Stages (development) Of Attachment Flashcards
Describe Schaffer and Emerson (1964) study on the stages of attachment
-AIM: To assess whether there was a pattern of attachment formation that was common to all infants and to identify and describe the distinct stages by which attachment develops
-METHOD: Conducted a longitudinal study on 60 newborn babies and their mothers from a working class area of Glasgow. They were studied at monthly intervals for the first year of their life and again at 18 months old.
The babies were studied in their own homes and their interactions with caregivers were observed. Their caregivers were also interviewed about their babies responses. In these they measured separation anxiety, how the baby reacts when separated from their caregiver, and stranger anxiety,how the baby reacts to unfamiliar people.
Conclusion of Schaffer and Emersons (1964) study on stages of attachment
-Schaffer and Emerson found that attachment develops in predictable stages, suggesting it is biologically controlled. They discovered that babies form attachments not with the person who spends the most time with them, but with those who respond best to their needs—this is called sensitive responsiveness. They also found that babies often form multiple strong attachments, not just one main bond, challenging Bowlby’s idea of a single primary attachment.
What are Emerson and Schaffer’s stages of attachment (findings of study)
-Stage 1: Asocial stage
-Stage 2: Indiscriminate stage
-Stage 3: Specific stage
-Stage 4: Multiple attachments stage
When does the Asocial stage occur
-0-8 weeks old
When does the Indiscriminate stage occur
-2-7months old
When does the Specific stage occur
7-12months old
when does the stage of multiple attachments occur
1+years old
Describe the Asocial stage
-Infants show similar responses to both human and non-human objects (e.g., people, toys).
-They display general, non-specific social behaviour like smiling or crying, but do not prefer specific individuals.
-Some preference for human faces and voices may be present, but no clear attachment.
-No signs of stranger or separation anxiety.
-Early forms of interaction, such as reciprocity and imitation, may begin.
Describe the indiscriminate stage
-Babies start to show more obvious and observable social behaviours.
-They become more responsive to human interaction, preferring human company over objects.
-However, their attachment is not yet specific — they accept comfort from any adult, not showing a clear preference for one person.
-No strong stranger or separation anxiety at this stage.
-Behaviours like smiling and interaction are indiscriminate, meaning they’re directed at anyone.
Describe the Specific stage
-Strong attachment to one particular person, usually the primary caregiver (often the mother).
-The baby shows a clear preference for this specific individual and seeks their comfort and security.
-Separation anxiety develops — the baby becomes distressed when the primary caregiver leaves.
-Stranger anxiety also appears — the baby is wary and anxious around unfamiliar people.
-This marks the formation of a specific attachment bond.
Describe the Mutipe attachment stage
-After forming a specific attachment, the baby begins to form attachments with multiple people (e.g., father, grandparents, siblings, caregivers).
-These are known as secondary attachments.
-The baby shows separation anxiety with several caregivers, not just the primary attachment figure.
-Stranger anxiety may lessen slightly as the baby becomes familiar with more people.
Evaluation of Emerson and Schaffers study
-High external validity
-Longitudinal study (however time consuming)
-Real world application
-Lacks generalisability
Why does the study have a high external validity
-It was conducted in a real life setting, within the babies own home, meaning that the behaviour of both the infant and caregiver was likely to be more natural and unaffected, compared to it being conducted within a lab (artificial).
-This increase external validity, making the finding more applicable to everyday behaviours of attachment.
Why is it a strength that the study was carried out longitudinally instead of using different babies of different ages
-The children were observed and visited at regular time intervals, for example every month, instead of observing different children for each age. This is a strength because it reduces the effect that any participant variables may have on the outcome of the research. This means that not only does the research have a high external validity, but also a high internal validity, increasing the reliability of Emerson and Schaffers findings
What is a frequent problem with longitudinal studies
-Because longitudinal studies are carried out at set time intervals, they can be quite time consuming. For example, in this case, the study was carried out over a period of 18months
Why may the findings in Schaffer and Emersons study lack generalisability
-The study was carried out in a working class area of Glasgow. This may affect the generalisability of the study because the sample used only consisted of working class people form Glasgow, and so it lacks representation of people who live in different areas, are from different social class backgrounds, and have different cultures, who may develop attachments differently.
-This may compromise the validity of the data
What real application supports Schaffer and Emersons findings
-Their findings is useful in our understanding of when infants should start daycare.
-For example, in the Asocial and indiscriminate stage, daycare is likely to be fairly straightforward for staff as babies can be comforted by any skilled adult.
-However, Schafer and Emerson’s research also tells us that daycare with an unfamiliar adult can be problematic during the specific stage
-This means that parents can plan when to send their child to daycare using these stages
Why may the internal validity of the study be compromised
-However, mums were also interviewed in the study, which could have exposed the findings to social desirability bias. This is because it is not ‘socially desirable’ to admit that there is not a bond between the mother and child.
-Furthermore, the experiment was conducted within a natural setting (home) and so may lack control of extraneous variables, making it difficult to determine the validity of these findings.
