Schaffer's stages of attachment

Question 1

What are the four stages of the attachment?

Answer 1

Asocial stage - up to 6 weeks - similar behaviour to humans and nonhuman but prefer the company of humans
Indiscriminate stage - two to seven months - preference for humans and recognise and prefer familiar humans but accepts comfort from anyone - no stranger or separation anxiety
Specific stage - seven months to a year - show anxiety to strangers and when separated from primary caregiver
Multiple stage - one year plus - involves formation of secondary attachment with other adults - 29% of the time formed within month of the specific attachment

Question 2

What was the aim of Schaffer and Emerson’s stages of attachment study?

Answer 2

To measure attachment type of 60 Scottish babies and their primary caregivers through separation and stranger anxiety

Question 3

What was the procedure of Schaffer and Emerson’s stages of attachment study?

Answer 3

60 Scottish babies, mainly from working class families, were visited at home every month for a year and again after 18 months - separation anxiety was measured by interviewing mothers about typical baby behaviour - measured stranger anxiety by observing responses to unfamiliar adults

Question 4

What were the findings of Schaffer and Emerson’s stages of attachment study?

Answer 4

50% has specific attachments at 25 to 32 weeks

The primary attachment figure was the most sensitive to infant signals

Question 5

What are the evaluation points for Scaffer and Emerson’s study?

Answer 5

Good external validity (+)
Carried out longitudinally (+)
Issues with assessing multiple attachments - baby distress when someone leaves the room doesn’t mean the individual is a true attachment figure (-)
It’s hard to assess baby in the asexual stage when they are immobile and lack coordination (-)