Stages of Attachment Flashcards
what are the 4 stages of attachment and who identified them
- Asocial
- Indiscriminate attachment
- Specific attachment
- Multiple attachments
Identifed by Schaffer
describe the asocial stage
0-6 weeks
- infant has no preferences as to who comforts them
- they display innate (natural) behaviours such as crying and smiling
describe the indiscriminate attachment stage
6 weeks - 7 months
- they begin to tell the difference between familiar adults and unfamilar adults
describe the specific attachment stage
7 months - 9 months
- infant prefers one specific adult and shows seperation and stranger anxiety
describe the multiple attachment stage
9 months +
- infant becomes comfortable with being surrounded with familar adults rather than just the specific attachment figure
outline Schaffer and Emersons study
- 60 infants from Glasgow were observed by the experimenters in a natural, longitudinal observational study over a 18 month period
what did Schaffer and Emersons study find
50% of babies showed seperation anxiety within the first 25-32 weeks
The babies showed the strongest attachments towards their primary caregiver
why does the study by Schaffer and Emerson have good external valdity
the observations were carried out by the parents of the infants rather than the experimenter which avoids experimenter bias
why is the longitudinal study for Scahffers stages of attachment a strength
because it provides good internal validity as the changes and progress was tracked over time
what is the limitation of the sample population used
theyre all from Glasgow and therefore the results cant necessarily be applied to everyone
a type of external validity relating to the changes in society overtime
why does the stages of attachment study lack temporal validity
the families now are different to how they were back in the 1960s
