Schaffers stages of attachment Flashcards
What did Schaffer and Emerson investigate?
When the formation of early attachments takes place, the emotional intensity and with whom they happen.
What happened in Schaffer and Emerson’s experiment?
60 babies were studied from Glasgow and they were visited at home every month for the first year and again a 18 months. They assessed the attachment, stranger anxiety and separation anxiety. They found that between 25 and 32 weeks 50% showed separation anxiety and attachment was normallt to the caregiver who was most interactive. By 40 weeks, 80% of babies had a specific attachment and 30% had multiple attachments.
What are the strengths of Schaffer and Emerson’s experiment?
There is good external validity as it was carried out in parents own homes and during ordinary activities, meaning participants were likely to behave naturally.
It used a longitudinal design which means it has higher internal validity as there is no individual differences between participants which would occur in cross-sectional designs.
What are the weaknesses of Schaffer and Emerson’s experiment?
There are limited sample characteristics as they were all from Glasgow from the same district and in the same social class.
What were the 4 stages of attachment?
Asocial stage, indiscriminate attachment, specific attachment, multiple attachments
What was the Asocial stage?
In the first few weeks, babies show the same behaviour towards people and inanimate objects but they are happier in the presence of humans. They show some preference for familiar adults.
What was the indiscrimate attachment stage?
From 2-7 months babies show a preference for people rather than inanimate objects and they accept cuddles from any adults. They do not usually show separation anxiety.
What was the specific attachment stage?
From around 7 months babies start to show stranger anxiety and separation anxiety from the primary attachment figures. This means they have formed a specific attachment.
What was the multiple attachment stage?
Babies extend their attachment to other people they spend time with. Schaffer and Emerson found that 29% of infants formed a secondary attachment within a month of a primary attachment and that by 1 year most children had multiple attachments.
What are the weaknesses of the stages of attachment?
There is a problem with studying children at the asocial stage as they have poor-coordination and it is difficult to make judgements based on this behaviour.
There is conflicting evidence on multiple attachments as Bowlby found that most babies make a primary attachment before multiple attachments but in other cultures it is argued they form multiple attachments from the offset.
There are also problems measuring multiple attachments as children may have playmates and get distressed when they leave the room but this doesn’t mean that they are an attachment figure.
Schaffer and Emerson used limited behaviours to look at attachment such as stranger anxiety. This may be too simple.
