Stages Of Attachment

Question 1

Method of Key Study (Schaffer and Emerson)

Answer 1

• 60 babies from skilled working class families were observed.
• Mothers and babies were visited once a month for the first year, and then again at 18 months.
  -They ask mothers questions about how the babies reacted in 7 everyday separations (e.g. an adult leaving the room) – This measured separation anxiety.
• They also assessed how babies reacted to unfamiliar adults (stranger anxiety).

Question 2

Findings from Key Study (Schaffer and Emerson)

Answer 2

• Between 25-32 weeks of age 50% of babies showed separation anxiety towards their mother (specific attachment).
• This specific attachment was with the caregiver who was most sensitive to infant signals NOT necessarily who they spent the most time with.
• By 40 weeks, 80% of babies had a specific attachment and 30% had multiple.

Question 3

Asocial Stage

Answer 3

• Birth to 8 weeks
• The behaviour between humans and non-human objects were very similar. Infants can recognise specific faces.
• They are happier in the presence of humans than when alone, they will smile at anyone and they prefer familiar individuals as well as prefer faces to non-faces.

Question 4

Indiscriminate Attachment

Answer 4

• 2-7 months
• At this stage they recognise and prefer familiar people.
• They will smile more at familiar than unfamiliar faces. Infants at this stage have a preference for people rather than inanimate objects
• BUT they will accept comfort from any adult as they don’t have stranger anxiety.

Question 5

Specific Attachment

Answer 5

• 7-12 months
• The infant shows a distinct protest when a particular person puts them down – separation anxiety
• They show happiness and joy when that person returns and is comforted by them – Primary Attachment.
• They will show stranger anxiety.
  Primary Attachment: Schaffer and Emerson states that the primary attachment isn’t always the person that spends most of the time with the infant.
  They concluded it’s the quality of the relationship not quantity.
  In 65% of children the first specific attachment was to the mum, 30% mum and an object, 3% the father.

Question 6

Multiple Attachments

Answer 6

• 1 year onwards
• Main attachment is formed and a wider circle of multiple attachments depending on consistent relationships.
• Schaffer and Emerson found that within one month, becoming attached 29% of the infants had multiple attachments, parent, grandparents, siblings etc. these are secondary attachments.
• Separation anxiety was displayed in these relationships.
• Within 6 months this had risen to 78%.
• By 1 year a majority of infants had developed multiple attachments.

Question 7

Strengths

Answer 7

• Good external Validity
  Most observations carried out by parents during normal activities and then reported to researchers (if observer’s were present, this may have distracted the babies, made them anxious and potentially changed their natural behaviour). This means that it is highly likely the participants behaved naturally during the observation, meaning good external validity.
• Real-world application to day care
  In the early stages (asocial and indiscriminate) babies can be comforted by any skilled adult, but if a child starts daycare during the stage of specific attachments, care from an unfamiliar adult may cause distress and longer-term problems. This means that Schaffer and Emerson’s stages can help parents making daycare decisions.

Question 8

Counterargument to validity

Answer 8

Data was from mothers report’s of their child. Mothers may have been less sensitive therefore not reported it = systematic bias – challenges validity.)

Question 9

Weaknesses

Answer 9

Biassed Sample
- All participants from the same district
- Working class population (cannot be generalised)
- Sample form 1960’s (parenting has changed)
- Now more women work, higher care outside the home now AND now more fathers stay at home to care for the family than ever before (quadrupled since 1960)

Problems studying the asocial stage
The problem at this stage is babies have poor coordination and are immobile. Therefore, it is difficult to make judgements from observation, therefore low reliability.

Cultural Variations
Individualistic culture- western cultures, value independence and individuality. i.e. UK and USA
Collectivist culture- importance of the group. Characterised by the extent to which things are shared, groups live together, share tasks, belongings and childrearing. Value interdependence – dependent on one another, multiple attachments are common. I.e. Japan and China.

Question 10

Sagi (1994) Weakness

Answer 10

Compared sleeping arrangements in communal environments and family-based sleeping arrangements (where mother closeness was twice as common).
This suggests that the stage model (Schaffer and Emerson) applies to individualist cultures only.