Stages of Attachment Flashcards
Who and when was the stages of attachment hypothesised?
Schaffer and Emerson in 1964
What was the aim?
To identify stages of attachment and find a pattered in the development of an attachment between infants. and parents
Who were the participants
60 babies from Glasgow all from the same estate
What was their procedure?
- They analysed interactions between infants and carers
- They interviewed the carers
- The mother had to keep a diary to track behaviours based on SA, SA, SR
- It was a longitudinal study lasting 18 months
- They visited the infants monthly
What is separation anxiety?
Signs of distress when the carer left and how much the infant needs to be comforted when the carer returns
What is stranger anxiety?
Signs of distress as a response to a stranger arriving
What is social referencing?
How often the infant looks at their carer to check how they should respond to something new
What did they find?
Babies of parents who had ‘social responsiveness’ were more likely to form an attachment
Sensitive responsiveness was more important than the time spent with the baby
Infants who had parents who responded to their needs quickly had a more intense attachment
Attachments seemed to form when the carer communicates and plays with the child
What stages did they find
Asocial (0-6 weeks)
Indiscriminate attachments (6 weeks - 6 months)
Specific (7 months +)
Multiple (10 - 11 months)
Explain the asocial stage
The infant responds to objects and people similarly - but may respond more to faces and eyes
Explain indiscriminate attachments
The infant develops more response to human company. They can tell the difference between people, they can be comforted by anyone and get upset if someone doesn’t react with. them.
Explain specific attachments
Infants prefer 1 carer and seeks security, comfort and protection from particular people. They start to. show stranger anxiety and separation anxiety
Explain multiple attachments
The infant forms multiple attachments and seeks security, comfort and protection in multiple people. They also show separation and stranger anxiety for multiple people
Give a - (LPV)
Lacks population validity as all were from Glasgow working families, therefore limited explanation. It also suffers from temporal validity as parenting has significantly changed since the 1950s
Give a - (LIV)
Lacks internal validity as it uses self -report, therefore the accuracy may not be correct as the parents want to be socially desirable therefore caution should be taken where placing confidence in these explanations
