What is the baby said to have formed?

Answer 16

A specific attachment.

Question 17

Stage 3:
What is a primary attachment figure?

Answer 17

The main person who forms an attachment with the baby.

Question 18

Stage 3:
Who is the primary attachment figure?

Answer 18

Not necessarily the individual who the child spends the most time with but one who offers the most interaction and responds to the baby’s signals with the most skill - in 65% of cases this is the mother.

Question 19

What is stage 4?

Answer 19

Multiple attachments

Question 20

Stage 4:
What happens shortly after babies start to show attachment behaviour towards one person ?

Answer 20

They usually extend this behaviour to multiple attachments with other people they regularly spend time with which are called secondary attachments

Question 21

What did Schaffer and Emerson observe about secondary attachments?

Answer 21

29% of children formed secondary attachments within a month of forming a primary attachment.
By the age of one the majority of babies developed multiple attachments.

Question 22

What did Schaffer and Emerson base their stage theory on?

Answer 22

An observational study of the formation of early infant-adult attachments.

Question 23

Evaluation:
Problems with studying the asocial stage

Answer 23

• The first few weeks are described as asocial even though important interactions occur in those weeks.
• However babies have poor-coordination and are generally immobile.
• Therefore it’s difficult to make judgements based on observations of their behaviour as there isn’t much observable behaviour.

Question 24

Evaluation:
Measuring multiple attachments

Answer 24

• Because a baby is distressed when an individual leaves doesn’t necessarily mean the individual is a ‘true’ attachment figure.
• Bowlby’s pointed out children have playmates as well as attachment figures and may get distressed when a playmate leaves but this doesn’t signify attachment.
• This means Schaffer and Emersons observation doesn’t let us distinguish between behaviour shown towards secondary attachment figures and shown towards playmates.

Question 25

Evaluation:
Conflicting evidence on multiple attachments

Answer 25

• It still isn’t entirely clear when children become capable of multiple attachments.
• Research indicates most if not all babies form attachments to a single main carer before they are capable of developing multiple attachments.
• Other psychologists who work in cultural contexts where multiple caregivers are the norm believe babies form multiple attachments from birth.
• Therefore it isn’t clear when babies develop the ability to have multiple attachments.

Question 26

Evaluation:
Schaffer and Emerson used limited behavioural measures of attachment

Answer 26

• They could carry out a scientific study of attachment because they used simple behaviours such as stranger anxiety and separation anxiety to define attachment.
• Some critics believe that these are too crude measures of attachment.
• Therefore Schaffer and Emersons observation may not be valid enough to use.