Schaffer's Stages of Attachment Flashcards
What were the aims of the study?
To investigate the formation of early attachments; in particular the age they developed, their emotional intensity and to whom they were directed
What was the procedure of the study?
-60 babies
-At beginning youngest participant 5wks, oldest 23wks
-All from Glasgow and majority skilled working class families
-Homes were visited every month for first year and again at 18 months
-Kept detailed record of observations, asked mothers about kind of protest their children showed in everyday separations
-Designed to measure infant’s attachment
-Also assessed stranger anxiety - response to unfamiliar adults
How was attachment measured?
-Using separation protest in 7 everyday stages - left alone in room, left with other people, left in pram outside, left in pram outside shops, left in cot at night, put down after being held by adult, or passed by while sitting in chair/cot
-Using stranger anxiety - every visit started with researcher approaching infant and noting what point infant started to whimper, thus displaying anxiety
What were the findings of the study?
-Between 25-32wks 50% showed signs of separation anxiety towards particular adult, usually mother
-Attachment tended to be the caregiver who was most interactive and sensitive to infant signals and facial expressions
-By 40wks 80% babies had specific attachment and almost 30% displayed multiple attachments
Based on these findings they developed a stage theory of attachment
What is stage 1 and what age does it happen?
Asocial/Pre-attachment stage (birth-6wks)
-Babies do not act in a social manner
-Don’t show recognition to individual people
-Everyone is much the same as everyone and everything else
What is stage 2 and when does this happen?
Indiscriminate stage (6wks-7months)
-Infants now distinguish between familiar and unfamiliar people, show general sociability
-No fear of strangers, will cry for attention from anyone and can be comforted by anyone
What is stage 3 and when does this happen?
Specific attachment (7months)
-Forms a strong emotional bond with particular individual, usually mother
-Indicated by infant showing distress when separated - separation protest
-Show special joy when reunited
-Attachment figure can comfort them more effectively than anyone else
What is stage 4 and when does this happen?
Multiple attachments (1yr)
-Usually extend attachment behaviour to multiple attachments with others they spend regular time with
-Secondary attachments
-In study 29% had these within a month of forming a primary attachment
What are 2 strengths of Schaffer and Emerson’s stage theory?
High ecological validity:
-Carried out in families own homes and most of observation done by parents during ordinary activities and reported to researchers later
-Means behaviour of babies was unlikely to be affected by presence of observers
-Good chance that participants behaved naturally
We can therefore say the study has good external validity i.e. we can generalise findings to real life situations
Strengh of a longitudinal design:
-Children were observed and followed-up regularly
-Quicker alternative = observe different children at each age - cross-sectional design
However longitudinal have better internal validity as they do not have confounding participant variables
What are 2 limitations of Schaffer and Emerson’s stage theory?
Problems with self-report method:
-Data collected either direct observation or record
-Both prone to bias and inaccuracy
-Mothers recorded situations in which separation protest was shown and indicated the person to whom these protests were shown
-Busy mothers may have produced records days after
-Some may have been less sensitive to protests so less likely to report them
This type of research is susceptible to errors and in turn reduces validity of findings
Low population validity:
-Sample size of 60 babies and carers good considering large volume of data gathered on each participant
-However all families involved from same sirrict and social class in same city at a time over 50 years ago
Child-rearing practices vary from one culture to another and one historical period to another. These results do not necessarily generalise well to other social and historical contexts.
