schaffers stages of attachment

Question 1

stage 1 - asocial stage

Answer 1

in a baby’s first few weeks of life its observable behaviour towards humans and inanimate objects is fairly similar - hence the term ‘asocial’.

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 babies are forming bonds with certain people and these form the basis of later attachment.

Question 2

stage 2 - indiscriminate attachment

Answer 2

2 - 7 months babies start to display more obvious and observable social behaviours.
they 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.

Question 3

stage 3 - specific attachment

Answer 3

from around 7 months the majority of babies start to display classic signs of attachment towards one particular person. these signs include:
- anxiety directed towards strangers (stranger anxiety), especially when when their attachment figure is absent
- 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 the 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 babies mother in 65% of cases.

Question 4

stage 4 - multiple attachments

Answer 4

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 whom they regularly spend time with. these relationships are called secondary attachments.

schaffer and emerson observed that 29% 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.

Question 5

schaffer and emerson (1964) - procedure

Answer 5

60 babies: 31 boys and 29 girls where all were from glasglow 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 mother questions about the kind of protests 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).

Question 6

schaffer and emerson (1964) - findings

Answer 6

schaffer and emerson identified four distinct stages in the development of infant attachment behaviour.