Schaffers Stages Of Attachment Flashcards
Intro
Rudolf Schaffer and Peggy Emerson (1964) studied the attachment behaviours of babies (see details of the study in the second box on this page). Their findings led them to develop an account of how attachment behaviours change as a baby gets older. They proposed that there were four identifiable stages of attachment, a sequence which is observed in all babies.
1-Asocial stage
In a baby’s first few weeks of life its observable behaviour towards humans and inanimate objects is fairly similar - hence the term ‘asocial. However, Schaffer and Emerson did not believe that it is entirely asocial because even at this stage babies show signs that they prefer to be with other people. Babies also tend to show a preference for the company of familiar people and are more easily comforted by them. At this stage the baby is forming bonds with certain people and these form the basis of later attachments.
2-indiscriminate attachment
From 2 to 7 months babies start to display more obvious and observable social behaviours. They now show a clear preference for being with other humans rather than inanimate objects. They also recognise and prefer the company of familiar people.
However, at this stage babies usually accept cuddles and comfort from any person - hence the term ‘indiscriminate?. They do not usually show separation anxiety when caregivers leave their presence or stranger anxiety in the presence of unfamiliar people.
3-specific attachment
From around 7 months the majority of babies start to display the classic signs of attachment towards one particular person. These signs include anxiety directed towards strangers (stranger anxiety), especially when their attachment figure is absent, and anxiety when separated from their attachment figure (separation anxiety).
At this point the baby is said to have formed a specific attachment. This person with whom the attachment is formed is called the primary attachment figure. This person is not necessarily the individual the child spends most time with but the one who offers the most interaction and responds to the baby’s ‘signals’ with the most skill. This is the baby’s mother in 65% of cases.
4-multiple attachments
Shortly after babies start to show attachment behaviour (e.g. stranger anxiety and separation anxiety) towards one person they usually extend this behaviour to multiple attachments with other people with whom they regulatv spend time. These relationships are called secondary attachments. Schaffer and Emerson observed that 29% of the children formed secondary attachments within a month of forming a primary specific attachment. By the age of one year the majority of babies had developed multiple attachments.
Schaffer and Emerson research
Schaffer and Emerson (1964) based their stage theory (above) on an observational study of the formation of early infant adult attachments. The specification does not require that you know the procedural details of the study but they are useful background which may help your understanding.
Procedure -The study involved 60 babies - 31 boys and 29 girls. All were from Glasgow and the majority were from skilled working- class families. Researchers visited babies and mothers in their own homes every month for the first year and again at 18 months.
The researchers asked the mothers questions about the kind of protest their babies showed in seven everyday separations, e.g. adult leaving the room (a measure of separation anxiety). This was designed to measure the babies attachment. The researchers also assessed stranger anxiety - the babies’ anxiety response to unfamiliar people.
Findings -The data about attachments is shown in the table on the left. Schaffer and Emerson identified four distinct stages in the development of infant attachment behaviour. These make up their stage theory (above).
Strength-good external validity
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.
Counterpoint On the other hand there are issues with asking the mothers to be the ‘observers”. They were unlikely to be objective observers. They might have been biased in terms of what they noticed and what they reported, for example they might not have noticed when their baby was showing signs of anxiety or they may have misremembered it.
This means that even if babies behaved naturally their behaviour may not have been accurately recorded.
Limitation- poor evidence for the asocial stage
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-real world application
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.
