Schaffer's Stages Of Attachment Flashcards
What did Schaffer and Emerson investigate?
In 1964, they investigated the formation of early attachment and were particularly interested in the age of which they developed, their emotional intensity and who they were directed toward.
What was their method?
60 babies and their mothers were visited at home every month for the first year and again at 18 months. There were 31 male and 29 female babies, all from Glasgow and the majority were from skilled working class families. The researchers asked the mothers questions (interviews- self report technique) about the kind of protest that baby showed in seven every day separations, easy I don’t leave in the room – a measure of separation anxiety. This was designed to measure the infant attachment. The researchers also assessed stranger anxiety – the infant’s anxiety response to unfamiliar adults.
What were their findings?
Between 25 and 32 weeks of age about 50% of the babies showed signs of separation anxiety towards a particular adult, usually the mother – this is called specific attachment. Attachment tender to be to the caregiver who was most interactive and sensitive to the infant signals and facial expressions. This was not necessarily the person with whom the infant spent the most time. By the age of 40 weeks, 80% of the babies had a specific attachment and almost 30% displayed multiple attachments.
Draw one conclusion from their findings. Justify your answer. (2 marks)
The majority – 80% – had made a specific attachment with one person as there were nearly 3 times as many children – 50% higher – with specific attachment rather than multiple attachment.
Evaluation point 1:
(+)Good external validity.
The study was carried out in the family’s own homes and most of their observation was done by parents during ordinary activities and reported to the researcher later. This means that the behaviour of the babies was unlikely to be affected by the presence of observers. As there was often no observer, participants are likely to behave naturally and the findings about attachment should generalise to real life.
Evaluation point 2:
(+)Longitudinal study.
The same children and their mothers were followed up 13 times over a long period of time. Longitudinal studies have higher internal validity because they do not have individual differences between participants which means results are more likely to be accurate and shows us the change in attachment over time.
Evaluation point 3:
(-) Limited sample.
All the families were from the same district in the same city and from the same social class. This means that the way they raise their children may be different to other families from different districts, different cities or from different social classes. This means we cannot be sure that the results of the study can be generalised to others i.e. the stages of attachment may be different in other people
Evaluation point 4:
(-) May lack temporal validity.
The study was conducted over 50 years ago and childrearing practices are likely to have changed quite significantly since the 1960s. For example children are more likely to be at nursery/being looked after by other people. Therefore, the results may not be able to be generalised to today and may not tell us anything about the stages of attachment formation today.
Evaluation point 5:
(-) Crude measurements.
Schaffer and Emerson used the basic behaviours of stranger anxiety and separation anxiety to define attachment which has been argued to be too simplistic as measures of attachment. This means that our understanding of the stages of attachment may be too simplistic as we make a large assumption that crying=attachment (findings are subjective )
What are the four stages of attachment?
- ASOCIAL STAGE
- INDISCRIMINATE ATTACHMENT
- SPECIFIC ATTACHMENT
- MULTIPLE ATTACHMENTS
Stage one- ASOCIAL STAGE
-approximately occurs in the first weeks of life
-baby recognises and forms bond with carers
-baby’s behaviour toward non-human objects and humans in quite similar
-babies show some preferences for familiar adults in that those individuals find it easier to calm them
-babies are also happier in the presence of other humans
Stage 2- INDISCRIMINATE ATTACHMENT
-approximately occurs at 2-7 months
-they show a preference for people rather than inanimate objects and recognise and prefer familiar adults
-babies usually accept co,fort from any adult and do not usually show separation anxiety or stranger anxiety
-attachment behaviour is indiscriminate because it is not different towards any one person
Stage 3- SPECIFIC ATTACHMENT
-approximately at 7 months
-majority of babies start to display anxiety towards strangers and separation anxiety for 1 particular adult (biological mother in 65% of cases)
- at this point the baby has formed a specific attachment and this adult is called the primary attachment figure.
-not necessarily the person who spends the most time with the baby, but the person who is the most sensitive and responsive
Stage 4- MULTIPLE ATTACHMENTS
-after forming 1 attachment the baby forms multiple attachments with other people who they spend regular time with and whom are sensitive to them (secondary attachments)
-in Schaffer and Emerson’s study:
~29%of children had secondary attachments within a month of forming a primary attachment
~by the age of 1, the majority of infants had formed multiple attachments.
Evaluation point 1:
(-) Problem studying the asocial stage
Very young babies have poor coordination and are pretty much immobile making it very difficult to make any judgements about them based on observations of their behaviour. This does not mean the child’s feelings and cognition are not highly social, but the evidence cannot be relied on. We don’t know whether their actions are social or not.
Evaluation point 2:
(-) Conflicting evidence on multiple attachments
It is not clear when children become capable of multiple attachments. Some research indicates that most babies from attachments to a single main caregiver before they become capable of developing multiple attachments. All the findings particularly those from collectivist cultures, show that babies for multiple attachments from their outset. This inconsistent evidence makes the findings unreliable and therefore less likely to be correct and valid. This means we cannot generalise findings about the stages to all cultures.
Evaluation point 3:
(-) Problems with measuring multiple attachments.
There may be a problem with how multiple attachment is assessed. If a baby gets distressed when an individual leaves the room, it does not necessarily mean that the individual is an attachment figure. Bowlby (1969) pointed out that children have playmates as as well as attachment figures and may get distressed when a playmate leaves a room but that does not signify attachment. This is a problem for Schaeffer and Emerson’s stages as their observation does not leave us anyway to distinguish between behaviour shown towards secondary attachment figures and playmates.
