stages of attachment

Question 1

stages - 7 ao1

Answer 1

schaffer and emerson - studied 60 infants and mothers from glasgow

procedure - mothers of 60 working-class Glasgow babies reported monthly on separation and stranger anxiety

findings - babies’ attachment behaviour progressed as detailed in Schaffer and Emerson’s stage theory

asocial - first few weeks, same response to humans and objects

indiscriminate - 2-7 months, preference for familiar people - no stranger/separation anxiety

specific - stranger and separation anxiety in regard to one particular adult = primary attachment figure (65% mother)

multiple - attachment behaviour directed towards more than one adult (secondary attachments)

Question 2

stages - generalisability

Answer 2

study confucted in 1960s Glasgow and only women - temporal - ecological

Question 3

stages - reliability

Answer 3

research by Van Ijzendoorn demonstrated that in collectivist cultures multiple attachments are formed from the onset – therefore stages 3 and 4 may not be separate demonstrating that the four separate stages of attachment as suggested by Scahffer may not be accurate

Question 4

stages - application

Answer 4

we can apply the findings to day care settings – in the asocial and indiscriminate attachment stage, babies can be comforted by any skilled adult
However, daycare and starting daycare with an unfamiliar adult may be difficult in the specific attachment stage – means that parents can plan day care using the stages

Question 5

stages - validity + counterpoint

Answer 5

the study was conducted in the families’ own homes – high external validity – most observations were made by parents during ordinary activities and reported to research – babies not distracted or made anxious by the research – very likely that the babies behaved naturally while being observed

Counterpoint – mothers were unlikely to be objective observers – might be biased about what they notice and what they report – might not notice when their baby was showing signs of eg anxiety – also may misremember behaviours – even if babies behaved naturally their behaviour may not have been accurately recorded