Schaffer's stages of attachment

Question 1

Outline Schaffer and Emerson’s study of the stages of attachment

Answer 1

• study involved 60 babies, 31 male, 29 female
• from glasgow, skilled working class families- the lot of em
• babies and mothers were visited at their their homes every month for the first year and again at 18 months
• they asked the mothers questions about any protests the baby made to measure separation anxiety or stranger anxiety

Question 2

What did they find

Answer 2

• between 25-32 weeks of age 50% of the babies showed signs of separation anxiety
• by the age of 40 weeks 80% of the babies had a specific attachment and almost 30% displayed multiple attachments

Question 3

What are the 4 stages of attachment

Answer 3

• asocial stage
• indiscriminate attachment
• specific attachment
• multiple attachments

Question 4

Outline the Asocial stage

Answer 4

• occurs during the first few weeks
• baby is recognising and forming bonds with its carers
• baby’s behaviour towards objects and humans is quite similar
• happier and calmer in the presence of other humans

Question 5

Outline the Indiscriminate attachment stage

Answer 5

• 2-7 months babies display more observable behaviour
• recognise and prefer familiar adults
• babies usually accept cuddles from anyone, do not show separation or stranger anxiety

Question 6

Outline the Specific attachment stage

Answer 6

• from around 7 months tend to show stranger anxiety and separation anxiety
• has formed a specific attachment

Question 7

Outline the Multiple attachments stage

Answer 7

• tend to build secondary attachments
• 29% formed multiple attachments 1 month after forming a primary attachment figure, and the majority formed MA once they were a dumbass 1 year old (S&E)

Question 8

Give a strength of S&E study

Answer 8

• good external validity
• study was carried out in families’ homes
• behaviour of the baby was unlikely to change in the presence of observers

Question 9

What is a strength of the study’s design

Answer 9

• longitudinal
• meaning better internal validity than cross-sectional designs (which could’ve been used) as they don’t have the confounding variable of the individual differences between the individuals

Question 10

What is a limitation of the study

Answer 10

• limited sample characteristics
• all families involved in the study were from the same district and social class
• child rearing practices vary from one culture to another
• these results/findings may not generalise well to other cultures, social and historical contexts