Schaffer’s Stages Of Attacthment Flashcards
What are Schaffer’s 4 stages of attachment, in order?
- Asocial
- Indiscriminate attachment
- Discriminate attachment
- Multiple attachments
When is the Asocial stage?
From birth to 2 months
When is the indiscriminate stage?
From 2 months to 6 months
When is the discriminate stage?
From 7 months to 12 months
When do baby’s form multiple attachments?
1 year onwards
What is the Asocial stage?
Infant shows similar response to objects and people
Towards the end of this stage they show a preference to face/eyes
What is the indiscriminate stage?
Infant shows a preference for human company over non-human company
They distinguish between different people, but are comforted by anyone and do not show seperation or stranger anxiety
What is the discriminate stage?
Infant shows preference to one human (primary attachment figure)
They display stranger and separation anxiety
They show joy when reunited with primary caregiver
What is multiple attachments?
The infant shows attachment behaviours towards several different people (secondary attachments)
They typically form in the first months after the primary attachment is formed
Which study showed support for the stages of attachment?
Schaffer and Emerson (1964)
Describe the procedure and Findings of the Schaffer and Emerson study (1964)
Procedure- Studied 60 babies from Glasgow, working class families. Babies and mothers visited at home every month for 1st year and at 18 months. Mothers asked about separation and stranger anxiety
Findings- 50% babies showed separation anxiety to usually the mother at 25-32 weeks 40 weeks- 80% had specific attachment, 30% had multiple attachments
What are the 2 strengths of Schaffers stages of attachment?
Good external validity- The research carried out by Schaffer and Emerson was completed in families’ own homes- behaviour was observed in an environment where it most naturally occurs. E.g. the parents observed and took notes on their infant’s responses to separation and strangers and the researchers were not present at the time, so it is more likely that the infant’s behaviour would be more natural and not affected by the presence of observers.
Counter- There are issues with asking the mothers to be the ‘observers’ as they are unlikely to be objective. They may have been biased in terms of what they noticed- e.g. they may not have noticed when their baby was showing signs of anxiety or they may have misremembered à this means that even if babies behaved naturally their behaviour may not have been accurately recorded.
Real-world application- This research has practical application in day care. In the asocial and indiscriminate attachment stages day care is likely to be straight forward as babies can be comforted by any skilled adult. However, Schaffer and Emerson’s research tells us that if infants are starting day care with unfamiliar adults when they are in the specific attachments stage this may be problematic. This means that parents’ use of day care can be planned using Schaffer and Emerson’s stages.
What are the 2 limitations of Shaffers stages of attachment?
Culturally biased- The idea that an attachment with a single caregiver needs to come before developing multiple attachments only reflects individualist cultures and may not apply to other, more collectivist cultures. Ijzendoorn’s meta-analysis found that in some cultures, multiple attachments are the norm (collectivist cultures) and are formed much earlier than Schaffer and Emerson suggested. E.G. Uganda – most infants are cared for by several adults and form multiple attachments very young.
Issues with studying the asocial stage- Schaffer and Emerson had issues with validity when it came to assessing the asocial stage. Young babies have poor coordination and are fairly immobile. If babies less than two months old felt anxiety in everyday situations they might have displayed this in a subtle, hard-to-observe way. This makes 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.
