stages of attachment

Question 1

Who proposed the stages of attachment?

Answer 1

Schaffer and Emerson

Question 2

What were the aims of Schaffer and Emerson’s early attachment study?

Answer 2

To examine the formation of early attachments

Question 3

What was the sample used in Schaffer and Emerson’s study?

Answer 3

60 babies (31 male, 29 female) from working-class families in Glasgow

Question 4

What was the procedure used by Schaffer and Emerson?

Answer 4

A longitudinal study- researchers visited the babies in their homes every month of the first 12 months and then once again at 18 months
-The researchers interviewed the mothers and observed the children in relation to separation and stranger anxiety

Question 5

What were the findings from Schaffer and Emersons study? What was concluded from this?

Answer 5

-Results suggest that attachment develops through a series of stages
-The father was the main attachment figure in only 3% of infants
-Attachments form at different times for every child and aren’t always formed with the mother as the first attachment

Question 6

The father was the primary attachment figure in what % of studies?

Answer 6

3%

Question 7

How many attachment stages are there?

Answer 7

4

Question 8

What is the first stage of attachment?

Answer 8

Asocial

Question 9

What is the second attachment stage?

Answer 9

Indiscriminate

Question 10

What is the third attachment stage?

Answer 10

Discriminate/ Specific

Question 11

What is the fourth attachment stage?

Answer 11

Multiple

Question 12

At what age range does the asocial stage take place?

Answer 12

-First few weeks of life, no longer than 8 weeks

Question 13

What are the characteristics of the asocial stage?

Answer 13

-Behaviour between human and non-human objects similar
-Preference for familiar people and more comforted by them
-Signs they prefer to be with other people (happier with humans than alone)
-Smile at anyone
-Recognise specific faces

Question 14

At what age range does the indiscriminate attachment stage take place?

Answer 14

-2-7 months

Question 15

What are the characteristics of the indiscriminate attachment stage?

Answer 15

-Preference for familiar people rather than inanimate objects
-Recognise and prefer familiar people
-Accept comfort from anyone
-No separation or stranger anxiety

Question 16

At what age range does the specific attachment stage take place?

Answer 16

-Around 7 months

Question 17

What are the characteristics of the specific attachment stage?

Answer 17

-Stranger and separation anxiety
-Primary attachment to one particular individual

Question 18

At what age range does the multiple attachment stage take place?

Answer 18

-After specific attachment, around 8-12 months

Question 19

What are the characteristics of the multiple attachment stage?

Answer 19

-Form secondary attachments with familiar adults with whom they spend time

Question 20

What are the strengths of Schaffer and Emerson’s stages of attachment?

Answer 20

-real-world applications
-reliability of the research support.

Question 21

What are the limitations of Schaffer and Emerson’s stages of attachment?

Answer 21

-observations may have lacked objectivity
-generalisability of Schaffer and Emerson’s (1964) study

Question 22

Explain the limitation of the Stages of Attachment that: observations may have lacked objectivity

Answer 22

-The mothers of the children were the main observers.
-Observations may have been influenced by social desirability bias meaning that signs of separation/stranger anxiety may have been under-reported to be presented in a better light.
-The observations may also have been influenced by mothers’ misremembering.
-This may mean that the specific attachment stage was not identified soon enough, giving the study low internal validity

Question 23

Explain the limitation of the Stages of Attachment: the generalisability of Schaffer and Emerson’s study

Answer 23

-Small sample size of 60 babies from working-class families in Glasgow=Low generalisability because small sample size and single culture isn’t representative
-different historical context- study was from 1964 and fathers are now much more involved meaning that the 3% rate has likely increased= low temporal validity
-In some situations (such as extended family living together) and cultures such as collectivist cultures= multiple attachments may come first or earlier

Question 24

Explain the strength of the Stages of Attachment that: it has real world applications

Answer 24

-Findings have practical applications for planning childcare.
-For example, parents can now be fully informed on when the best time is to send their child to school as they will know when their child will respond well to it (while in the asocial/discriminate attachment stage) and when they will not (specific attachment).
-This can make the process much easier for infants and caregivers.

Question 25

Explain the strength of the Stages of Attachment: the reliability of research support

Answer 25

-In Schaffer and Emerson’s (1964) study, the findings were obtained through predominantly parents’ observations of the babies studied, during ordinary activities.
-This means there is very little chance of demand characteristics shown by the children altering the findings.
-This gives the study high external validity.