Schaffer’s Stages of attachment Flashcards
What was the aim of Schaffer and Emerson’s (1964) study?
To investigate the formation of early infant-caregiver attachments and identify stages of attachment.
Describe the procedure of Schaffer and Emerson’s study.
60 infants (31 boys, 29 girls) from Glasgow were observed in monthly home visits for the first year and again at 18 months. Researchers measured separation anxiety and stranger anxiety.
What social class were most families from in Schaffer and Emerson’s study?
Skilled working-class families.
What are the four stages of attachment identified by Schaffer and Emerson?
1) Asocial stage
2) Indiscriminate attachment
3) Specific attachment
4) Multiple attachments
What characterises the asocial stage of attachment?
Occurs in the first few weeks. Babies respond similarly to people and objects but show a preference for familiar people.
What characterises the indiscriminate attachment stage (2–7 months)?
Babies prefer human company over objects and accept comfort from anyone. No stranger or separation anxiety
What characterises the specific attachment stage (around 7 months)?
Babies show separation anxiety from one particular person (primary attachment figure) and stranger anxiety.
Who is usually the primary attachment figure?
The person who best responds to the baby’s signals—most often the mother (65% of cases).
What characterises the multiple attachments stage?
Babies form attachments with several people (secondary attachments). By age 1, most have multiple attachments.
How soon do babies typically form secondary attachments after their first specific attachment?
Within a month—observed in 29% of babies.
strength (1) of STAGES OF ATTACHMENT
One strength of Schaffer and Emerson’s research is that it has good external validity
Most of the observations (though not stranger anxiety) were made by parents during ordinary activities and reported to the researchers. The alternative would have been to have researchers present to record observations. This might have distracted the babies or made them feel more anxious.
This means it is highly likely that the participants behaved naturally while being observed.
limitation of STAGES OF ATTACHMENT
One limitation of Schaffer and Emerson’s stages is the validity of the measures they used to assess attachment in the asocial stage.
Young babies have poor co-ordination and are fairly immobile. If babies less than two months old felt anxiety in everyday situations they might have displayed this in quite subtle, hard-to-observe ways. 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.
strength (2) of STAGES OF ATTACHMENT
Another strength of Schaffer and Emerson’s stages is that they have practical application in day care (where babies are cared for outside of their home by a non-family adult).
In the asocial and indiscriminate attachment stages day care is likely to be straightforward as babies can be comforted by any skilled adult. However, Schaffer and Emerson’s research tells us that day care, especially starting day care with an unfamiliar adult, may be problematic during the specific attachment stage.
This means that parents’ use of day care can be planned using Schaffer and Emerson’s stages.
